Who says you need a fancy venue to get married, when you can have the most amazing fall foliage as the background of your micro wedding in Nashville? Save on your wedding venue, splurge on your wedding photographer.

Karri and James’s micro wedding was one for the books. As we all know, during a pandemic many couples had to reinvent the way they would tie the knot. This wedding only had 5 people in it, and a Jeep! Karri and James are so lucky to be neighbors with their best friends Liz and Olaf, the only guests, along with their officiant, Karri’s longtime friend Addison, who flew to Nashville from Phoenix just to marry them.

I love getting to know the couples I photograph, but I have to say that I enjoyed getting to know Karri in particular for the way she tells stories, as James describes her so well as an “animated storyteller.”

Karri and James met on the dating app Bumble. "He wanted to meet for coffee one Saturday morning. I was terrified to meet in the morning because there's no real escape if we aren't connecting. Evening dates I would just say, "Oh! I have a big meeting in the morning and need to go home." Work can't bail you out of a bad weekend date… I wasn't nervous to meet him until I got in the car that morning and I distinctly remember the thought rushed through my head, "he could be the last guy you go on a date with." I quickly pushed that thought out of my mind. We met at Red Bicycle in Germantown and I passed him in my car. He was so attractive. :) We met and our coffee date turned into walking around Germantown and we finally ended up behind City House chatting by a fire pit. I had made a hair appointment months before he and I met and I was supposed to be there at noon. I was almost late to my appointment because we talked so long.”

“We got engaged just before our four year anniversary. We do a lot of hiking, biking, baking together. I can spend lots of time with him and not get annoyed (something I never thought possible).” They chose Percy Warner Park for their wedding because “It's beautiful and we walk there a lot. James used to trail run there.” Choosing the perfect spot within the park was a fun adventure. Karri wanted to have a few photos of them in James’s old jeep with a "just married" sign. That was fun, because we took a drive around the park right after taking those photos and it was the perfect way to end the photoshoot before it started to rain and they went off to have a celebratory dinner at Miel and ate their honey cake. “James has known the owner since she opened the restaurant 12 years ago. We recently moved a block away and with COVID, she has brought some normalcy and elevated our stay at home date nights the past few months. We are so excited to celebrate there!”

About their rings and details: “Liz's friend knows the jeweler who made my rings that James designed. I'm also wearing moon earrings she made. I've always had a fascination with the moon and early on in our relationship we would go on full moon hikes…James loves technology and loses things so he's getting a ring that tracks his heart rate and other things. He'll most likely lose it so he didn't get a special made ring.”

Their wedding day was the most colorful of the fall season. The leaves were at their peak, and the couple’s happiness filled the air. If you can summarize the feel of their day, this would be it: #microweddingbiglove.

Cheers to a wonderful life together, Karri and James!