When love calls, you answer — even on short notice. Tessa and Steve proved that a quickly planned micro wedding can be just as magical as one years in the making. Their intimate celebration at Chapel in the Hollow in Townsend, Tennessee, blended elegance, sentiment, and the natural beauty of the Smoky Mountains.
They decorated the chapel with hunter green and white fabric, accented by the venue’s signature white florals — a crisp, classic palette that stood out beautifully against the forest backdrop. Tessa wore a sleeveless gown with a detachable train, while Steve embraced a relaxed country style with jeans, a white shirt, and suspenders.
Even with little time to prepare, the day was full of thoughtful touches: friends helped with setup, mason jars of flowers lined the pews, and the couple shared both traditional and handwritten vows. A handfasting ceremony, officiated by Ian Parrott, added a symbolic and romantic flourish.
After the “I dos,” we captured family portraits, bold shots with Steve’s Harley, and scenic moments along the woodland trail, highlands, and mountain overlook. The golden late-day light and sweeping views made their whirlwind wedding feel timeless.
Venues like Chapel in the Hollow, paired with trusted local vendors, make spur-of-the-moment weddings beautifully simple — focusing on love, family, and connection above all else.
From the Bride:
We met online via Hinge; texted for a while, I would say about a month. He was a mechanic, my truck needed some service, I was planning on dropping it off that following weekend until i found out it was his 5 years sober anniversary. He said he wasn’t doing anything special for it, so asked him if he wanted me to drop the truck off early and get dinner. We planned on going to Erv’s mug, but it was closed so we went to Charcoal Grill across the street instead. Ended up sitting there talking until it closed.
He was sweet and polite. smooth conversation. We didn’t start officially dating until a year later. Started with a friendship, he made it clear he was interested though and always dropped everything to help me whenever he could. After a year, I realized I had such a great guy in front of me and I would hate to see him with anyone else or lose him so we started dating.
Steve proposed to me. We like to travel together, we are trying to see all the national parks. We went on a trip to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park. There he took me to the top of moro rock and proposed to me. He did a good job.
We want to get married in a national park, so we did not anticipate a large wedding. Wanted something small and personal. My dad also lives in TN and I know he would want to be there. So when i saw Chapel in the Hollow, I fell in love and knew thats where i wanted to be.
Getting some nice photos with Steve. lol, we both aren’t too photogenic and seem to neglect taking pictures together regularly. It will be nice to have hopefully at least 1 nice picture of us LOL.
We chose this date because it is our anniversary. This year will be 3 years of us dating. (not counting the year we were friends)
We collect Harley patches and coins from all the different areas we visit, we typically also get a state magnet. Date nights; we do a variety of things, sometimes we cook together, sometimes we like to go out to eat to our favorite places, we like to go to events like harley events, pbr, anything with nitro, comedy shows, etc. We like going for motorcycle or bicycle rides together, or walking our dogs together. Plenty of things, hes my best friend; camping, kayaking, fishing, traveling.