How To Get A Marriage License In Tennessee

Among all of the wedding planning tasks that you need to do to get married in Tennessee, one of the items on your to-do list that absolutely cannot be skipped is obtaining a marriage license. Your Country Jewell wedding can be the most amazing ceremony in the history of weddings, but without that piece of paper, the marriage won't be official. 

Marriage license requirements vary from place to place, but the following instructions will allow you to get one in Knox County, Tennesee, where our rustic wedding venue near Knoxville is located. 

Apply online
Knox County allows couples to apply for their marriage license online to speed the process up. Simply visit www.KnoxCounty.org to fill out the pre-application, and then you may visit any of the locations listed on their page with the required items to complete the process. You don't have to apply online, but it could save you some valuable time. These locations are only open on weekdays and close between 4:30-5:30 pm. 

Items Needed
To pick up your marriage license from the County Clerk, you will need to have the following things with you: 

• The fee: The cost is $97.50 unless you have completed the Premarital Preparation Course within a year of applying for your marriage license. If you present your notarized Certificate of Completion signed by the course provider, the cost is dropped to $37.50.  
• Proof of date of birth: A certified birth certificate or government issued photo ID may be used for this.  
• The bride and the groom: Both of you must be present to obtain the marriage license. If one of you cannot be there due to a disability, arrangements can be made with the County Clerk for that person to submit a notarized statement.  
• Social Security Number

It's a simple process, yet one of the most important things on your wedding planning to-do list. Your wedding ceremony must take place within 30 days of obtaining the license, and it is good for use anywhere in the state. Pick a day within the 3 weeks before your ceremony at our scenic wedding venue near Knoxville to get your marriage license and schedule it as an appointment, then add it to every calendar you own so you don't miss it. 

Since the both of you have to be there, make it a lunch date and spend the entire afternoon together, either finalizing wedding plans for your Country Jewell celebration or as a day to just relax and enjoy each other's company. Those types of days can be tough to make time for when you're planning a wedding, so use this time as an excuse to take off from work and have some fun together. 

A delightfully quaint Knoxville wedding

& event venue.

6550 Hickory Valley Road

Heiskell, TN 37754

865-494-0552

Visit our website:  www.CountryJewell.com

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on Google+ 

5 of Our Favorite Wedding Unity Ceremonies

Last week our Country Jewell blog was all about 7 Unique Ideas To Add A Personal Touch To Your Wedding Ceremony. This week we are focusing on one more thing that can make your ceremony at our rustic wedding venue near Knoxville even more sentimental - a unity ceremony. There are many different kinds to choose from, all portraying the wonderful symbolism of the two of you uniting your love in marriage. Here are a few that you may want to use. 

Unity Candle
This one is a classic, but it can be done in a couple of different ways. The bride and groom each light a taper candle, then use those to light a larger pillar candle together, two flames becoming one. Some couples choose to have their parents light the taper candles, and then the bride and groom use those to light the pillar candle, symbolizing that the 2 families are being joined with your marriage. 

Sand Ceremony
A sand ceremony leaves you with a pretty container to display in your home after the wedding. You can find many different options online or in a wedding supply store, most often a decorative jar or a special frame made just for this. 

Two small containers, each with a different color of sand, are placed on either side of the main container. When it's time to unite the two colors of sand into one, you each take turns pouring the contents of your small jar in. It looks nice if you do multiple layers of each color. This is a wonderful ceremony if children are already a part of the new family you are forming, because you can include them by having more small jars with a new sand color for everyone. 

Ring Warming
All of your wedding guests have a part to play in this ceremony, and it works particularly well for smaller weddings. While the officiant is speaking, your wedding rings are passed around the room in a small bag, and each guest is asked to bless the rings when they come to them. Once the rings get back to you, they are filled with well wishes and happy thoughts from all of your beloved family and friends.   

Tie the Knot, Literally
Sometimes getting married is referred to as "tying the knot," so this unity ceremony fits right in. All you need is two strands of rope, preferably in different colors, and directions for tying a fisherman's knot, which is one of the strongest knots to tie. Each rope is meant to represent your past as an individual, and you will join the two ropes just as you are joining together in marriage. 

