Caroline + Brad's Louisville Wedding

From the Bride: When choosing our wedding venue, it was essential to have the ceremony and reception space all in one location. I wanted a beautiful but different ceremony scenery and a grand ballroom for the reception that spoke for itself. At The Brown Hotel, they had various rooms and spaces to host all our wedding weekend events. Plus, with it being a hotel, I felt comfortable with all the amenities it provided from restaurants to bars, this was so convenient for our out-of-town guests.

Using the rooftop with Louisville's city skyline in the background as our ceremony space was something different. The ceremony spaciously seated 180+ guests, 14 bridesmaids and groomsmen, and the Louisville Orchestra playing. With it being a hot day in July, we served cold beverages before the ceremony, and each guest could find a hand fan and a program in a seat while enjoying the ceremony. Cocktail hour to follow on the Mezzanine with an open bar and, of course, the famous mini Hot Browns served as one of the appetizers. For us, seeing a wedding we had envisioned and planned for 2.5 years all come together was one of the highlights of our day. Being a COVID couple and having to reschedule and replan everything, it was hard to see all of the pieces come together, and when it did, we were in absolute awe. My brother-law, Blake Rodenroth, got ordained to marry us. Since I was six years old, I've known him, and he's my sister's high school sweetheart, so I wanted to make sure he played a vital role in our wedding day. I did have 2 "Brides-men" out of the 14 Bridesmaids. Instead of The ring bearers and Flower girls walking down by themselves, I had them walk down with their moms to ensure they would (1) make it down the aisle and (2) it made for adorable pictures!

The Crystal Ballroom is beautifully decorated with intricate interior details, gorgeous chandeliers, and I didn't want to take away from the ballroom's beauty. I chose my primary colors, White and Gold, that you can see used for linens and table decor accessories, with Navy being an accent color worn from the bridesmaid's dresses, koozies, and our favors, a deck of cards our guests could take home! We added drink coasters for each guest at the reception that they could use for the top of their glass to let the wait staff know not to take away their unfinished drink. It read, "Please don't take my drink. I'm dancing with the bride and groom." Another important detail that was special to my husband is that our first dance was to "Only You" sang by the Groom's Grandfather, Jimmy Sacca, the lead singer of The Hilltoppers, a vocal quartet that lit up the hit list in the early '50s. The group was all students at Western Kentucky State College, now known as Western Kentucky University, where my husband and I met and graduated college. We loved having a band, I always feel like they bring out a fun dancing crowd. My husband and I love the oldies, so the band only played music from the '60s, '70s, '80s, and '90s music! Our dance floor was packed from start to finish! Our guests got to dance with light-up accessories from sunglasses to tambourines to keep the night alive and fun. When it came to our send-off, we did pop it streamers that we got to run through on the Mezzanine and drove off in a 1960' ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER CLOUD II. The whole day was timeless, classic, and grand, just as I pictured it.

Photography: Kate Phelps Photography | Videography: Paper Crane Co. | Location: Louisville | Venue + Caterer: The Brown Hotel (Rooftop & Crystal Ballroom) | Florals: J Elizabeth Designs | Wedding Planner: Planned Perfection Events | Event Designer: J Elizabeth Designs + Planned Perfection Events | Cake: Mert's Cake | Music: (Ceremony) Louisville Wedding Orchestra (Reception) The Respectables | Transportation: Royal Transportation of Louisville | Stationery + Paper Goods: Wallace Paper Company, Julie Diamond | Hair: Lauren Prather | Makeup: Chelsea Caines | Bride’s Attire: Bridals by Lori | Groom’s Attire: Men's Wearhouse