This is how the pros do it! Bride, Penny is also a wedding planner with Aisling Weddings & Events here in Nashville – and she tied the knot with her husband Brad this past spring at the beautiful Scarritt Bennett. Keeping it simple and personal was key to Penny's wedding and adding in so many incredible elements that represented them as a couple really stood out! From their “bomb squad” wedding cake to their dogwood seedlings as guest favors, Penny's eye for detail was so evident in their day! Check out all their beautiful photos from Blue Dahlia and read all about their day below…
Penny + Brad
Scarritt Bennett
4.8.17
Wedding Team:
Location and Catering | Scarritt Bennett Center
Photography | Blue Dahlia Photography
Videography | Varnish Wedding Films
Cake | The Frosted Affair by Jay Qualls
Flowers | Ruth Gardner at Import Flowers
Music | Nashville Wedding Musicians and Nashville Pipes & Drums
Hair and Make-Up | Kara Gaylor
Dress | BHLDN Bridal in Beverly Hills
Suits | Street Tuxedo
Vases | Southern Events
Tree Guest Book | Lets Paint This Town
Bridesmaid Gifts | Southern Polished
Planning and Coordination | Aisling Weddings & Events
Officiant | Stephen Seymour, Unforgettable Ceremonies
From the bride: On the most perfect Spring day in April, Penny Northcutt and Brad Burns were married at the awe-inspiring Wightman Chapel at the Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville. The couple wanted a simple, yet elegant, wedding with just family and those in their wedding party in attendance.
Brad is originally from Nashville, and Penny is originally from Manchester, TN, but has lived in Nashville since 2001. They met on eHarmony, which Penny swore she’d never use. However, on a fateful day while working at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Penny’s friend and co-worker, Missi, informed her that she was going to create an online dating profile on her behalf. Penny wasn’t a fan of the idea, but Missi insisted, and informed Penny that she could create her own online dating profile that very evening, and if she didn’t, Missi would do it for her. Penny couldn’t risk the likely grammatical errors of her friend, and she created an online dating profile that evening, still to her dismay. Brad was the first and only person that caught her attention, and vice versa, as he was new to the site as well. Within 2 weeks, the two were communicating constantly. They had their first date upon Penny’s return from visiting friends in Los Angeles the following week, and the rest is blissful marital history.
Penny had always dreamed of a Spring wedding, and had every detail of the day in her head, ready to execute when the time came. This was also much in part to her experience coordinating weddings for others as co-owner of Aisling Weddings & Events in Nashville. Penny was able to book nearly every aspect of her wedding within a 2 week period. However, the dress was lacking. On another trip to Los Angeles, Penny’s friend, Julie, surprised her with dress fittings at Saks Bridal and BHLDN Bridal, both in Beverly Hills. After finding several dresses that were beyond fabulous, but not so fabulous for the budget, the last dress of the day proved to be “the one” in every way at BHLDN. It was then that every aspect of the wedding was truly complete…still several months before the wedding.
Even though the couple wanted a simple wedding, Penny made sure that certain aspects were included. The music had to be grand and stately, as well as unique, and Wedding Musicians Company delivered, especially with the ending of Bohemian Rhapsody via the pipe organ as the recessional song. Guests and the wedding party were caught looking at each other asking, “Is that Bohemian Rhapsody?” Indeed, it was. To honor Brad’s Irish heritage, Penny also wanted to include bagpipes. As the groomsmen entered from the front of the chapel, so did a bagpiper and a snare drummer from the back of the chapel while playing Wearing of the Green. Brad had no clue, and was overcome with emotion. The bag piper and snare drum also accompanied the organ for a stately rendition of Highland Cathedral for the bridal entrance. To include more of Brad in the day, the rings were presented in a wooden container shaped like a bomb, which was made by Penny’s dad for Brad, to honor his profession, and made from a tree that fell in the yard of the couple’s home.
From the bride: The brunch reception for the 100 guests took place in the Susie Gray Dining Hall, with a custom menu by Scarritt Bennett’s Executive Chef, Jennifer Threadgill, consisting of a biscuit bar with all the fixings, maple glazed bacon, cheese grits, and Jennifer’s own homemade apple butter, and other brunch delicacies. Another nod to Brad’s heritage were the flower arrangements on the reception tables, with Irish coffee mugs used as vases, rented from Southern Events in Franklin, filled with perfectly Spring-like arrangements created by Ruth Gardner, from Import Flowers.
But, the pièce de résistance was the cake. Brad is on the bomb squad of the Metro Nashville Police Department, and that was highlighted for everyone to see with a two-sided cake, thanks to the talents of Jay Qualls of The Frosted Affair. One side of the cake featured beautiful pastel peonies, ranunculus and roses, and the other side featured a bomb technician wearing a bomb suit walking out of the cake…in fondant, of course. The cake was placed on an automatic turntable, and the look on Brad’s face when he saw the “bomb guy” on the cake was priceless.
Because Penny didn’t want the typical guest book, she opted to have a guest book thumb print tree, drawn by the talented Autumn Potter of Lets Paint This Town. The result now hangs on the couple’s home, as a constant reminder of those that shared in their special day. Additionally, Penny didn’t want to give her guests just any old favor, but one that would mean something to the newly married couple, as well as to the family members in attendance. Penny’s dad is a retired county extension agent who specialized in forestry, and who also coached many 4-H forestry judging teams. Therefore, Penny found dogwood seedlings from Porcupine Hollow Farm in Central Lake, Michigan, that the couple gave their guests, as an homage to Penny’s dad and the mutual love of trees by so many in attendance.
The quickly executed day went just as planned, thanks to Penny’s solid vision and experience planning similar events. The newly married couple departed the next morning for 2 weeks in Ireland.
Thank you so much for sharing your wedding with us, Penny! You can check out more on her wedding planning company Aisling Weddings & Events here on their website and also here on Instagram!
