Country Music Star Cole Swindell's Wedding Reception at a European-Inspired Farm on the Edge of Nashville

Following up an elopement with a larger reception for family and friends isn’t necessarily a new wedding model—but country music star Cole Swindell and his now-wife Courtney Little Swindell, who owns a boutique, gave their two-part celebration some newfangled flair by adding a honeymoon in between. The couple hosted their intimate, family-only nuptials, which unfolded at Chateau de Ninis in Sonoma County, California, on June 12, 2024, before jetting off to Amanyara in Turks and Caicos to recharge. Next on the docket? A larger-than-life bash just outside of Nashville for a much bigger crew. “We loved the intimacy of a private ceremony with only our close family, but also wanted to celebrate with our favorite people,” Courtney tells Brides exclusively. “It was a dream to have a wedding, depart for our honeymoon, and then come back to Nashville to celebrate with everyone!”

The newlyweds, who met at a Nascar race and fell in love a few years later on the set of Cole’s music video for “Some Habits,” invited over 250 guests to Cortina Farms , a private estate, for the second half of their wedding festivities just under two weeks later, on June 22, 2024. “The venue feels like you were transported to somewhere in Italy, while still giving a small-town Tennessee vibe,” explains Courtney, who loved that the old-world European-inspired setting was similar in style to their elopement locale. She and Cole worked with wedding planners Josiah Carr and Justin McGregor, the married team behind SAMKOMA, to establish a few through lines between the two events. “Working with SAMKOMA for both our ceremony and reception allowed us to have two completely different events in separate locations that still felt the same and had very similar aesthetics,” says Courtney.

That aesthetic was organic and whimsical, with a few southern touches in between. The couple stuck to a color palette of black, white, and a variety of tans to keep things “very neutral, but impactful,” notes the bride. The bulk of the event took place in a black-framed tent that reinforced the reception’s color scheme and ethos; tables were lined with hundreds of candles to deliver the couple’s dream of a “beautiful, candlelit dinner party.”

The final result—and the time spent with their nearest and dearest—blew the groom away. “It’s hard to put into words how special [the reception] was,” says Cole. “Having family and friends in town to celebrate our marriage is something we’ll always cherish. Looking forward to this chapter of our lives.” Ahead, see every detail, from the escort card wall that honored Cole’s late father and the bride’s Katherine Tash wedding dress to the duo’s Casamigos margarita bar, in photos by Madison Emily Hare.

According to Courtney, the most challenging part of the wedding planning process was “deciding what we liked best out of all of the stunning options our planners showed us.” Selecting Cortina Farms as their venue, however, was more seamless; the property had multiple event spaces to choose from spanning across its 120 acres in Leipers Fork, Tennessee. 

The couple’s neutral stationery suite by JLF Calligraphy, which was composed of a white invitation with an illustration of the venue, a black embossed details card stamped with the same design, and cream envelopes with charcoal calligraphy, previewed their event’s calming colorways—and gave guests a first look at the estate.

As soon as she saw this Katherine Tash wedding dress online, Courtney knew it was the perfect look for her and Cole’s Nashville reception. The white silk gown with long sleeves effortlessly hung off one shoulder—and was hers in a flash. “I found a dress store in Nashville who happened to carry the designer,” Courtney says. “We had them rush ship it and I had a fitting the same day. I purchased it minutes later. It was exactly what I envisioned!” Ankle-tie point-toe pumps from Badgley Mischka added a little something extra to her look.

For her big-day hair and makeup, Courtney says the keyword was “effortless.” “I knew we would be outside for the entire evening and I just wanted to look elevated, but natural,” she says. “People are always shocked when I tell them that I did my own wedding hair and makeup in Sonoma. For the Nashville reception, I asked my dear friend and hair stylist from North Carolina, Lexie Echard, to style me!” An almond-shaped milky white manicure completed her look.

Though the couple’s Nashville celebration was purely a party (the duo, fresh off their marriage vows, didn’t walk down the aisle again during the event), the bride still asked for a few ceremony mainstays, including a bridal bouquet. “My bouquet was designed by Curry & Co for both the Sonoma wedding and Nashville reception,” she says of the arrangement, which included white roses, hydrangea, and hanging amaranthus. “We wanted to have similar flowers in both to keep things organic and cohesive!” 

