“We love visiting Tennessee and the mountains to get away from it all. Surrounding ourselves with nature is how we unwind. Growing up in the south, you see "See Rock City" signs all over when you drive up into the mountains. We wanted fantastic mountain views in an area that would feel like a getaway, but was still close enough to home to make planning and travel easy.”

-Laryssa

“I was overwhelmed by how beautiful she was in her dress, with the flowers and jewelry in her hair and her amazing bouquet. I couldn't even find the right words to tell her how amazing she looked at first.”

-Marshall

”I was so excited to show Marshall my dress, because I had somehow managed to keep it secret for over a year and really was giddy to see his reaction. He looked so handsome in his historic costume, and I couldn't stop staring into his beautiful blue eyes.”

-Laryssa

”I loved when we were taking bridesmaid portraits, and a couple of young deer came into the ceremony area like we weren't even there. It was a fairytale moment.”

“We custom built every part of our ceremony to be uniquely "us", and that definitely included the music. We are huge pop culture fans, and visiting conventions and being nerdy is a big part of our lives. Marshall and the Bridal Party walked down the aisle to a Vitamin String Quartet version of the Halo theme, because playing those games is a big part of his childhood friendships, and once we moved in together we played the entire series through as a couple. I walked down the aisle to "Concerning Hobbits", because we both think the Lord of the Rings movies are some of the best ever made and it's kind of a comfort movie to us with beautiful music and a beautiful story. We also played a VSQ version of "Magic Dance" during our handfasting ceremony because Labyrinth is one of my all time favorite movies, and watching my maid of honor Margaret's face when she realized what was playing was priceless.”

-Laryssa

Marshall and Laryssa decided to include their guests in their wedding ceremony by having them participate in a hand fasting. Hand fasting dates back over 2,000 years and is a unity ritual in which a couple stand face to face as their hands are tied together and wrapped in fabric or ribbons, symbolizing the joining of their lives. As your hands are bound, you can recite words that express your commitment to one another. Marshall and Laryssa gave each person attending their wedding ceremony their own ribbon to place across their hands.

“After having to postpone and downsize due to COVID, it somehow felt as though we'd never get to have our wedding day. It was surreal to finally be there. We spent all morning together getting ready, and only split up for me to go put on my dress before the first look. It was fantastic to be surrounded by our very closest friends and family members, but still get so many private moments with just the two of us. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, although a little chilly. Even though it wasn't the day we had originally planned, it blew us away. We felt like we were living out a fairytale, surrounded by love and beauty and nature.”

“I'm a zookeeper who works with birds, and we love to go birdwatching together, so we tried to incorporate birds into our details wherever possible. My bouquet and the boutonnieres had feathers from a mated pair of Tawny Frogmouths that I work with that they shed over the summer before the wedding. Marshall's tie pin was a Bobwhite Quail. Our guest book was a See Rock City Birdhouse, and we gave out Rock City Birdhouse Ornaments as favors. The Table numbers were all prints of birds we've had visit our new home since we moved in together. We included Proteas in our flower arrangements because they are the national flower of South Africa. I went there to rescue orphaned flamingo chicks, which gave Marshall the opportunity to come up with his plan to propose when got back from my trip.”

“Our first dance was a Fall Out Boy song because we love going to their concerts together, and this particular song was released on a day when we were driving up to Gatlinburg for a romantic vacation. The moment we listened to it for that first time, I teared up and knew it had to be our first dance if we ever got married. Years later, it was!”