When Birmingham natives Ginger Swan and Zack Lindsey met, he was just her best friend’s step-brother, nothing more. Three years later, Ginger was invited to watch an Alabama game with Zack and his friends, but her best friend wasn’t in town to go with her. She went anyway. “After the game, and after talking for hours, we ended up on the front porch hovering and still talking,” Ginger says. “Luckily, the mention of church the next morning offered Zack a segue to finally get my number and invite me to go to church with them. I know God understands, but I couldn’t help but be distracted during that whole service.”
After four years of dating, during which they both attended graduate school and lived in separate cities, Zack took Ginger on a date to the Alabama Theatre to watch The Sound of Music. They arrived early to watch the opening trailers and hear the organ play. “But after the first trailer, only trailers of our favorite movies began to play,” Ginger says. “It really is slightly embarrassing how long it took me to understand what was happening — that we were not just extremely early, but that we, in fact, were the only people in the entire Alabama Theatre. It was so dark that I hardly even realized he was down on one knee.”
Zack asked, and she said yes.
Ginger and Zack both have a lust for travel that quickly established itself as a central component of their relationship and life together. After dating for only a few months, they spontaneously went on the first of many trips around the world together: backpacking through Ireland and Scotland with friends. They fell in love with both countries and used them, as well as their love of travel as a whole, as their inspiration when planning the wedding. “Truth be told, we really wanted a wedding in Ireland,” Ginger says. “Since neither one of us wanted to elope, we decided to bring the magic of adventuring to our friends and families.”
The Wightman Chapel at the Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville had long been Ginger’s dream wedding venue. Built in 1928, the breathtaking stone chapel captures the romance of a European wedding while still close to home. Lanterns hang from the dramatic vaulted ceiling, light pours through ornate Gothic windows, and wooden pews flank the center aisle. When planning a wedding with Ireland and Scotland in mind, there simply was no more perfect option.
A rich, earthy color palette would complement the wooden and stone elements of the chapel. “Green has always been my favorite color,” Ginger says. “We were incorporating a lot of Scottish and Irish elements, so the greens, oranges, grays and browns also went well with the Lindsey tartan.” The flowers were a feast of color and drama. Roses in rich shades of orange and cream, dramatic white anemone and ranunculus were complemented by green succulents, scabiosa pods and thistle.
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On a crisp fall day in Nashville, Ginger stood at the end of the 90-foot center aisle as the uilleann piper began to play. It’s one of those moments that remains clearest in her mind from a day that felt like a dream. “Walking down the aisle obviously sticks out, because it meant this was all really happening,” Ginger says. “We had an uilleann piper, and it was very emotional. I had to listen to the song, ‘The Braveheart Theme,’ dozens of times to get my ugly cry out in the days leading up to the wedding.” At the end of the aisle, her groom was waiting for her, and before around 115 of their loved ones, Ginger and Zack became Mr. and Mrs.
The exposed brick and beams at their reception space at Houston Station had a touch of the historic charm that Zack and Ginger love, but it was the personal touches that invited guests along for the ride. Boarding pass escort cards, tables named for the bride and groom’s most beloved destinations throughout the world, a menu inspired by Scotch-Irish fare and a balsa wood plane sendoff were among the many gorgeous details that brought this beautiful celebration of love, adventure and romance to life.
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The reception was a feast of beautiful, thoughtful details. While Zack and Ginger stole away for blissful post-ceremony photos and a sweetheart dinner before entering the reception, guests were welcomed with fall-themed beer brewed by the groom. Guests found their “boarding passes” and made their way to their seats. Long tables were draped in white linens and adorned with gatherings of green vases — a nod to the bride’s favorite color — filled with flowers in shades of orange and cream. Globe lights and sparkling chandeliers cast a romantic glow over the space, and the bagpipes played as the new Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey were introduced to their beloved guests. They shared their first dance to “La Vie en Rose,” and then spent the night dancing, grinning, eating and laughing their way into their new life together.
At the end of the night, Ginger and Zack were ushered off into the night on cheers and good wishes and the wings of balsa wood planes. A fitting farewell to a beautiful day perfectly suited for two hearts traveling the world together.
Thank you so much for sharing your sweet and thoughtful day with us, Ginger and Zack! We wish you a lifetime of adventures together!
RESOURCES
Photography: Spindle Photography and Morgan Trinker
Wedding coordinator: Kelly Dellinger Events
Wedding dress: Pronovias from Bella Couture
Bridesmaids’ dresses: Various – Anthropologie, Bridesmaids Inc., etc.
Groom and groomsmen attire: ASOS
Cake: Church Street Coffee & Books
Flowers: Rosemary & Finch
Ceremony venue: Scarritt Bennett Center – Wightman Chapel
Reception venue: Houston Station
Catering: Martha Stamps Catering
Hairstylist: Chelsea Crawford
Ceremony music: Preston Lovinggood & Katherine Huskey
Uilleann piper: Dave Boling, (256) 653-3728
Strings & piano: Lori Cheng, Richard Hsiung, Landon Rogan
DJ: Jared Foldy
Merchandise & stationery design: DIY and Minted
Videography: Matt G Video
Guest accommodations: Scarritt Bennett, Aloft, Union Station
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