If you’re planning a wedding in Nashville, you’re likely feeling a mix of excitement, inspiration, and maybe a little overwhelm. That’s completely normal!
Nashville is filled with incredible venues, creative vendors, and stunning places to celebrate love. It’s also a city where weddings can feel deeply personal, intentional, and full of heart when planned thoughtfully.
Whether you’re just starting your journey or already neck-deep into wedding planning, this guide will walk you through the most important parts of planning your day.
Start with Your Vision for Your Nashville Wedding
Before diving into the details, take a moment to discuss what you want your wedding to feel like.
We’ve had countless couples reach out to book their wedding photography and videography before fully defining their vision. And although we love guiding soon-to-be’s, we always encourage starting with intention.
Nashville weddings come with so many beautiful options, so we understand that it’s easy to feel excited and overwhelmed all at once.
Here are some questions you can ask yourself that make Nashville wedding planning feel aligned:
1. Do we want something intimate and slow-paced, or a larger celebration with all of our people?
2. Do we picture a garden ceremony, a historic estate, or one of the many modern Nashville wedding venues?
3. Do we want our day to feel energetic, nostalgic, laid back, or a blend of everything we love?
4. What moments matter most to us? Having some quiet time, meaningful traditions, or celebrating late into the night?
When you’re planning a wedding in Nashville, your vision becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
Having a clear vision makes choosing one of the top wedding venues Nashville, TN has to offer, building your timeline, selecting vendors, and deciding how you want your wedding story documented so much easier.
The Legal Side of Marriage – Getting a Wedding License in Nashville, TN
One of the less romantic, but very important steps when planning a wedding in Nashville, is taking care of the legal details.
To get married in Tennessee, you’ll need a wedding license. This can be obtained from the Nashville, TN, county clerk’s office.
A few helpful notes:
- Both partners must apply together
- Valid photo IDs are required
- There is no waiting period
- Licenses are valid for 30 days
Knowing this and getting everything you need ready early helps your wedding month feel stress-free!
Choosing the Right Venue for Your Day
The space you choose for your wedding shapes how your day flows, how it feels, and how your memories are made.
When you’re planning a wedding in Nashville, you have beautiful options. Nashville is filled with:
- Historic mansions full of charm and character
- Romantic garden estates surrounded by greenery
- Modern event spaces with clean lines and natural light
- Peaceful countryside venues just outside the city that feel calm and tucked away
A great venue should make it easy to slow down, be present, and enjoy the experience with the people you love most.
That looks different for everyone.
We’ve been part of celebrations at many of the top wedding venues in Nashville, TN, and the most memorable spaces were always those where couples looked beyond their venue aesthetic and focused on how it supported their story.
If you’re still searching, we share some of our favorite Nashville wedding venues here. It’s a great place to start narrowing down spaces that feel right for you!
Choosing the Right Wedding Vendors in Nashville
One of the biggest parts of planning a wedding is building a vendor team you truly trust.
With so many talented creatives in the area, Nashville wedding planning can quickly turn into chaos.
As you start reaching out, you’ll likely come across different Nashville wedding packages offered by photographers, filmmakers, planners, florists, and venues.
While packages can be a helpful starting point, we always encourage couples to look beyond just what’s included on paper and focus on the experience each vendor provides.
When choosing your wedding vendors, consider:
- How The Vendors Communicate and Make You Feel
You’ll spend a lot of time with your vendor team, especially your photographer and videographer. Feeling comfortable, understood, and supported makes a huge difference on your wedding day.
- How The Vendors Approach Your Wedding Day
Some vendors are highly directive, while others take a more hands-off approach.
Neither is wrong. What matters is choosing a style that aligns with how you want your day to feel.
- How Well The Vendors Work With Others
A seamless experience usually comes from teams that are used to collaborating.
This is why many couples love bundled Nashville wedding packages that include vendors who’ve worked together before.
It creates consistency, ease, and a smoother flow throughout the day.
