Boho Great Stone Door Wedding near Nashville, Tennessee

great stone door nashville tennessee boho wedding

Despite attending the same high school only one year apart, it was over a decade after graduation before Amber and Ashley had the chance to become truly acquainted. “In 2013, Ashley hired Amber as a bartender at their local sports bar,” photographer Amy Bluestar Painter shares. “They became best friends over those four years and eventually found true love in each other.”

Eager to share their active lifestyle with their loved ones, the couple found a way to incorporate both nature and travel into their nuptials. They rented a cabin near one of their favorite destinations and invited their nearest and dearest to join in the adventure. “Prior to the ceremony, Amber, Ashley, and their 15-year-old son, Elijah, hiked down to Stone Door for their bridal portraits,” Amy recalls. “The scenery did not disappoint!” The group enjoyed a morning of barefoot exploration and dancing in the woods before returning to the cabin for an intimate ceremony. “All of the decor for the ceremony and reception was DIY,” Amy says. “Everything was put together so nicely by the people that they love and it really showed… Although I am all about the elopements, I can see why people choose to have an intimate wedding so they can share this moment with all of the people they love. There is something special about that!”

Photography by Amy Bluestar Photography

CHOOSING AN INTIMATE WEDDING:

“Having a smaller, more intimate wedding gave us more time to spend with our closest friends and family… We spend most of our time outdoors and traveling, so we thought what better [way] to honor our lifestyle [than by incorporating] it into our special day… Traveling also gave us the opportunity to spend several days with our family and show them a beautiful place they had never seen before.”

[Amber, Bride]

“All day long, Amber kept telling Ashley that she looked like an angel. They are the sweetest couple and an intimate wedding with their loved ones made for the perfect celebration for these two beautiful brides.”

[Amy Bluestar Painter, Photographer]

PLANNING AN INTIMATE WEDDING:

“We have hiked and camped in the park where we got married many times. We fell in love with this park, decided it was a special place, and found a cabin on the mountain in the area. We planned the entire [wedding] ourselves, from food to decorations, and even cooked most of the food ourselves… We found the perfect little, quaint cabin to accommodate our family. It housed parents, brother, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and our closest friends… My favorite thing about the process was that the entire family had a role – everyone had their part. Having everyone together for a few days in the cabin really made us feel even more unity between our two families.”

[Amber]