The groom opted for a tan tuxedo from Hugo Boss, which he paired with a coordinating cowboy hat and a pair of white Tecovas. “Amber Lehman helped style me for our wedding in Sonoma, as well as the Nashville party,” notes Cole. 

Courtney and Cole also shared a sweet first look before the festivities began to reveal their reception outfits and pose for a few quick photos before guests arrived.

Courtney and Cole found a way to honor their respective roots during the cocktail hour. “We had custom marble trays made in the shapes of our home states, which the catering team used for passed appetizers,” Courtney shares. “We also included a few more sweet nods to our home states [through] our menus and cocktail napkins.” The interlude’s entertainment was yet another connection to their Sonoma celebration: “We found an incredible guitarist on Instagram named Jacob Davis, who played guitar at our Sonoma ceremony and also at cocktail hour in Nashville,” says the bride.

As for the drink menu? Guests—armed with custom fans to beat the Tennessee heat—sipped on a variety of flavored margaritas, courtesy of the duo’s Casamigos bar.

One of the night’s greatest highlights took place at the start of the event: Guests were treated to an emotional three-minute recap of their elopement, which the couple’s videography team, Light Cannon Films, cut for the reception. “We had our videographers edit a ceremony video that no one had seen before the reception, so it really felt like all of our guests were a part of our wedding ceremony, too,” says Courtney.

Attendees found their seating assignments for dinner via a personalized escort card display that was also an homage to Cole’s late father. “We worked with SAMKOMA and White Door Events to design an escort card wall with all of our guests’ names written on oversized guitar picks,” Courtney explains. “In the middle of the wall was Cole’s late father’s guitar. Since his dad is no longer with us, it was a really special way to honor him and feel like he was there on our big day.”

When it was time for dinner, guests meandered inside a black, iron-framed tent, which suited the pair’s color palette. “SAMKOMA found an incredible black tent from Mahaffey that was exactly what I was envisioning,” says Courtney. “It was so tall and open and we were surrounded by nature on all sides.”

Inside the tent, the wall behind the couple’s sweetheart table was covered with galvanized mirror panels, which brought texture and dimension to the space. Rectangular tables were covered with tan linens from White Door Events (“They were perfect for a summertime-in-the-South wedding!” says Courtney) and hundreds of candles; wooden boxes were filled with roses, fringed daisies, hydrangeas, hanging amaranthus, and a mix of greenery and placed at the ends of each table. Overhead, rustic bronze chandeliers cast a warm glow. “We wanted the reception tent to feel like a beautiful candlelit dinner party,” explains the bride. For dinner, attendees dined on an elevated Southern menu, which was catered by Beyond Details.

The bar on the edge of the tent featured wooden X detailing and echoed the mirror wall across the space; lush floral arrangements kept the drink station cohesive with the rest of the tables. Oversized candles from SNIF were placed across the bar top; the couple opted for the brand’s Sweet Ash fragrance for their big-day scentscaping.

Before the party crested (and after the couple was officially welcomed into the reception tent as Mr. and Mrs. Swindell, which the bride says “was the most special memory of the night!”), Courtney and Cole shared their first dance to a particularly meaningful song, “Forever to Me.” “I wrote this song for Courtney,” Cole explains. Adds Courtney, “It was so special [to dance to this] while surrounded by all of our family and friends.”

Courtney explains that another dance, the one she shared with her father, also made it onto her highlight reel: “He’s always been my biggest support and I’ll never forget that moment with him!” That wasn’t all—after the parent dances concluded, Courtney took the floor with a few special guests: “I got together with a few of my former professional NBA dancers and did a honeybee dance!”

Towards the end of the evening, the bride switched up her look, swapping her heels for cowboy boots (perfect for dancing!) and adding a white hat to match her husband’s. The duo also brought out their late-night snack: Raising Cane’s famous fried chicken, which they served from a food truck.

Now on the other side of not one, but two wedding events, Cole and Courtney have some salient advice for couples in the planning phase—and who might also be considering a two-part event. “Hire a wedding planner who can help guide you through the process and make it fun and stress-free,” shares Courtney. “The intimate wedding was so incredibly special and the reception genuinely felt like a party. And again, I would recommend the two-part wedding vibe for anyone and everyone—who wouldn’t love to celebrate two times in a row?”