Classic Barn Wedding

Kiara and Andrew celebrated their Classic Barn Wedding at the Ever After Farms – Peach Barn. The team at Wedding Venue Map connected with them and their photographer, Daniella from Koontz Photography, to find out all the details that made up their special day!

Tell us about your wedding!

Kiara: We knew we wanted that rustic feel. Once we found the Peach Barn, the theme spread from there. As a huge Disney nerd, I was super excited to have a Disney officiant for the ceremony.

the welcome sign for the barn wedding with greenery and rustic feeling.

We decided early on, that we are both criers and that we would exchange our personal vows after the wedding. If we hadn’t, we would probably still be standing there getting super sappy and ruining my makeup.

We both have Irish heritage so we wanted to include an Irish Handfasting into our ceremony. We asked Andrew’s sisters to be the ones to tie the cord for the blessing. It was very special!

Andrew: We love the Florida barn-themed wedding designs so we built our decor and color scheme around that. From table runners to floral choices, to my suit (tan linen and boots) we wanted everything to be seamless and flowing with the barn theme. The ceremony was beautiful. From weather to family and friends in attendance, to the officiating, it was all perfect.

the bride and bridesmaids in their robes to get ready for the wedding.

We decided not to do personal vows at the alter because of how emotional both of us would get. Kiara was not about to cry and ruin that beautiful makeup on her face and I was not about to break down and sob while reading my vows. We ended up writing them on cards and exchanging them after the wedding.

the groom and groomsmen in their wedding attire for the classic barn wedding.

The one tradition that we incorporated into our ceremony was Irish Handfasting. My mom and stepdad did an Irish Handfasting at their wedding seven years ago and with both of us being Irish it was a tradition we wanted to continue. Two of my sisters, Allyson and Abbygail tied our hands together while our officiant lead an Irish prayer.

Reasons for choosing the venue:

Kiara: We were sitting in quarantine shortly after we got engaged and started a very casual online search for venues. We knew we wanted a rustic venue. Growing up, I was not the one to have all my wedding details planned out (which is surprising since my teacher planning and detail-oriented brain always has things prepared way in advance).

bride and groom with their groomsmen and bridesmaids during their ceremony.

We found the Ever After Farms website during our search and while watching their video of the Peach Barn we both teared up. We knew at that moment this was where we wanted to say I do! They had our date (4/3/21) available so we booked it sight unseen! It was absolutely the perfect venue for us!

Andrew: Easy, it’s beautiful. We both knew we wanted a more Florida barn vibe and after doing research online we came across Ever After Farms. We knew we wanted the date 4.3.21 and the Peach Barn had the date available so we booked it, sight unseen! We took a tour shortly thereafter and were blown away by everything. The pictures and videos match our expectations perfectly!

the round table set ups for the reception of the classic barn wedding.

the plates set up for the reception with gold plates and silverware with greenery.

the centerpieces for the rustic classic barn wedding.

Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you’d like to share with other couples?

Kiara: The phrase “don’t sweat the small stuff” was not written for people like me lol. I am super detail-oriented and a planner (I am a teacher) and Andrew is more of the easy-breezy and it will all work out mentality. My biggest challenge was remembering not to worry.

the bride and groom after their ceremony standing on a white structure holding each other and smiling

With Covid, it added a layer of difficulty with wedding planning. My dress was delayed big time getting to the shop (ordered in June and it came in February for an April 3rd wedding) so picking my dress up the day before our rehearsal dinner on the other side of the state was a very stressful situation. I had to trust it would all work out which was a big challenge for my planner and detail-oriented mind!

groom kissing the bride on the cheek after their classic barn wedding.

bride and groom looking into each other's eyes after their ceremony.

bride and groom standing together and looking at each other.

Take a breath. Some things may not go off 100 percent exactly how you wanted it but at the end of the night when all is said and done your guests won’t realize or remember these things. They also probably won’t even know that it wasn’t planned that way. All they will see is how perfect it all was.

the groom dipping his bride during the first dance during the classic barn wedding.

The other thing I would say is to take one minute for just the two of you after the ceremony and before the photos and the reception begins. The night goes so fast and you spend so much time talking and socializing with all your friends and family. I wish we had taken just one quick minute to be alone just the two of us to take it all in.

Andrew: Take a deep breath because it won’t go exactly to plan but that’s the beauty of it all. Also, develop a checklist and physically check things off when they’re complete. That helped us out a lot!

What were the personal details of the wedding that are a great reflection of you as a couple?

Kiara: For me, it was not necessarily a specific part of the wedding but the overall feel. I wanted our guests to feel the immersive love/happiness/warmth/joy we felt. By creating that rustic feel through the Peach Barn and having the decor, color, and details, they all helped create that wow factor. Choosing dedicated and thoughtful vendors that were so detail-oriented was a huge factor in creating that feel as well!

groom holding his bride from behind outside of their wedding venue.

bride hugging the groom with one leg up outside of their classic barn wedding.

Andrew: I would say everything. The venue as a whole is quite beautiful with a very “wow” factor. Aside from the venue, Kiara and her beautiful dress were the biggest “wow” the entire day/night. Her beauty definitely stole the stage.

Memories, moments and stories about the day:

Kiara: My favorite part of the day was when the barn doors opened and I saw Andrew standing there. Those 35 seconds were what this who thing was about!

Andrew: My favorite part of the day was just taking in all the planning and organizing we did in the past few months and really looking around to see all the loved ones that were in attendance on our day. It meant the world to us to see how much we are loved. Even though it was very hard to get a moment to ourselves throughout the night, we were still able to reflect at times on just how beautiful everything turned out.

bride and groom having a private last dance before their wedding ends.

My personal second favorite part of the day was the introduction to the best man’s speech… Stephen Grady, my best man, lead off his speech with the song Proud to be an American. He knew how this song would always make me tear up so he lead off with it and low and behold I teared up as the entire wedding stood to their feet, raised their glasses, and sang the lyrics! God bless America!