From the Bride: We chose our venue very carefully - we were looking for something unique and hidden in nature. There is no other place like Lost River Cave, and it was exactly what we wanted. Once used as a night club, the incredible venue made for a perfect space to host our friends and family. Rough stone walls surround three sides of the space, while the gaping mouth of the cave features a beautiful preserved forest. The stream flowing into and through the cave, where it was crossed by a narrow bridge, created an environment befitting the wedding of two nature-loving architects.

We set out to pull together our love of nature, our shared Celtic culture, an homage to the heyday of our venue - the 1930's & 40's - and our love of designing together.

Our first dance was to the song "Girl From the North Country" by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, which has been one of our favorites since we started dating. It was played by our cocktail hour Irish band Liam's Fancy. Eric likes to tease Chris that she's a "northerner" since she grew up in Northern Virginia .A close friend of ours baked the cake as a wedding gift - mocha cake frosted (semi-nude) with white chocolate mascarpone frosting. We had a signature cocktail representing each of our pets. For our blind but gentlemanly Boston Terrier, Nic, we served an altered old fashioned with black currant liqueur. For our beautiful but shy greyhound, Emma, we had a greyhound, though with gin instead of vodka, and garnished with thyme (as she needs time to get to know you). For our wild and jungle-colored cat, Maya, we had a dark and stormy drink with jalapeno and salt around half the rim (careful how you approach, as things could get a little salty).

Our vendors all did an excellent job helping us make the event be what we wanted. Our photographer grasped our visual styles; our caterers provided a delicious menu that reflected our own backgrounds and tastes - Indian food meets Southern BBQ; our musicians created exactly the atmospheres we wanted at the ceremony, cocktail hour, and dancing reception; and our florist brought the forest into the cave with simple but meaningful additions. We're all about the ferns, first and foremost, BUT, Star of Bethlehem for our old memories and Ranunculus for our new.

If I had to give advice it would be to be thorough and remember to have fun, especially when choosing the vendors that are right for you. Try to plan time on the wedding day to relax in between things you have to do, the time goes very fast! And hope you don't have to reschedule due to an international pandemic! Take the time to make the details that are important to you. We drew maps and illustrations together for most of the printed material. Be sure to have inventory of the details like flowers from your bouquet. That way you can plant them in your own garden.

Christa + Eric's Bowling Green Wedding