Lauren & Justin- River Road and Jasmine House Wedding

Lauren and Justin didn’t even know they were on a “first date” until their initial meeting blossomed into a serious relationship. Here’s Lauren’s story-

Well. Justin is a personal trainer, I was looking for a personal trainer at the time, and now I have one for life! 🙂 Our first “date” was maybe 5 minutes of him showing me how to use a punching bag and 2 hours of non-stop conversation.

For the wedding, Lauren and Justin wanted a simple ceremony in the gardens of the River Road and Jasmine House venue. The ceremony was under an iron arbor next to a bamboo forest, with the reception in the eclectic gardens and tent in the house nearby.

Dress, bouquet and lacy veil at the river road and jasmine house

Justin proposed to Lauren at a hot air balloon festival so they incorporated that in their wedding theme including a large canvas that Justin painted himself for the guests to sign. Here’s their engagement story!

We made plans prior to me moving to go to a Hot Air Balloon Festival in Nashville a couple weeks after I moved up. I of course wanted to marry him, but had no idea he would ask at the festival. We were sitting on a hill in a field looking at the balloons as the sun went down. I was standing up looking at everything, and he was on his hands and knees. I asked, “what are you doing?” As he lifted my foot off the ground. He told me he was looking for his keys. I felt bad I wasn’t helping, but shrugged it off. Little did I know it was the engagement ring that fell out of his pocket that he found under a tuft of grass. He asked me if I wanted to take a picture, of course I said yes. He handed the phone to some people there, and as I’m posing, he gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him. I jump on him, almost falling down the hill, kissing him, trying to breath out a yes! He put the most beautiful ring on my hand, and turned bright red. It was perfect.

I just love the greenery that’s all around the River Road and Jasmine House. It’s the perfect background for great photos.

bride and groom at river road and jasmine house

The bride let the bridesmaids pick out their own black dress and sassy red shoes so each lady was able to pick something to fit her own style. What a great way to have comfortable and happy bridesmaids!

The light through the white tent for the first dances was so beautiful! Having a tent ready to go is a great feature that the River Road and Jasmine House always has available.

We went back over to the ceremony spot for a few more photos of the couple alone. I love the little bamboo forest next to the ceremony arbor. The house itself made a great backdrop too. This venue has so much character!