Cory + Alana – Black Tie Affair

Alana and Cory’s wedding at the Noah Liff Opera Center was an unforgettable blend of timeless elegance and modern flair. The bridal party set the tone in sleek black attire, with bridesmaids in floor-length black gowns and groomsmen in classic black suits. Alana dazzled in a minimalist satin gown, while Cory looked sharp in a black tux with a white boutonnière.

Romance & Rust brought the couple’s vision to life with a sophisticated black-and-white palette accented by romantic candlelight and lush florals. Baby’s breath and white roses adorned both the ceremony and reception, creating a seamless, elegant atmosphere. The reception featured black table linens, gold chargers, and tall floral centerpieces, all illuminated by chandeliers that added a soft, romantic glow.

The standout of the evening was the sweetheart table, framed by flickering candles and a cascade of white flowers, exuding warmth and sophistication. It was a picture-perfect celebration of love. Keep reading to hear what Alana had to say about they gorgeous day.

Tell us about your Love Story! 

Cory Kilgore and Alana Grimaud met three years ago at a young adult’s group at a home. Cory had just moved to Nashville, and Alana was one of the first people he met. They began to hang out in group settings, participating in community outreach events, church gatherings, and game nights together. Over time, their friendship grew, and in 2022, Alana asked Cory to lead worship at her home young adults’ group. Little did they know that this would be the beginning of their journey from friendship into romance.

In 2023, both Cory and Alana’s leases were up at their apartments, and Cory was looking to move closer to Nashville. With no surprise, he chose to move into the same apartment complex Alana was moving into and right down the hall. In August, they moved into a brand-new apartment complex with a beautiful clubhouse, swimming pool, pool table, and more. With all these amenities, they saw the opportunity to host game nights with some church friends at their new homes. As time progressed, both Cory and Alana began to realize that they had the makings of a great kingdom couple, and over time, Alana began to open HER eyes, and she dramatically realized what a mistake she was making by passing up such a stud muffin. So, in December 2023, after Christmas, she told Cory about her feelings in the apartment clubhouse. He was THRILLED!

On March 2, 2024, Cory proposed to Alana on the rooftop of Restoration Hardware, and she said, “YES!” Cory and Alana look forward to what the future holds together. From 3 years to a lifetime of friendship!

Tell us about your engagement!  

Cory proposed at Restoration Hardware in Green Hills on top of the roof. He had Alana’s brother and brother-in-law hide cameras ahead of time to capture the moment. When Alana arrived at the venue, Cory took Alana to the roof and proposed in front of a fountain.

What is interesting about our engagement season is the night before we got engaged, I was in the gym and dislocated my knee. But I had this feeling that I was getting engaged soon, so I went to the dinner the next day on crutches. Our whole engagement season, I was in a wheelchair or on crutches, and Cory took care of me by wheeling me around on walks and bringing me food to my apartment. We had a short engagement and had already put down the deposit at the Noah Liff Opera Center before I dislocated my knee. So, between March 1 and May 26th, I was in physical therapy for my knee. By the grace of God, I walked down the aisle. It is a sweet moment to look back on because that is when I really knew Cory was going to be a husband who takes care of me.

Tell us about your dress. 

I got my dress at Village Bridal in Greenhills. I tried on about 4-5 dresses before deciding on my dress. I knew that I wanted something sleek, but I didn’t know fully what that meant. I liked the dress enough to see me walking down the aisle in it, so I bought it. Then, a month went by, and I began to panic that I didn’t get the right dress. I went back to the store and ended up adding gloves and altering the top. Those small things really changed the dress for me, and I ended up loving it at my wedding.

What was the vision & theme for your wedding? What details were used to create this vision?  

The vision for the wedding was a classic white, black, and gold theme with all white flowers. What inspired this vision was my love for traditional weddings, beautiful things, and romantic/elegant weddings. I wanted my guests to say, “Wow…this is so Alana,” and I feel that our wedding captured that feeling of beauty and elegance so well. The one thing that I knew our wedding had to have was a couple of chandeliers hanging at the reception. Having the right lighting and colors can change the feel of your wedding. EventWorks hung two chandeliers above the bridal table and placed black tablecloths at guests’ tables around the venue. I chose black tablecloths because it takes your wedding to a new level of elegance. Most brides chose white tablecloths, which are pretty, but the black clothes bring the feel of elegance and romance that I was seeking.

I laid out a vision board and picked the decorations and flowers that I wanted for the wedding, and then I hired Romance and Rust to make it happen. I’m in marketing and branding, so I worked hard to “brand my wedding”. What is amazing about having your wedding at the Noah Liff Opera Center is the ability to customize your own floor plan. I decided to custom design my floor plan and laid it out on paper. Then, I had a walkthrough with the venue manager, Aaron Hunt, my coordinator – Maranda Hughes, and Kathy with Romance & Rust. Having vendors who saw my vision and brought it to life was a game changer.

