Samantha & John | Sept. 10, 2023

📸: Kendal Beard Photography // @kendalbeard

It was only right that these Tennessee residents bring elements of Nashville to Bristol’s Mount Hope Farm to transport their guests to the country music center of America.

By Kaitlyn Murray

The Meet Cute: Though they had friends in common, these college sweethearts first connected through Tinder during their sophomore year at the University of New Hampshire. “We have been best friends ever since.”

The Engagement: Samantha had an inkling the proposal was coming in the weeks leading up. “I knew for certain though, when we were sitting on our porch and I got a text message for a fraudulent purchase made on the credit card for a jewelry company,” she recalls. “I was ecstatic! John, not so much.” A few weeks later, on a random Wednesday night in June, the two visited a nearby horse farm where he got down on one knee. They then shared the happy news with their loved ones and punctuated the occasion with a romantic dinner.

The (Father’s) First Look: A big jokester, Samantha’s father loved to tell her that he would only cry tears of joy on her wedding day because she would be “John’s problem now!” And cry he did when he first saw his daughter as a bride. “I knew that moment with him would be something I would cherish forever, so it meant everything to me when he turned around and saw me in my wedding dress for the first time.” she says. “He gave me a little music box that played our song, Butterfly Kisses, and I attached a picture of us from when I was a little girl to the back of his tie.”

The Venue: Though the couple had relocated from Rhode Island to Nashville, Tennessee a few years prior, New England will always be home. “Being with all of our family and friends and getting married by the water was the most important things to us, so the location was an easy decision.”

The Food: Both foodies, Samantha and John couldn’t let their day go by without a cheesy toast. “In the summer months, John makes his own Neapolitan-style pizzas, and so we knew we had to somehow incorporate that into our wedding,” she explains. “While we did do a traditional cake cutting with a mini cake, we also thought it would be fun, and a good representation of who we are, to slice a pizza and feed that to each other, too!”

The Highlights: “It was truly everything we could have wanted and more,” Samantha says. She loved that the wedding had a good mix of Rhode Island meets Nashville. The former included passed fish and chips cones and late-night coffee milkshakes, while the latter honey butter fried chicken and BBQ beef sliders, country music during dinner and flashing cowboy hats on the dancefloor. Plus, “Anyone who knows me also knows that I love ice cream, so rather than serving our guests cake, we had a DIY brownie ice cream sundae bar. 10 out of 10 recommend!” she adds.