A Boho Music Festival Inspired This Saddle Wood Farms Wedding Outside Nashville, Tennessee

For their barn wedding at Saddle Wood Farms in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Sheila and Brent chose a boho-meets-country theme, drawing inspiration from music festivals and all things cowboy.  Sheila and Brent's wedding day was inspired by the Under the Big Sky festival where they first heard their wedding band, the Hog Slop String Band, play on a 300-acre ranch in Montana. "My husband and I love a song called 'Hippies and Cowboys' by Cody Jinks," says Sheila. "One of the best trips of our life was at a music festival in Whitefish, Montana, where Cody Jinks was on the lineup. There were all these amazing food vendors, local artisans, a rodeo, and incredible live country, Americana and rock music. All of a sudden, we started hearing a song from one of our favorite shows 'Yellowstone' and realized the artist, Ryan Bingham, was also in the lineup. Naturally, we fell in love with more artists than we came to see. So all of our inspiration for our Nashville wedding came from that music festival and the meaning behind all the songs we heard that weekend. We first heard our wedding band at that Montana festival, later found out they were local to Nashville, and just had to have them. I also used an invitation designer who was local to Montana because I knew she'd understand the vibe we were trying to incorporate. Then considering Nashville has such a vast music scene and I lived there for a few years, we loved it as the perfect destination to host a 'hippies and cowboys' wedding festival."

To kick off their festival wedding, the couple actually shared a private moment with family before they exchanged vows in "a ceremony outdoors next to the barn where we hosted the reception," says Sheila. "Before the ceremony, we had a toast with just our wedding party and family. 'Urbanaroo' was etched in egg whites on top of these custom cocktails and my father-in-law said a few words. Looking back, it was a super intimate moment and a chance for everyone involved in the wedding to catch our breath before activities began. There were horses surrounding us, a tree swing, and all this beautiful nature that brought a super peaceful moment during a busy day." After their intimate pre-wedding toast, the couple tied the knot in the ceremony space which was decorated with "arrangements full of pampas grass and roses lined the aisle that led to the main altar which had a floral crescent arch. The first two rows of seating were light pink couches and the last two rows of seating were standing room only, for COVID-19 precautions. Right next to the ceremony was the set up for 'Urbanaroo' which was our music festival reception." 

Following the ceremony, guests were ushered through an entryway with a sign that read 'Welcome to Urbanaroo' to enjoy cocktail hour and the reception. "Once we were announced as husband and wife, there was an entry sign into our cocktail hour that read 'Urbanaroo.' We combined inspiration from our new last name 'Urban' and the Tennessee music festival 'Bonnaroo.' Guests shook tambourines that had 'Urbanaroo 2020' with hand-made calligraphy as they entered into the festival. I had this dream of entering our cocktail hour with all my friends cheering, the band playing on their string instruments, teepees full of flowers, drinks shaken, and cotton candy winding. This moment was not only captured in my heart but also will forever be cherished in my photos, I had my dream come true."

Ample details helped the couple bring their 'hippies and cowboys' vision to life. In terms of hippie elements, they incorporated a handmade dream catcher seating chart display from Brazil, a dream-catcher-inspired cake and a vintage phone as their guest book They also brought in a Volkswagen photo booth bus, flower crown station and teepees. Even their signature cocktail, a lavender vodka lemonade infused with CBD, bore a boho moniker: "Hank's Hippie Drank." As for the cowboy-inspired moments of the day, another cocktail known as "Conway's Cowboy Cattailwas" on offer. Brent and his attendants wore bolo ties in keeping with the cowboy theme and the tablescape for the reception even included bandana napkins. To bring the whole aesthetic together cohesively, the dup dubbed the day "Urbanaroo" as an ode to their last name and a play on Bonnaroo to further evoke the sense of a music festival. When it came to partying the night away, Sheila and Brent had a "Boot Scootin Boogie" dance with their guests then ended the night with an ice cream sundae food truck! 

To ensure that no one missed any of the fun details provided, the bandana dinner napkins at each place setting actually doubled as maps of the festival setup. "Another favorite moment of mine was seeing my guests open their festival maps which were bandanas that functioned as their dinner napkins. Some of the guests had no idea we had a flower crown truck, cotton candy, ice cream truck, photo booth and teepee's for them to enjoy outside. The map was also a keepsake that was waved above their heads on the dance floor, used as face masks and by the end of the night, they were headpieces." 

Looking back on their festival-inspired wedding in Tennessee, the couple encourages current to-be-weds in the throes of wedding planning to "listen to your gut. When couples are planning their wedding during a worldwide pandemic, there are so many blurred lines between what is right, what is wrong, what you perceive to be right, what others perceive to be wrong, and then everything in between. On top of that, we have a government and the public health community telling us different things based on a constantly changing dynamic. At the end of the day, you are not in charge of other people's health but you are in charge of making sure your guests feel safe, respected and welcome. We had everyone with negative COVID tests before and after our wedding which we believe happened because we took precautions. All vendors wore masks, nobody sat with more than 5 people per table, and we emphasized the use of outdoor space throughout the entire day. This was our dream wedding and we could not have asked for more."