Grace + John - Classic Elegant Wedding

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Grace and John’s wedding was the perfect blend of timeless elegance and heartfelt details, set against the backdrop of the historic Calvary United Methodist Church, where generations of Grace’s family had celebrated love before them. The couple infused their day with meaningful touches, from the romantic light blue dresses of the bridesmaids to the sweet fortune cookie message Grace had held onto since the beginning of their relationship. With the energetic beats of Music City Sound driving the evening’s festivities, their classic wedding was a day filled with joyful celebration, family tradition, and love that was truly “on its way.” We asked the bride, Grace, to tell us all about the love story, engagement, and wedding day! Keep reading to hear what she had to say and see the gorgeous details!

The Love Story

John and I both grew up in Nashville, TN, and attended Montgomery Bell Academy and Harpeth Hall, respectively. My brothers attended the same school as John, so I knew vaguely of his family but had never met John. He was a senior when I was a freshman. We both went on to attend Auburn University, but again never met while we were both students there. Flash forward to November 2018 when some mutual family friends insisted we meet at their football tailgate for the Auburn vs Texas A&M game. Our family friend was emailing me saying, “You must come meet John Powell. He is smart, handsome, funny, and a great guy!” I was sold and agreed to come meet him. I immediately had interest, and we continued to be in contact for a few months, but things fizzled out before I went to Australia for a few months in early 2019. In March of 2019, those same family friends invited me to the Auburn Elite 8 basketball game in Kansas City, and when I arrived, I discovered they had invited John to attend, too, with the plans for us to sit together for the game. John and I haven’t stopped talking since! Thank goodness for those family friends who persisted and pushed us together! Our relationship became “official” on May 29, 2019. We did long distance for a while because I was still a student at Auburn and John was abroad in St Andrews, Scotland, getting his master’s degree, but in 2021, we both ended up back in Nashville officially, and our love story continued to blossom. In April 2023, we were engaged!

She Said Yes!

When John decided to propose, he knew he had a daunting task because he knew I wanted to be dressed up for the big moment, but I hardly ever got out of “athletic” clothing. I was told we were going to dinner with his parents for his father’s 60th birthday. On our way to dinner, we stopped at Ellington Agricultural Center (a park near where we live). I was slightly confused but went along with it. We got out of the car to “go look at something” and he led me to the Iris Garden at the park. He said some things that I honestly cannot remember and got down on his knee. I was shocked, and it was perfect! We then went back to his parent’s house and were greeted by friends and family to celebrate!

Wedding Vision and Theme

I wanted our wedding to be classic and timeless. Nothing too over the top. We kept the florals pretty simple, with the tables lined with greenery and candles. Two of the round chandeliers at the venue were simple greenery, with the center one being more of a statement floral design. The colors were blue and white with accents of gold and greenery, which screamed timeless to me.

The Wedding Day

Our ceremony was held at Calvary United Methodist Church, the church where my grandparents got married over 70 years ago. This was super special to me! We did not do a first look because I was wanting all of the drama of that first moment John saw me when the church doors opened. Our first dance song was “All Your’n” by Tyler Childers, which was special because John and I attended our first concert together earlier this year, which was a Tyler Childers concert. We also decided to add a “grandparents dance” where John danced with his grandma and I danced with my two grandfathers. We decided to forego the cake cutting as neither of us are crazy about cake and instead had mini desserts and a champagne tour pour! Another unique thing we did was in our details photos, I included a fortune cookie fortune. This fortune said, “Love is on its way,” and I had dated it “6.2.19”. I found it in a memory box just a few weeks before the wedding. I remember vividly sitting with John while we ate take-out Chinese. He opened and read his fortune and then asked me what mine said. I was a little hesitant to read it out loud because I was slightly embarrassed. We had only been officially dating for a few days! But I kept that fortune all of these years. I guess love really was on its way. And it’s wild that the date was June 2, and our wedding date was June 1!

The Reception

I found the Music City Sound through online Google searches. I was sold once watching their promo video and immediately reached out. They were extremely prompt in their response times and accommodating to all of my wishes. I could tell that they really cared about me as their client and wanted everything to go perfectly. I loved that they offered cocktail hour/dinner music as well as being the main reception band. I couldn’t recommend them enough!