Picture this: Tia and Troy, two lovebirds ready to tie the knot in the Great Smoky Mountains. They aren’t interested in extravagant receptions or over-the-top ceremonies – no, they’re opting for a midday micro wedding in the heart of the Smokies. With the sun high in the sky and the mountains as their backdrop, Tia and Troy say their “I dos” in a simple yet stunning ceremony. Who needs 300 guests when you have the beauty of nature surrounding you? These two lovebirds are keeping it small and intimate – after all, it’s not about the size of the ceremony, but about the love between two people. Congratulations, Tia and Troy – here’s to a lifetime of joy in the mountains!
How did you meet?
Troy is a respiratory therapist and I am a nurse. We met working at Camden Clark Medical Center in Parkersburg, WV
What is your proposal story?
We went on a wonderful week vacation in Colorado. We rented a car and traveled from Denver — Colorado Springs — Breckenridge — Rocky Mountain National Park — Boulder. It was a fun and beautiful road trip. On Our second to last day, we hiked to Sky pound in RMNP. It was about 75 degrees at the bottom of the trail and by the time we reached the top it was starting to snow! It was absolutely beautiful and we had the place all to ourselves. When I turned around from looking at the amazing scenery, Troy was down on one knee ready to propose. He said, “I love you and all of our adventures together. I want to do this forever with you. Will you marry me?” And of course I said yes! It was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful
Tell us a little a bit about your wedding
Troy and I love hiking and being outdoors, so we knew we wanted something “in the woods”
We also know how expensive traditional weddings can get, so we knew we wanted to keep things budget friendly. Luckily from working in the same field, we share the same friend group so narrowing our guest downs to close friends and our parents was the easy part.
Looking for a venue that was Intimate, outdoors, and inexpensive
we are also from South Carolina so we knew we wanted to keep things within driving range for us and our guests.
It took a little bit of searching, but we stumbled upon chapel in the hollow and they had everything we wanted and more!
Not only did they have the perfect venue, but they also provided an officiant, photography, videography, coordination, and local suggestions. All of this at a crazy affordable price
Everything was perfect! They were so sweet and accommodating and our pictures and video were beautiful
Tell us about your attire choices.
When looking into the venue they provided flowers (if wanted) as well as decorations. They had a many color choices. My dress had an underlining of champagne, so I wanted to incorporate that in the wedding. Navy seemed to pair beautifully with it, and the flower choice that paired best was a navy/dusty blue.
So after these three colors were chosen, I asked the women to wear dresses in one of these colors and the men to wear formal/semi-formal wear in these colors
What was the most important to the two of you while planning? Was there anything that you chose to splurge on or skip?
The most important thing to us was to be stress free on our day so that we could enjoy it.
Our must haves for our day were: a beautiful outdoor venue that was drivable for guests, photography, videography, and the “traditional things”
We were able to cut a cake, pop champagne for a toast, share a first dance, as well as dances with parents, and have an isle for my dad to walk me down.
I would say for splurging: we splurged on a nice tailored suit as well as a real wedding dress. We also splurged to have a traditional wedding cake. We also splurged on the “reception venue” which was a 25 person cabin for everyone to stay and hang out for 3 days (great decision!)
We skipped out on: expensive meal (we had a BBQ style meal delivered, which was easy and
delicious), decorations, flowers, invitations (digital), alcohol (BYOB), rehearsal dinner (there was no rehearsal)
What were your favorite parts of the day?
My dads first look before he walked me down the aisle and my husbands and all our friends looks as I walked down the aisle (no one had seen my dress except the moms).
All the pictures were fun to take and I know all my friends were just as impressed and enjoyed the venue/wedding/pictures as much as we did.
The cabin is where we had the reception. It was so much fun. We had a boys vs girls karaoke battle half the night, so much dancing and laughing and the best part everyone just got to walk a few steps to bed at the end of the night!
Tell us about your wedding flowers.
Easy! A borrowed arrangement from chapel i’m the hollow. Beautiful, free, and no hassle for us!
Tell us about your wedding cake.
We wanted a 3 tier wedding cake that looked rustic and traditional. But on the inside we had a different flavor in every tier, delicious!
What did you do for favors?
Our favors were something fun that could be used during the wedding. We gave them out the first night everyone got to the cabin.
It consisted of: a “I love you to the mountains and back” coozie and 12oz cup that included our names and wedding date, as well as a SMNP sticker and a flavored shot
Did you include any family heirlooms or special traditions?
My mom wanted to do the something old, new, borrowed, blue tradition.
I walked down the aisle with my great grandmothers bracelet around my bouquet, gifted from my grandma (old). I wore an ankle bracelet with my married initial on it, gifted from my mom (new). I had a blue garter gifted from a best friend. And a borrowed custom wedding handkerchief from another best friend.
Do you have any advice for couples planning their weddings now?
Do what YOU want. Not what your parents, friends, etc. want. This is your and your significant others day. It is about you and your love. You should do what makes you happy. You should be stress free and have a day that’s full of fun!
Traditional weddings are great and if you want that you should do it!
But the best advice I heard was “no one ever regrets a small wedding” and I believe it!
I loved having the intimacy of close friends and family around. No need to entertain or make things “perfect”. Everyone jumped right in and helped make things happen without ever being asked.
I got to marry my best friend and spend 3 days having the most fun with our favorite people. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.