The officiant will have each of you pull on your end once the knot is tied to demonstrate the strength of it and how it cannot be broken. That knot that you have tied will be a reminder of the strength of your love and the binding together of your two hearts. 

Watch Love Grow
Planting a tree together gives you something to grow along with the many happy years of wedded bliss ahead of you. To save time and make this a little less messy, the sapling you are planting in a large pot should be mostly planted prior to the ceremony. 

Just like the sand ceremony above, you will need two small containers of dirt that you can each add together to complete the planting. To make it have even more meaning, get the dirt to be added from places that are special to each of you, such as the yard of your childhood homes. This tree can later be replanted in the yard of the home you share as man and wife.    

The person officiating your wedding may have some additional ideas from other unity ceremonies they have witnessed in the past. These don't take a lot of time to incorporate, and they add a lot of special meaning to your ceremony at our scenic wedding venue near Knoxville. Find one that you both love the idea of and add it to your wedding day plans. 

A delightfully quaint Knoxville wedding

& event venue.

6550 Hickory Valley Road

Heiskell, TN 37754

865-494-0552

Visit our website:  www.CountryJewell.com

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on Google+ 

7 Unique Ideas To Add A Personal Touch To Your Wedding Ceremony

Every wedding is as unique as the people that are tying the knot. Even when it follows tradition "by the book," you can still fit in a small detail or two that puts your own personal touch on your celebration at our scenic wedding venue near Knoxville. If you happen to be the type of Country Jewell couple that wants to steer away from tradition, then you may want to incorporate every idea we have for you in today's blog. Pick and choose what you like, then make it your own!

Give Everyone Flowers
Your wedding party doesn't have to be the only ones wearing flowers on the big day. Have the florist make boutonnieres and floral clips for all of your guests, and you can even let them serve as escort cards if you attach names and table numbers. This could be an affordable option if you are hosting a small wedding. If you're a DIY bride (or groom,) make them yourself from silk flowers. Then everyone at the wedding has something special to dress up with. 

Skip the Flowers
If you aren't particularly "flower people," get creative and substitute something else that you do like. A bouquet made of brooches won't wilt after the wedding, and your bridesmaids could carry dressy clutches, lanterns, parasols, dreamcatchers, or other items that work well with the wedding theme. As for the fellas, get ideas for the groom's favorite things and use items like fancy fishing lures, golf tees, action figures, or anything that fits his personality in place of blooms for the boutonnieres. 

Pre-Ceremony Slideshow
Lots of couples put time and effort into making a slideshow full of photos from their lives before the wedding day, but often at the reception, guests are too preoccupied with reception activities and visiting with each other to really pay attention to it. Instead, play the slideshow before the ceremony while everyone is seated and waiting for everything to begin. You can still run it on a loop at the reception later too. 

Get a Friend Ordained
One sure way to personalize a ceremony to fit the two of you perfectly is to have a close mutual friend or beloved family member that knows you both very well perform the ceremony. It's quick and easy to get ordained online, and that person is sure to have some great stories to share, plus you'll be a lot more at ease with someone special to you both bringing you together as man and wife.  

Crowd Participation
Rather than having someone come up front and read your favorite passage about love and marriage, print it in the program and let your guests recite it out loud together. There are also some wonderful unity ceremonies that involve all of your guests, like a Ring Warming Ceremony where everyone touches and blesses the wedding rings, or a Reverse Unity Candle Ceremony that has the couple light a single candle together, then use that flame to light candles held by everyone else until "love is glowing" all around . 

Be Your Own Ushers
A great way to get the receiving line moving and get back to the altar for pictures after the ceremony is to be your own ushers. After you've made your walk down the aisle as the new Mr. & Mrs., release guests row by row starting at the back. They can congratulate and hug you as they pass, and by the time you get to the front row, you're back at the altar for photos and the guests are well on their way to the reception. 

Dance To Your Reception
If you take all of your wedding photos before the ceremony, you can head straight to the reception along with your guests. Choose a fun, upbeat song to dance back down the aisle to, and have your guests follow you "conga line style" on to the reception site. Either use live musicians that can follow you or have someone in charge of carrying a wireless speaker. 

