A Cheekwood Wedding

~In spite of the torrential downpour Saturday,

Cheekwood proved to be the perfect background

for yet another wedding.

The ceremony was planned for outside but none the less

it was a beautifully orchestrated wedding.

Held under the tent inside the courtyard of what was once

the elegant stables at Cheekwood,

everything went as if it was planned that way all along.

Emily Humphries coordinated while

Brooke Ferguson & & I assisted.
~Cheekwood is a gem inside the Nashville city limits.

Located at the end of beautiful Belle Meade Boulevard,

it sits high on a hill where you can look north &

view the Nashville skyline.

The expansive lawns & beautiful gardens

make it one of the top venues for weddings.

A little history...

~In 1933, Leslie and Mabel Cheek moved into Cheekwood

after buying 100 acres & hiring a New York architect to build

the limestone mansion & extensive formal gardens.

This was made possible after their investment in a cousin's coffee

blend that was sold in the Maxwell House Hotel,

the finest hotel in Nashville at that time.

Later the coffee was sold to what would become

General Mills Co. for $40 million in 1928.

In 1917, Cheek began using the slogan,

"Good to the Last Drop" to advertise.

The story goes that in 1907,

President Theodore Roosevelt,

while having breakfast at The Hermitage,

proclaimed that the coffee was 'Good to the Last Drop'.

Although this has never been proven,

the phrase is recognizable to this day &

is a part of Cheekwood history.

The Cheeks left the mansion & property to their daughter &

in the 1950's it was given as an art museum & botanical gardens.

Lucky for Nashville !

Some pictures of Amber & Will's wedding...

the stables/art building

bride's cake

reception preparations

centerpieces

(note the original stables in the background)

me & my girls...

Brooke & Me & Emily

love this shot...if you look close you'll see the raccoon that visited

us during rehearsal