From the Bride: Given that our many of our guests were not from Kentucky and came from far away (the groom's family and father of the bride are originally from the NYC area), it was important to us to give our guests who were from out of town and may have never been to Kentucky before, a really authentic taste of the area. As such, we looked at the wedding not as a one day event, but rather a three day party. On the night before the wedding, instead of a traditional wedding rehearsal with only the bridal party, we invited ALL wedding guests to a bluegrass pig roast and bourbon tasting. We rented out the Woodford Reserve Distillery and arranged for private tours and bourbon tastings, including a bluegrass band that played rock and pop covers in blue grass style! A couple of highlights from that night included the crowd dancing to a blue grass cover version of a Britney Spears classic, and everyone LOVED that we arranged for Crank and Boom to bring their mobile ice creak truck to the distillery to serve everyone desert.

On the big day, while all the bridesmaids got pampering and hair and makeup at the hotel, the groom and his groomsmen went for haircuts and hot shaves at a BYOB barbershop where you can shoot pool. The boys had a blast - and they loved their groomsman's gifts - they each got custom made personalized bobbleheads! One of our favorite moments of the day was the "First Look" - when Jonathan got to see me in my dress for the first time and we had a chance to send a few special romantic solo moments together before all the craziness of the ceremony and the reception started. The ceremony was beautiful, and it was amazing that one of Jonathan's oldest friends, currently a US Congressman, flew in to perform the ceremony. The groom and I both teared up when we read our custom vows to each other - what an amazing moment! After the ceremony, we arranged for everyone to take guided tours of the Castle, which were really well received.

For the reception, our location was beautiful, but it was also very flexible in working with different food, beverage and entertainment vendors. Our band was absolutely amazing and had the crowd dancing and rocking throughout! We had a custom bar that featured 26 different varieties of bourbons, including some rare ones. The crowd raved about the food - the lobster beignets and mini "hot browns" were a particular crowd favorite, as was the dessert station where there was a chef injecting bourbon or Frangelico into chocolate covered strawberries. My favorite moments from the party was when my brother jumped onstage and started jamming with them on the harmonica! (My brother hadn't player harmonica in more than 10 years, but he did it as a surprise.) Jonathan and I had the time of our lives, and we hope that we gave our guests a great party and a "taste of Kentucky"!