- What The Vendors Value Beyond Deliverables
Hours and photo galleries matter, but so does presence, storytelling, and care.
The right vendors will care deeply about your story, not just your timeline or their paycheck.
When planning a wedding in Nashville, choosing vendors who align with your vision causes fewer distractions and creates more room for meaningful moments.
A thoughtful vendor team doesn’t just provide services. They help shape how your wedding day feels from start to finish.
Planning Details That Make Nashville Weddings Special
One of the most beautiful parts of Nashville weddings is how deeply personal they feel.
When planning a wedding in Nashville, it’s often the small, thoughtful choices you plan on purpose that make your wedding day feel unforgettable.
These are some of the details we’ve seen on Nashville wedding days that tend to stay with couples long after the music fades:
- Personal vows or letters to exchange: Whether shared privately or during the ceremony, handwritten vows or letters create some of the most emotional moments we document.
- Planning a first look: A quiet moment together, a deep breath, or sharing a laugh before the ceremony creates space to privately connect as an almost-married couple for the last time.
- Ending the day with intention: Planning how your day closes can be just as impactful as how it begins. A private last dance, a slow walk back together, or a meaningful send-off often leaves couples with the best memory of their day.
Preserving Your Nashville Wedding Story With Photography and Videography
Your wedding day will move faster than you expect.
One moment you’ll be getting ready with your favorite people, and the next you’ll be on the dance floor at the end of the night, wondering how the day passed so quickly.
That’s why your photos and films matter so deeply.
When planning a wedding in Nashville, choosing the right photographer and filmmaker means deciding how you will remember your story.
Your images and video aren’t just about how your wedding looked. They hold the laughter you didn’t hear, the tears you didn’t see, and the quiet moments you didn’t even realize were happening.
Years from now, they will become a way to return to the day and feel it all again.
We believe your wedding day shouldn’t feel like a photoshoot. It should feel natural, joyful, and true to who you are.
Our approach to documenting Nashville weddings is documentary and intentional, rooted in real connection and presence. We focus on:
- Natural, candid moments that unfold without interruption
- Gentle direction when needed, so nothing ever feels forced
- Honest emotion, from the loud celebrations to the quiet in-between moments
- Storytelling that feels nostalgic and true, not overly posed or produced
Photography and videography work together to tell your story in a fuller way. Photos freeze moments in time, while film brings them to life through movement, sound, and emotion.
Having both allows you to experience your wedding day from new perspectives – especially the parts you missed while living in the moment.
Building a Thoughtful Wedding Timeline
The way your time is structured directly affects how your day feels.
When we work with couples planning a wedding in Nashville, we always encourage them to think of their timeline as a guide, not a strict schedule.
Here are a few things we’ve seen make a big difference:
- Allowing Extra Time For Getting Ready
Those early hours set the tone for the entire day.
Giving yourself a little buffer allows for a calm start instead of rushing from one thing to the next.
- Planning For Natural Light Portraits
Nashville wedding venues often offer beautiful light throughout the day, especially in the late afternoon and evening.
Building your timeline around natural light creates space for soft, timeless photos that feel effortless.
- Building In Breathing Room Between Events
Transitions take time. Adding small pockets of space between moments helps the day flow more smoothly and allows you to actually experience each part instead of racing through it.
- Leaving Space for Real, Unscripted Moments
Some of the most precious moments happen when nothing is scheduled. Weddings can be so unpredictable, and if you expect everything to happen according to a rigid timeline, you might feel rushed.
Planning Your Wedding in Nashville With Intention
Planning a wedding isn’t about perfection or checking every box. The only thing that truly matters is creating a day that feels deeply meaningful to you.
One of the most special things about Nashville weddings is the freedom to create something intentional and personal. And when you approach wedding planning with heart, your day becomes a memory you can return to again and again.
If you’re ready to choose the team who will preserve it all, we’d be honored to document your day with intention, presence, and care. Whether you’re in the early stages or already deep into planning a wedding in Nashville, we’d love to see how we can fit into your story.
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