Those are just a few ways that you can add something new and fun to your celebration at our rustic wedding venue near Knoxville. Talk over some different possibilities with your fiance, and once you get the conversation started, you're sure to come up with some great ideas that are perfect for the two of you at your Country Jewell wedding. It's your special day, have fun with it and make it all your own! 

A delightfully quaint Knoxville wedding

& event venue.

6550 Hickory Valley Road

Heiskell, TN 37754

865-494-0552

Visit our website:  www.CountryJewell.com

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on Google+ 

Creative Alternatives For Your Wedding Guest Book

A wedding guest book is a nice way to keep a record of the people that were able to share your special day with you. Often, that book gets put away in a box of memories from your rustic wedding in Tennessee and rarely, if ever, gets looked through. There are lots of incredible guest book alternative ideas that use items you can put on display after the wedding to see and enjoy. Country Jewell has a few of those ideas for you in today's blog .

Quilt Squares
This can be done in a couple of different ways. You can put out a basket of square pieces of fabric for guests to sign with a fabric marker, and then after the wedding have those pieces turned into a quilt. The other option is to hang an already made quilt on the wall or set it out on a large table and let guests sign that. You can think of your wonderful friends every time you cuddle up as a couple under it! 

Puzzle Pieces
Turn a pretty picture of the two of you, possibly your engagement photo, into a giant puzzle. Most stores that develop photos can do this for you. Start with all of the pieces in a bowl or jar. After guests sign the back of a piece, they can lay it out on the table. As the night progresses and everyone signs in, you will eventually have your completed puzzle put together with their help. Use a puzzle glue to hold it all together after the wedding to display it, or keep it in pieces as a fun puzzle to put together when you're feeling nostalgic. If you're not a puzzle couple, we've also seen this done with Jenga pieces.   

A Bench
A wooden bench ties in nicely with a rustic wedding theme, and it is something that can be displayed in the entrance of your home, or possibly on the front porch. Let your guests pen their happy wishes for your future directly on the bench with permanent markers or paint pens, and then seal the signatures in with a clear stain. 

photo credit WhereBridesGo.com 

Mementos
This takes a little creativity on your part to come up with something that matches your "couple personality." If you're big wine drinkers, you could have guests sign corks that you've collected and place them into a pretty jar or shadowbox. For couples that live near a river or stream, polished rocks that you've collected from the water can hold signatures. You could even set out a notepad for guests to write on with happy memories, wishes for your future, or even marriage advice. Have them deposit those into a container that you can open and read after the wedding, or possibly on your first anniversary. 

Photo Frames
There will be lots of gorgeous photographs taken at your wedding that you will want to display afterwards. Let your guests sign a a picture frame mat or collage that you can put your photos into later. It will look wonderful on the wall of your home for all to see. 

Wall Hangings 
You can even turn your guests' signatures into a piece of artwork to hang on the wall. A canvas print of a bare tree is perfect for a fall wedding. Guests can put colorful fingerprints on it to resemble autumn leaves and sign next to them. Another pretty option is to put your initials and wedding date on a plain wooden wall hanging and let guests sign that.    

Calendars
This is a great way to get all of your friend's birthdays and anniversaries in your datebook without having to track them down yourself. Ask everyone to fill in important dates on the calendar. While you will only be able to display this calendar for a year, it's a great way to colllect this information for future knowledge. Another option would be to have them sign an address book. Then you've also got their address so that you can send them holiday cards or future invitations. 

That should be enough ideas to get your creative juices flowing. You might also find some inspiration from taking a tour of our scenic wedding venue near Knoxville. Witnessing the beauty of Country Jewell in person will put all kinds of unique and wonderful wedding ideas in your mind. Once you book your date, we can help you make those ideas a beautiful reality! 

A delightfully quaint Knoxville wedding

& event venue.

6550 Hickory Valley Road

Heiskell, TN 37754

865-494-0552

Visit our website:  www.CountryJewell.com

Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on Google+