Elopement Bliss: How to have a Quick and Simple Ijams Nature Center Ceremony in Knoxville, TN
If you’re from Knoxville, TN, then you know about Ijams Nature Center. It’s a beautiful park just minutes from Downtown Knoxville that’s been around for over 100 years.
It’s part of the Urban Wilderness in Knoxville with 14 miles of hiking/biking, has a quarry that you can swim in and rent kayaks from, and has various educational and conservation programs.
In addition to all of that, it is also a beautiful wedding venue. However, today I wanted to focus on how Ijams Nature Center can be the perfect backdrop for a quick and easy elopement.
A couple of years ago, my friends P + R planned to elope and have a reception a few months later. They wanted their ceremony to be short, sweet and a little more elevated than just going to the courthouse.
They landed at Ijams Nature Center.
R said that it was going to be quick. We’d park at Ijams and take a short walk to the boardwalk that follows the river on the back end of Ijams.
She added that they would be stopping at the Farmer’s Market that morning to make herself a bouquet from the Sevier Blumen stand.
When she told me this was her plan, I immediately advised her that I would be joining them to document that moment.
She loved the idea and said she wouldn’t have even thought of that as a photo op.
I got you, girl, I got you!
The flower stand had a beautiful selection of flowers that morning. I stood back and just let them do their thing. I wanted this moment to be completely documentary, and they are some of my favorite photos of the morning.
Once R had made her selection, we took a short walk through downtown back to the cars so that we could head to Ijams.
When we arrived at the Ijams parking lot, we waited for P’s parents and the officiant to arrive. When they did, P+R were greeted with excited hugs, and so were my fiance and I because we love P’s parents too. :)
Once the officiant arrived, we were off on our way to the boardwalk. It was a beautiful August morning, a bit muggy, but beautifully cloudy nonetheless.
We arrived at the boardwalk and assumed our respective positions. The boardwalk has these cute little cutaways with benches that you can sit at to enjoy the river, so we took advantage of the small cubby as a stage for the ceremony.
The ceremony was indeed, quick and sweet. We all huddled around P + R and listened while the officiant read his lines and P + R exchanged their vows.
Once the ceremony was over, we all celebrated our friends. It was the perfect, quick, intimate ceremony. There were very few people that passed us and the few that did were just happy for them and congratulated them.
After the Ceremony I took a couple of group photos and bride and groom portraits, and then we were off to the breweries to celebrate the rest of the day!
So how can you also have a quick intimate elopement ceremony at Ijam’s Nature Center?
Pick a date!
Hire your photographer (hi, hello!)
Come up with a plan for your day. How do you want it to go? We can work on this together!
Talk to Ijam’s Nature Center about your ceremony plans - In the case of my friends, they ended up not having to pay anything for the ceremony because we were there for literally 30 minutes.
We didn’t need anything from Ijam’s for the ceremony, didn’t need a private space, and there were under 10 people. So depending on how you want your ceremony, this could be a very cheap option.
Just remember, your photographer has to have a permit to shoot on the premises, so make sure they do!
Get all the legalities taken care of at the courthouse, or bring your documents to the ceremony to sign them right then!
Enjoy your wedding day!
Elopements can be as grand or as simple as you want. The whole point of eloping is doing things the way that you and your significant other want. If you have any questions about how to make this happen for you, don’t hesitate to reach out! Let’s get you married. :)
