Tulips symbolize imagination, dreaminess, perfect lover and a declaration of love. The orange tulip symbolizes warmth, happiness and fascination. It is said that the tulip's velvety black center represents a lover's heart, darkened by the heat of passion. In April, Pigeon Forge and all of Gatlinburg are covered with spreads of gorgeous tulips lining
the roads to lover's lane, the Chapel at the Park.
Much like the tulip, we were ready for the imagination of the rest of our lives together and declare our love in the dreaminess of God's beauty at the Chapel at the Park. In exactly one month we will celebrate our first anniversary. A year that has been filled with laughter, tears, struggles, joys and most of all a deepened love and respect for one another. Looking back on our wedding day it was our ideal of perfect. All of our family and friends were there to celebrate with
us, the weather was calm after a storm, the tulips were lining the way to our future and the staff of the chapel were there to assist us with our every need in the most helpful manner. They made living five hours away seem like only a few minutes apart. Anything I could have ever imagined for our wedding they strived to provide it and not just provide but go above and beyond expectations.
After spending most of our time discussing our plans through email we made the five hour drive nine months before our wedding to make the final plans. Margaret assisted us and made it
so much fun. I told them I wasn't the typical bride that wanted roses, baby's breath and "here comes the bride" march. I enjoy different, special, classy and that's exactly what she helped us
achieve. We outlined every tiny detail down to the ribbon on the cake and the color of my bouquet. We met Rev. Jacob for the first time after emailing for months and felt like we had known him for years. He sent me constant emails leading up to the wedding of the temperatures and the progress of the tulips, telling me he was giving them daily pep talks to stay
beautiful until my arrival. They nicknamed me "the tulip bride".
The day before our arrival they were calling for
a frost and the staff actually went to cover the tulips to protect them just to ensure they were there for our wedding!! On the day of our wedding I wasn't worried about any details of whether or not things would be how I imagined. And for me it is very hard for me to just turn the reins over to someone else and say "here plan something that means something so special to me" and I can't have my hands in helping. But the chapel had everything just like we planned,
exactly like I wanted and precisely how I
would have done it myself. Only an hour or so before our wedding Rev Jacob had a family emergency and had to leave and Rev Bennett had to officiate our wedding. After all the time Rev Jacob had helped us he was upset he couldn't be there to witness it. But Rev Bennett was
the sweetest and made us just as comfortable as we were meeting Rev Jacob for the first time. The entire staff was welcoming us and our guests with bright smiles and enthusiasm. The photographer even helped me fix my makeup after a few tears streamed down my cheeks after
saying our vows. And she made extra special attempts, laying down on the ground to get every possible tulip in our pictures just for me. At the end of the day we were married and relaxed thanks to the wonderful people at the chapel. We had no worries, no stress, a beautiful cake that tasted like the ones my grandmother used to make, a bouquet of my favorite flowers, amazing pictures and a dvd with memories to last a lifetime and we didn't spend a fortune. Like the orange tulips used in my bouquet we have had a wonderful first year of marriage consumed with warmth and happiness and fascination & look forward to many more years together. Thank you
Chapel at the Park for helping us with the start of the rest of our lives.
Matt and Krystle
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