I am originally from Tennessee, East Tennessee to be exact, and don't get to visit as often as I would like.  It is usually a big event that brings me back home, and this weekend was no different.

This past weekend we traveled to Tennessee to celebrate my friend Katie and her new husband Jeff on their big day!  It was a perfect weekend filled with roller coasters (literally), amazing food, people I love dearly, and beautiful surroundings!  Not to mention Canean and I got to celebrate our sixth wedding anniversary while being surrounded by those we love so much!

We started the festivities off with a trip to Dollywood, for those of you who do not know it is an amusement park themed around the one and only Dolly Parton!  Yes, it's as amazing as it sounds.  We road roller coasters all day, which was not something I usually partake in, but I did it and had a blast...even though my face in every picture looked like my life was in danger.  See image below...

I swear I was having fun...or I started to have fun on the next one, once my legs stopped shaking.  It was a great day and brought back so many childhood memories of going there before there were roller coasters!  Dollywood...I'll be back and I'll ride your coasters again.

I can tell you that when you are 30, roller coasters take it out of you, and so that night we grabbed some food and called it a night.

The next day all of the girls in for the wedding met up at a nail salon to sip wine, get our toes did, and soak up our time with the bride! 

We finished up our nails and everyone headed off to get ready for the rehearsal night.   Katie and Jeff held a BBQ for family and close friends with some of the best food I've eaten in a long time.  There was pulled pork, southern fried chicken, ribs, biscuits, baked beans, greens, slaw, and delicious parmesan herb corn on the cobb...for dessert apple crumb crisp and homemade whip cream.   I am going to go ahead and say it, I failed y'all on the food picture taking this trip...things got busy and when the food arrived...I ate it.  But I did manage to snap one quick pic from the BBQ.  We ate, drank, and hung out.  It was a perfect evening.

The wedding as well as the BBQ were held at a lodge in Maryville, Tennessee.  It's a gorgeous, rustic bed and breakfast with lush trees, plaid walls, and just the perfect amount of southern charm.  Isn't this dogwood tree beautiful?

We made it to the day of the wedding, and Katie looked radiant!  You could just see how happy she was to be marrying Jeff.  And Jeff was just as radiant.  I love to see a groom just as ecstatic about marrying his bride!  They are just perfect for each other bringing out the best in one another. 

The ceremony was simple, elegant, and completely Katie and Jeff.  Her dress was a vintage modern lace material, form fitted to her body and could not have been more beautiful!  The ceremony was perfect and was followed by a sit down dinner.  The food did not disappoint yet again, and the decorations were a beautiful mix of rustic elegance.  Succulents, roses, ferns, and herbs decorated the tables with romantic candle sticks added in.  Loved every bit of it.

We followed dinner by dancing the night away and then roasting s'mores around a fire pit until 2:30 in the morning listening to one of Katie and Jeff's friends strum the guitar and sing songs...so much fun.

The only mishap of the entire wedding was that Katie almost broke her toe, but she says it looks worse than it actually is...I'm not so sure.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and our last day in Tennessee had arrived.  We could not have asked for a better weekend with some of my best friends that I miss every day and wished we lived closer! 

Cheers to Katie and Jeff and their new adventure together in life!  May you all find as much happiness with each other as I have with my own marriage!  Thanks for a beautiful and rockin' weekend!