It’s hard to believe that it’s already been over two weeks since our fun little Nashville wedding. It’s kind of mind-numbing how quickly it’s all over. We had been engaged for two years prior to the wedding, but really, the story of our big day goes all the way back to Christmastime of 2019 when I bought the ring and asked my now father-in-law for his blessing to marry his daughter on a family trip to Smithville, New Jersey. Everyone told us that the day would be a blur, and that turned out to be accurate, but I didn’t expect to look back on the entire process afterwards and think “where the hell did two and a half years go?” Yet, here we are.
There are so many people to thank, and truthfully, we haven’t even started our ‘thank you’ cards yet. Personally, I’ve just been numb, kind of going through the motions – it’s a bittersweet feeling to go from the high of having all of your closest friends and family in one spot for essentially a week-and-a-half-long celebration to the finality of it being over and returning to the routine. That week and a half didn’t feel like real life to me – it felt like time ceased to exist…like we were just stuck in these beautiful moments with no concept of time or space. I talked about it a bit on the most recent episode of the SoBros Power Hour that’s embedded below if you want to give it a listen.
We did a lot of the work for the wedding ourselves, and with the help of our elite support system. Both of our families threw us a hell of a shower. The Guadagno Brothers Wood Shop made one damn sure priceless guest book for people to sign. I had my cousins, aunts, and uncles making trips to Costco just to procure a million Moon Pies, while one of the bridesmaids loaded us up with Goo-Goos. The best man’s in-laws chopped down a fucking tree for this thing. I sanded and coated each of those centerpieces on your tables. Mimi bought us our champagne flutes. We ran around the middle Tennessee area picking up picture frames, wood crates, comic books, ring boxes, card boxes, votives, and a million other things I’m sure I’m forgetting. We made the seating chart ourselves. Brandon hung with me and made sure I didn’t faint while we were getting our suits and rehearsing. Our friends planned bachelor/bachelorette parties for us. McCash and Ryan fed us all weekend at mine. Hell, even RHog proved to be a lifesaver after we tore through every bag of Doritos we brought with us to my bachelor party in one night. He showed up the next morning with two brand new bags for us – clutch. The maid of honor reorganized our entire kitchen. We even had a bridesmaid’s husband work on our air conditioning unit at one point. It was nuts – I don’t know what all of it had to do with our wedding, but we felt an outpouring of love and support the whole time. Our wedding was a community effort that had the fingerprints of those we hold dearest all over it.
But, you can’t hire any of us to plan your wedding. Fuck that – we’re tired now. So, I figured I’d at least shout out the people that you can potentially hire for yours, and send a ‘thank you’ to each of them from the bottom of my heart.
Penny Haas, Event Planning and Management – link – The list starts with Penny, hands down. Aura and I are a pretty laid back couple, but as our wedding date approached and people started poking, prodding, and asking questions, I could see the anxiety building up in Aura, and I could feel it within myself. I thought I could keep my shit together, but there’s no way I would’ve been able to focus on running an event the way my nerves began to knot up inside me. Penny came in and alleviated that pressure for us – she was organized and in command. She listened to us, and she made sure that all of the things we hadn’t even thought about yet were taken care of. At times, we felt like deer in headlights, and Penny helped us make decisions that we didn’t even know we’d have to make. On the day of the wedding, she was our general, making sure everyone was taken care of, everyone understood their assignments, and the venue was looking perfect. There is absolutely no way we would’ve pulled off what turned out to be our dream wedding without Penny.
Jessica McIntosh Photography – link – Between our engagement photos and our wedding photos, we now have a collection of beautiful moments, frozen in time, to hold onto for the rest of our lives. We owe that to Jessica for her tremendous work. But, it’s not just the work itself that stands out – she takes the time to make sure everything is perfect. She’s able to identify great shots, and gets everyone in line for them. The results are just fantastic. But, one of the best compliments we heard about her from our guests is that they didn’t even notice she was there. I’ve been to weddings where the photographer was always right in the middle of the damn way – not Jessica. She is the definition of a professional not only in the quality of her work, but how she carries herself and how she makes you feel celebrated in the process.
Clean Plate Club – link – We had so many compliments on the food. It was something that Aura and I took very seriously, knowing full well that, to us at least, the food was one of the key components to a successful wedding. We had people traveling from all over the country – from California to New Jersey – and we wanted to treat them to a good dinner. Clean Plate Club flourished in that spot – not only was the food good, but I heard from several guests that the service was fantastic as well. We had several guests that had dietary restrictions who said that the servers took their time to explain what was in each dish to make sure everyone was golden. From a personal standpoint, I don’t know if I just had an exhausted, hungry look on my face or what, but when homeboy handed me my plate, that shit was piled high to the moon. I think I counted four pieces of the sweet tea brined chicken as well as a little bit of everything from the buffet.
3rd Coast Entertainment – link – Listen, when the DJ comes up to you when the father of the bride wants to surprise the bride with a song during their dance and asks if that’s okay, you know you’ve got a team that has your back on your side. And, while we’re at it, I don’t think our nephew ever left the dance floor from the time it opened up to the time it closed. I also have to take a moment of appreciation for this moment happening in live action, as Ryan sprinted across the venue to find me, saying “COME ON – THEY’RE PLAYING ‘BACK THAT ASS UP'” and then we ran towards the dance floor.
Nashville Flower Market – link – What an awesome idea. Aura, the bridesmaids, and some of our family booked an appointment with the Nashville Flower Market to do all of the floral arrangements the day before the wedding. While that might frighten some, it was such a cool experience for everyone.
April Borda – Instagram – April made us a beautiful and delicious cake, but since we wanted a little variety for our guests, she was willing to take on the task of cooking up 150 cupcakes in five different flavors. My personal favorite was the lemon flavor.
All Star Custom Figures – link – Some of you guys might remember a story here on SoBros Network from a couple of years ago in which my family had a custom Funko Pop of yours truly, the EIC, made as a birthday gift. Well, I’ll be damned – Brian did it again with these custom Funko Pop cake toppers of Aura and me:

Whitt’s Barbecue – link – Okay, y’all are going to laugh at this one, and that’s fine. I get it. But, I’m still going to shout out Whitt’s BBQ nonetheless. On just 24 hours notice (my bad – nobody could make up their mind on what they wanted), they were able to handle our order for the “rehearsal dinner,” no questions asked. When my mother ventured out to pick it up, they had it ready and organized for her, and even helped her load it up in the car. The BBQ was a hit, and I don’t care what anyone says about the BBQ game in Nashville, I am going to shout out Whitt’s any chance I get.
Steven McCash – link – Every single soul that enjoyed a nice cup of Jeni’s ice cream at our wedding owes our very own Utility Man, Steven McCash, a sincere ‘thank you.’ That man got our order taken care of and even delivered it to the venue on Saturday. Respect.
Also, I’d extend a ‘thank you’ to Cannery Row for being such a beautiful picturesque venue, but they’re about to gut that place and turn it into something else, so I don’t even know if you’ll be able to rent it as a wedding venue anymore.
Listen to “Ep. 69: My Perfect Nashville Wedding” on Spreaker.Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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