At This Backyard Wedding in Nashville, Blush Tones and ’90s Nostalgia Reigned Supreme

In 2018, Laura Hanson Sims was set up with Ryan Schemmel in Nashville by her childhood best friend, Gracie McGraw. Gracie thought the model would hit it off with her cute neighbor who ran the fabrication company Fort Houston. They did—however, the timing was off: Laura lived in New York and didn’t want to enter a long-distance relationship. So, for the time being, the two remained friends.

That time was over by 2022, when both Laura and Ryan found themselves living in Los Angeles. “One thing led to another, and our constant and comforting friendship blossomed into a beautiful love story. We very quickly knew that if we were going to do this, this would be it,” said Laura. In March 2024, Ryan proposed at the Tuileries Garden in Paris.

The couple held a June wedding at Laura’s family home in the historic Belle Meade neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee.

The bride wore a Vivienne Westwood gown with an off-the shoulder neckline and corseted bodice. “My dress was a reproduction of a couture piece that debuted the year I was born, which made it feel even more meant to be,” Laura says. She paired it with a rose embroidered mantilla style veil by Kyan of Homa, diamond studs borrowed from her mother, and an antique sapphire cluster ring from her godmother Marianne. Though perhaps her greatest accessory? “My red hair is one of my favorite things about myself, so I wore it down and flowy so I could shake it around all night,” Laura says.

She walked through her front yard, arm-in-arm with her father, clutching her late grandfather’s rosary. Ryan, wearing Bode, waited for her by the front steps of her home. The couple recited their own vows. After their officiant, their close friend Brady, pronounced them wed, the song “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None The Richer played. “The song was actually recorded in Nashville and made the end of the ceremony feel like a ’90s romcom,” Laura says of the significance. As guests threw lavender, the couple climbed into an antique British car to drive away for their first moment as husband and wife.

While guests mingled in the backyard for cocktail hour, complete with Champagne and an oyster shucker, Laura and Ryan ate dinner just the two of them. “I think it was one of the best decisions we made for the wedding because we got to have a private moment to decompress and debrief and enjoy each other,” Laura says of the unconventional choice. They also cut their cake—complete with their grandparents’s wedding topper from the 1950s—among just their family, serving it on heirloom china.

Then, it was time to party. With help from their planner, Fran Grote, the couple turned their backyard into a blush-tented wonderland, complete with roses, gilded candles, and light pink table linens. They entered, and had their first dance to, “Dreams” by The Cranberries, in keeping with their ’90s vibe.

As the night started to heat up, Laura changed into a custom dress by Cinq. “I knew I wanted something Victorian inspired, and they made my wildest dreams come true with a four piece set made up of a satin ruched skirt, a lace turtleneck, a corset, and a Victorian lace and satin puff sleeve jacket,” she says of the design process.

Waiters passed out mini grilled cheeses, smash burgers, mini corn dogs, and Totino’s pizza rolls—Laura’s favorite. Nearly every guest had a Bushwacker cocktail in hand. And for those who wanted to take a break from the dance floor, the couple had a tarot card reader as well as a cigar lounge for added entertainment.

At 11 p.m., when the neighborhood’s noise ordinances kicked it, they held an after-party at Soft Junk in East Nashville. “We thought our LA friends would get a kick out of the fact that they have a huge Hollywood sign in front of it that says ‘Howdywood,’” says Laura. They danced until the sun rose.

“It really does go by in the blink of an eye,” Laura says of their wedding. “I wish that I could freeze it and walk through everything again because it all turned out so beautifully.”