My mom is also an amazing event planner and interior designer, and she put together all my flowers, along with my sister and maid of honor. The flower arrangements were so beautiful and would have cost us thousands and thousands of dollars, but we were able to cut down on our costs by using the Nashville Flower Market wholesale flowers for the wedding. This flower shop allows brides to go into their store and buy wholesale flowers, arrange them in the store, and the shop will store them in cold fridges for the brides. It was a great addition to the wedding and really took off a lot of stress from my family having to store the flowers at home.

Here is one example of a vision board that I had. I also gave Kathy a full PowerPoint presentation of what I wanted and where each decoration needed to go, including what I wanted the layout to look like. I custom-designed my own floor plan with the Noah Liff and gave it to Romance and Rust.

Tell us about your experience working with Romance and Rust, how you found them, and why you chose them.

I found them through my coordinator, Maranda Hughes, at Nashville Dream Events. Maranda and Kathy worked closely to make my wedding come to life. It was a great experience, and I highly recommend hiring them for weddings.

Tell us about your day.

Our wedding started at 5:00 pm at the Noah Liff Opera Center. When guests arrived, they were given a program with the layout of the wedding, and then they walked up a beautiful red staircase to the ceremony. Our ceremony only lasted about 25 minutes because I wanted my guests to get to the reception quickly. When it comes to events, the flow of an event is very important to me.

The piano player and violinist played music during the whole ceremony, and it was so special. Cory is a musician, so he and his groomsmen walked down to a song that he wrote. I walked down the song Make Me A Bethany by Jesus Image.

Special Moments at the Ceremony

1. 1. On the program, I added an “in special memory” section with all the loved ones from Cory and my family who are in heaven. We also placed a rose on two chairs to represent the family members who have gone before us. Each chair was sitting with the family. So, a rose was placed on my side of the family aisle, representing my family, and on Cory’s side of the family aisle, representing his family. I had the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom carry the roses when they walked. On the rose that was on the bride’s side of the aisle, there was a bow tied around the rose with my grandmother’s wedding dress on it. That was my mom’s mother, who passed away in her 30s, so I never got to meet her. That was super special for my family, and it was nice knowing we had something of hers present at the ceremony.
   2. By the guest sign at the table, I had a memorial table with our loved ones on it. Both Cory and I have lost grandparents, so it was wonderful having their photos at the wedding to represent them being there.
   3. We live-streamed the wedding because my grandmother was battling cancer and was unable to make it. She was able to watch it from her livestream video, and then two weeks later, she went on to be with Jesus. That will always be a special moment for me, knowing that my grandmother got to meet my husband and see our wedding before she passed. We decided not to hire a videographer but instead set up a live stream through YouTube. I recommend that brides who may not be able to afford a videographer still consider live streaming their wedding because you never know how that video may be used.

The Reception

The reception included food, dancing with glow sticks, and fun light-up glasses, and there was jazz music playing in the background as a transition between events. I wanted the reception to feel like a fancy dinner party but with dancing.  We had a buffet set up as food stations around the venue with a dessert table as well. I had the tables on separate sides of the venue to create visual balance and prevent all the lines from piling up in one spot. We decided to do our speeches the night before at the rehearsal dinner so that our guests could enjoy more time mingling and dancing at the reception itself.

Reception Dances

We had a piano player, singer, and violinist play our three songs for us live. It was beautiful, and we kept it to 1 minute and 15 seconds.

Cory and Alana danced to the song Tenerife Sea by Ed Sheeran.

Alana and her dad danced to As A Deer by Shane and Shane.

Cory and his mom danced to Goodness of God by Jenn Johnson.

Special Moments at the Reception

During the dancing, we did an Anniversary Dance with our guests, and the longest-married couple was left dancing. We chose the song “The Twist” by Chubby Checker. That was my grandparents’ favorite song, and they would dance to it at every family get-together. They were married for over 60 years. My papa passed away from dementia in 2020, and my grandmother died two weeks after my wedding in June 2024. It was really special to dedicate that song to their marriage at the wedding. The guests also loved it.

Congratulations, Alana & Cory

The Wedding Team

Wedding Decor and Design: Romance and Rust

Wedding Venue – Noah Liff Opera Center

Wedding Photographer – Meagan Lee Photography

Wedding Coordinator – Maranada Hughes with Nashville Dream Events

Chandeliers and Black Linens – EventWorks

Caterer –Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Green Hills

Flowers -Nashville Flower Market

Floral Design – DIY by Bride & Family

Wedding Dress – Village Bridal