Last weekend, Dylan and I hopped on a plane to Nashville, TN.  My college roommate, a friend of ours who spent the semester in Greece with us, was getting married!  We met her fiance last year when we were in Nashville, so it was such a joy to celebrate with them as they vowed forever.  They had an intimate wedding held in the backyard of his parents.  He made dinner, personally, for all of their guests and it couldn’t have been more perfect!

One of Dylan’s and my favorite things to do is to enjoy brunch together.  What meal is better than breakfast? None.  Who gets up later than most people, so it’s almost lunch time?  Us.  With that, brunch is our thing!  So, you can bet we had brunch every morning that we were in Nashville!  First up was actually a lucky chance.  We had wanted to go to Biscuit Love, but the line was crazy long and neither of us had had coffee yet.  So, we went inside Bar Louie and it was such a fun decision!  Dylan’s Bloody Mary (his favorite drink) looked like this (these are ALL phone photos, so no judging please…):

Sunday, we met up with some of our college friends and went to Holler and Dash, as we were still a little hesitant to try the line at Biscuit Love, again.  This day, we also went to the Country Music Hall of Fame.  The friends we were with are both musically talented and this was on their list of things to see.  It was really cool to see Elvis’ golden cadillac!  It was painted with crushed diamonds and fish scales! WOAH! I do wish there was more emphasis of all the ladies of country music…

After touring, we headed to Hattie B’s, which is supposed to be a pretty awesome spot to eat hot chicken, a staple for Tennessee (maybe the whole South). I ordered the chicken and waffles, which is lucky since they only serve this on Sundays and only until the waffles run out.  I would not recommend ordering “Shut the Cluck Up” level spicy… it will rock your world! Only one of us was brave enough to go over mild and he was SWEATING afterwards!  It did not look fun.

That night we met up with the bride and groom.  They hadn’t left for the honeymoon yet and I really love the idea of staying around town a day or two more so you can spend time with those who traveled near and far to spend the day with you!  Wedding days are so quick, that you really don’t get much time with your guests.  I’ve been to many, many weddings, as a photographer and as a guest, so I know this because I’ve experienced this.  By staying in town two extra days, they were able to spend time with friends and family that they didn’t get too much time with the night of the wedding.  It was more of a celebration weekend, instead of just one night.

One thing that I do want to share about our fun time together (besides toasting champagne and sipping whiskey) is that they asked us to share marriage advice and it’s something I’d like all of our couples to know, as well.  First, don’t just become roommates.  Make sure you make time for one another and still have date nights and point of connectivity.  Pencil it in your calendar and don’t miss it!  Secondly, get on the same page about finances.  We’ve seen way too many couples have marriage troubles because they didn’t agree on where their money should go.  My own parents were divorced (but re-married each other years later) because (at least partly because) they couldn’t get in tune with their finances.  If you’re struggling with money, check out Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps.

On Monday, we FINALLY went to Biscuit Love!  We somehow managed to time it just right!  The location we went to is the second location AND it was it’s FIRST day open!  That was really neat!  Employees were outside with umbrellas for guests as they arrived and there was NO LINE!  YAY!  Definitely order the Bonuts!  I’m not sure you could go wrong with your order here, so go!

The only shot we have of the two of us and … Dylan’s eyes are closed.

After brunch, we took an hour and a half drive to Lynchburg to see the Jack Daniel’s Distillery.  This was on Dylan’s bucket list for the trip to Nashville, so we made time for it!  We took the Angel’s Share tour and now Dylan REALLY wants to find a bottle of Sinatra Century.  We didn’t get to try this one at the tasting, but they told us about it and the story has Dylan hooked!  So, if you see Dylan anytime soon, he may try to convince you to buy a barell (fair warning). 

It was a fun trip and I’m so glad we were able to spend the time we did with friends we haven’t seen in years!  If you love Austin, you’ll probably love Nashville!

– Mylah Renae