Stop everything. Immediately. Because you will want to give Mikinzi and Vance’s autumn wedding your FULL attention. This gorgeous pair were hitched at Cedars of Lebanon State Park Forest Lodge in Tennessee and had an intimate celebration that was all about their love of Disney and their love of each other!
“We both love Disney but didn’t want to go cheesy but be more inspired by the idea of a fairytale”, began the bride. “We both love being outside and we wanted to show how truly magical nature is.”
One of the most unique parts of the wedding was that the bride and groom actually exchanged their vows in private, before the ceremony. “We decided to exchange our vows in private before the ceremony. We both were a bit nervous and wanted to read them to each other first to get some of the emotion out of the way before reading them in front of everyone. It was so beautiful and great to just have a moment alone (aside from our photographer) to share our vows with each other. Its a moment I’ll never forget. Our ceremony itself was absolutely perfect. I walked down the aisle to our officiant playing the ukulele and singing So This is Love from Disney’s Cinderella. Our ceremony and vows were very personal and centred around our friendship, love and viewing each other always as equals.”
They did plenty of DIY including all the food. They made the entirely vegan dinner with the help of their families. They also thrifted over 30 different brass candlesticks over a few months to use as their centrepieces. “We kept a lot of our decor very simple since the building was so beautiful on its own” she continued. “We used preserved eucalyptus as our greenery. Our guestbook was a painted globe and we had our guests sign it! We knew we wouldn’t ever look at a traditional ‘book’ so we wanted something we could decorate our house with.”
Of their $6000 budget their biggest cost was their photographer, which, as you can see from their stunning images, was totally worth it! “Vance is also a photographer so we knew the value of making sure they were the perfect fit for us”, she said. “We picked a package that gave us our engagement photos, plenty of coverage and two photographers. After the day is over, all you are left with are memories and your photos.”
“However we really saved on our venue. Getting married at a state park was a perfect option for us. Ours had a beautiful building (which was built in 1940s) to use and only cost us $300. Our rental also included tables and chairs. The only downside was having to be out and cleaned up by 10:00 pm but that’s our bedtime so we were fine with that!”
“Our advice to other couples reading this would be that its never too early to plan and think about things”, Mikinzi concluded. “We started planning as soon as we were engaged and made a timeline of when we needed to start thinking of things that way I never felt overwhelmed or rushed to do certain things right away. Weddings don’t have to be expensive, elaborate, or whatever your family wants it to be. Listen to you heart and trust each other. Make the day about BOTH OF YOU. Celebrate your love and forget the rest.”
