Lacey, a wedding planner behind With Love Lacey, skipped the usual wedding-day frenzy and instead treated her own celebration like a cozy weekend with family. At The Highlands Retreat, overlooking the Buffalo River in the Ozark Mountains, she and her fiancé Austin gathered their closest friends and relatives for a winter wedding that felt more like a slow, intimate gathering than a big event.
On the morning of the wedding, Lacey didn’t hide away behind a schedule or a team of stylists. She spent her time arranging flowers with family members, turning what’s often a behind-the-scenes task into part of the day’s experience. She also styled the retreat herself, shaping the atmosphere with hands-on effort rather than relying on elaborate decor. This wasn’t a production she was managing for clients—it was her own celebration, made personal by her own touch.
As sunset neared, guests moved to the retreat’s living room for the ceremony. Instead of a traditional aisle, Lacey descended a spiral staircase to meet Austin, surrounded by candlelight and framed by expansive views of the mountains. The room was left as it was, warm and familiar, not transformed into a formal ceremony space. The natural architecture and the winter light created the setting, with no extra embellishments.
The ceremony’s simplicity was intentional. The mountain backdrop, the architectural details of the home, the soft glow of candles—these elements created the atmosphere without adding layers of decoration. Lacey focused on the meaningful rather than the expected. The result was a quiet, emotional ceremony where the attention was on the people present, not on the staging.
After the ceremony, the celebration continued around the dinner table with a meal prepared by chef Isaac Kenneth. There was no grand reveal of a new space or a shift into a reception hall. The evening flowed naturally from ceremony to dinner, with guests lingering, chatting, and enjoying the close company. Lacey even joined the chef in making dessert, blurring the line between event host and family member sharing time together.
One standout detail was scent. Lacey and Austin created custom perfume and cologne for the wedding and turned those fragrances into candles that burned throughout the retreat all day. Guests took these candles home, carrying a sensory memory of the weekend with them. It was a simple but thoughtful way to make the wedding’s atmosphere linger beyond the day itself.
For someone who plans weddings professionally, Lacey’s choice to keep things pared down wasn’t about skipping meaning. It was about making space for it. Arranging flowers wasn’t just decoration—it was time with family. The living room ceremony wasn’t a stage but a shared moment in a lived-in space. Preparing dessert was part of the celebration, not a behind-the-scenes chore.
With nothing to rush toward, the day moved slowly. The candlelight, the mountain views, the shared meals, and the feeling of being fully present with loved ones became what Lacey and Austin wanted to remember most. The weekend felt less like a wedding and more like a rare, uninterrupted moment at home together.
If you’re used to weddings feeling like productions, this one offers a reminder that sometimes less can be more. And that the people and the place can carry the story just fine on their own.
According to Wedding Chicks.
