Vendor Spotlight- The Wren's Nest

If you are looking for a venue that comes with undeniable charm, The Wren's Nest is the place for you! Located in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, this venue gives each bride the flexibility to create the perfect wedding for her special day. The Maple Barn is a vintage barn on the property that is a great location for events! It is a two-story barn that can suit the wedding along with the reception all in one venue! This venue is surrounded by gorgeous nature scenes year round and makes for a true Tennessee wedding! Sam and Amy Wright, the owners, have created the perfect venue to allow the couple to make their wedding unique and special! Contact Sam and Amy for more info or to schedule a tour of the venue!  

Tell us about your venue.

We are blessed to have launched during a time when rustic barn weddings are so highly demanded. But we have something more special than that, I believe. What people don't expect, and a camera can't capture, is the beauty of exposed rock faces covered in moss, a hilltop glade surrounded in trees, a firepit made of boulders dug from the foundation of the old barn with fossils in the faces of the stone. The serenity, the wind blowing through the leaves, the beautiful seasons, the smell of wood burning, lights through the trees and structures. So, people who initially came for a barn/farm wedding have leaned heavily into the majesty of the woods and outdoor spaces. And, while barn weddings may come or go, Adam and Eve were married in a garden, and people have been enthralled by nature and meaningful pieces of history ever since. We pay close attention to the property, and expose natural features that make for great gathering spots and photography. We consider the grounds and structures the canvas on which to paint a wedding that reflects the couples who get married here. Every wedding is different, just like they are different.

What makes your venue different from other venues?

We are very flexible. We consider the spaces to be a template to paint a story of a bride and groom. We will empty a space, move things around, and more. We have a history in design and build/restoration, so we continually plan and design for meaningful changes to some part of the property every couple of months so that guests who return here see a different wedding each time. We do inclusive events, but we always use outside planners and vendors, even on our inclusive events. We marry the right caterer, the right DJ, the right florist, etc. with each wedding so that it matches the vision of the bride and groom. We also provide the spaces for couples who come in the door with a lot of vendors already hired and who just want to rent the venue. We qualify the vendors so that the experience at each wedding is great, but encourage our couples to be creative and express themselves at their wedding. And we have natural features of the property that are unlike any that we know of in the area.

Another draw is that we are a true outdoor venue with a true indoor option, without the addition of tenting material, that still feels "outdoors" if needed. We have built retracting, sliding and swinging doors and walls on the barn that can be shut down for bad weather, or opened wide to let the outdoors and indoors join together. Many spaces have multiple uses. For instance, there is one room that has at different times been a storage room, a bar, lounge, catering service area, drink station, photo booth, s'mores prep area, kids' hangout, and I'm sure other things. The upper hall can be a dance floor, dining hall, or ceremony space. We encourage brides to use the property in the way that works best for them, not the way others have done it.

What is the history of your venue? (How did it get started, etc.)

Our daughter was newly engaged, and had a vision for an outdoor wedding on New Year's Eve, in a real authentic barn. "Okay, that's winter, sweetie." That pushed the limits of what were were able to find. Bad weather was not only possible, but likely. We had to be able to heat it while it still was a real old barn. We could not find the place that was a real historic structure, safe enough to dance around in, open enough to feel outdoors, and flexible enough to let us use the vendors we wanted; not all in one place. So we decided to build a venue, with Kaitlyn and Daniel's wedding as the first. We were going to build a structure out of old wood and do our best to copy an old barn. Instead, in the hunt for a barn to do a take off plan, we found a 100+ year old barn that a gracious owner was willing to part with. So, we numbered the pieces, disassembled it, and moved it here, reset on concrete, structurally engineered it to handle the weight, and put in new wood where necessary for integrity. I had a 27 year background in logistics, sales, marketing, and design + restore and remodel work. Owning and running is a wedding venue is a combination of all of those things. I do NOT have a background in planning, though. Which is why we always require a professional planner. Best to leave that to the pros.

What are some of your wedding and reception options?

The sky is the limit, based on budget and creativity. We have a Venue + base package which provides the venue and some nice base services, and we have inclusive offerings based on the number of guests. We also do custom offerings. Our brides are welcome to use vendors they love, even in our inclusive weddings. We take care of the details that they don't want to deal with at all, and involve them in the decisions they do want to be a part of, resulting in a highly customized wedding; even at base budget levels. In other words, we don't do "Wren's Nest Weddings," we do "Anthony and Cheyenne" weddings, and "Jim and Dana" weddings, etc.

Does your venue require the use of your preferred vendors, or are brides free to bring their own?

They are free to bring their own. We are happy to provide referrals, so some vendors are here more than others. But if a bride loves a particular vendor, and they are licensed and insured, and have not failed to perform on a previous wedding here, they are welcome. By not limiting vendors, it's caused us extra work, but we've had some amazing weddings with caterers from Memphis, DJ's from Chattanooga, drinks brought in from New England, and the most beautiful dessert table ever from a girl's grandmother who is known by her family for her beautiful cakes and pies. And we have found some wonderful relationships with true professionals we'd have never met if we'd have limited who we allowed to serve here.

In your opinion, which event (or type of event) has most creatively taken advantage of your venue, and what made that event a success?

I think our most successful ones have been where the bride and groom's history both received nods in the style and execution. When that happens, it requires both families to be on board. This wedding is not found on Pinterest, it's found in the history of an Irish guy marrying a girl from New York, for instance. That type of wedding requires creativity; introducing types of food, music, decor and more where both the man and woman feel that they were honored by the other, and by both sides of the family. The passion, kindness and deference that goes into that wedding has, from what I can remember, has never failed to be stirring and memorable.

Some personal questions:

Mac or PC?

I prefer Apple phones and tablets, and PC laptops.

Tea or Coffee?

Yes, please. Before noon coffee is great, afternoon, bring daddy a tall glass of sweet tea, please.

Favorite Local Nashville Restaurant?

We eat in Murfreesboro almost exclusively. We have a favorite Mexican restaurant called Camino Real. We love them and they love us. The food is good and the people are great. But we like Miller's Cafe, Goodness Gracious, Puckett's Grocery and other relaxed southern eateries as well.

Favorite Movie Right Now?

I really had a hard time watching Lone Survivor. It was gritty and hard to watch, but reminded me how much our men and women are willing to sacrifice so that we can write, say, go and do as we wish. And we have a son who is a Marine, so it made it hit home even more. So, while it was not a feel-good movie that I will ever watch again, it stirred me deeply, which I can't often say about a movie.