Samantha and Zachary’s Classic Elegance Wedding

Today on the blog, we’re sharing Samantha and Zachary’s Classic Elegance Wedding, some of their favorite moments from their special day, and how all the details came together to create the perfect wedding!

For several years, Samantha and Zachary’s mothers worked in real estate together. They both wanted them to meet, but several factors hindered this plan (college, geography, dating other people at the time). When they were both finally out of college and single, their mothers arranged a “surprise meeting” for them at the lake. Both their families have boats, so when they set out for the day, neither of them had any clue what awaited them. 

“When our families found each other at a cove, we both timidly introduced each other. The greatest ice-breaker of our introduction was his new puppy, Juno. Juno became our topic of conversation and before we knew it we were swimming in the lake together (Juno didn’t care very much for the water) and chatting away until our families called us back into our boats. Much to our surprise, it was a great meeting and we hoped we would see each other again.”

“On August 27, 2017 we went on our official first date. We went on a hike with Juno and spent hours talking, laughing, and getting stopped by strangers so they could pet Juno. Before we knew it, a hike quickly turned into an impromptu trip to the pool, which led to pizza and watching our favorite stand-up specials on Netflix. Our first date lasted an entire day! We have been together ever since that date and look forward to forever together!”

We’re excited to share more below on how their Classic Elegance Wedding came together at Tate House! Read on for all the sweet details.

Tell us the story of how he popped the question:

Zach knows that Nashville is one of my favorite places in the world, and there just happened to be a UGA vs. Vanderbilt football game in Nashville in late August 2019. Zach did an incredible job using this football game as a cover for what he really had planned for that weekend. He invited both our families to go to the game and to spend a weekend in Nashville (As you can imagine, I was super excited!). On the day that we drove up, Zach told me that morning that I needed to dress up because we were going to meet our families at a winery and we were going to take some family pictures.

I am never one to turn down an opportunity to get dolled up, but I begged him to let us stop at the hotel so I could freshen up and look my best after being in a car for 4 hours. He said, “No, all our family is there. They’re waiting on us.” I got a little pouty because I was fidgeting in my yellow gingham dress, I wanted to fix my makeup and fix my hair… after all, weren’t we supposed to be taking pictures?

We arrive at a beautiful winery called Arrington Vineyards and met up with our families. After about 20 minutes of drinking and snacking, Zach leaned in and said “We’ve been sitting for hours in the car, do you want to take a walk around the vineyard?” We excused ourselves and went strolling around the vineyard. We came across a bench swing in a secluded area by the grapevines, where we decided to finish our wine and admire the view.

As we were swinging, Zach made the swing bump into the picnic table behind us, which caused me to spill my wine on myself. We started laughing and laughing… in fact, Zach seemed to be laughing a little too hard. He stood up, hunched over like he couldn’t breathe from laughing too hard, and before I knew it, he was down on one knee with a ring. As soon as I realized what was happening, my laughter evolved into tears and sobs of joy. I threw my arms around him and said yes, though it probably came out as an incoherent sob! Within minutes, our familes found us–with cameras in hand! The celebration continued with a phenomenal night of fun on Broadway Street and ended with a UGA victory the next day!

What was your wedding date and why did you choose it? 

At first, we were going to get married on April 25, 2020, but due to Covid-19 we decided to postpone so we could be able to celebrate with all of our loved ones. This was a very hard decision, not to mention a very emotional one. We changed our date to April 17, 2021 so we could have the spring wedding that we both dreamed of and it turned out to be the best decision. As difficult as it was to postpone and wait an extra year to get married, it was absolutely worth the wait!

What was your overall vision for your wedding?

My vision was a romantic, classic elegance wedding.

What do you feel was the most special component of your classic elegance wedding?

Our first look and our vows were the most special moments of our wedding. I loved seeing his true emotion in that moment he saw me in my wedding dress coming down the grand staircase in the Tate House. It was such a special moment that we shared together before it was time to walk down the aisle. When we shared our vows for each other, they were so heartfelt and loving that I couldn’t stop smiling–my heart was overflowing with joy.

How involved was your groom in the wedding planning process? 

Zach was by my side for everything in the wedding planning process (except for the dress shopping and the makeup/hair trial). He came with me to every meeting at the Tate House, we did our vendor research together, we picked our menu and drinks together, and went to our cake-testing together. We truly were a team as we crossed off everything on the wedding planning checklist and shared our ideas of what would make our day extra special.

Did you have a wedding theme or color pallet, and if so how or why did you choose it?

Our color scheme for our classic elegance wedding was dusty sage and gold, which is a color combination I knew I loved ever since I started my wedding board on Pinterest years ago! I love the stunning, yet natural color of sage green and how the gold adds a hint of glamour. 

How important are the typical wedding traditions? Did you plan on doing something outside of the norm to make your wedding more of your own?

There are several wedding traditions that we wanted to keep, such as our first dance, a wedding cake, the flower bouquet toss, and the bachelorette/bachelor weekends.

Something that was very unique to us was our wine ceremony, which is a similar concept to unity candles or sand. For the wine ceremony, we took a red wine and a sparking wine and combined them together to make a blend. Both wines represented us individually as we left behind our single life and came together as one when we poured the two wines together. Fun fact: We got our wines from Arrington Vineyards, where we got engaged!

Why did you choose your wedding venue?

The Tate House had everything we were looking for: elegance, beauty, gorgeous mountain views, and southern charm. As we toured the Tate House, I teared up–I had never seen such a beautiful wedding venue and we could both see each other getting married in such a beautiful place! Every room we were shown on the tour took my breath away and filled me with awe. It is truly a magical place to get married!

Is there anything else you would like to share? 

Another incredible highlight of our wedding day was getting ready in the bridal cottage. From the moment we arrived, we were spoiled with a beautiful champagne breakfast, served upstairs in the cottage which is so impeccably appointed with beautiful furnishings and details that anyone would want to live there full time! It is magazine perfect! The lower level had a huge room with 4 hair and makeup stations, seating for all, a beautiful bedroom for the bride to dress in, and a fabulous bathroom with a huge shower and everything anyone could need to get ready to go down the aisle!

The grounds around the house were like something out of a magazine. We were given open access to gardens and patios for the most breathtaking pictures and the spiral staircase inside the house for our first look was something right out of a European villa. 

The florist has such an eye for floral beauty. From the bouquets to the centerpieces, each arrangement was fragrant and breathtaking!

Last but not least, the Tate House staff is absolutely incredible! Tori and Cindy are such a joy to work with and they helped to make our wedding day as magical as is was from start to finish. We couldn’t have asked for a better wedding coordinator and staff!

Photography Credit: Gerlinde Photography