Some places are worth planning a whole wedding around. Anthony Chapel is one of them. We all traveled to Arkansas specifically for this place, and Taylor and Zach’s August 26 wedding makes it pretty easy to see why.
Set within Garvan Woodland Gardens, the University of Arkansas’s botanical garden in Hot Springs, the chapel has a soaring glass ceiling and a woodland setting that does a lot of the decorating for you. Taylor wanted the architecture to be the focus, so she left the ceremony space exactly as it was. A very good call.
But first, the flowers. The night before the wedding, I hung out at the couple’s Airbnb while Taylor chose every bloom for her bouquet. She combined flowers she’d picked earlier that day with hand-picked flowers her grandmothers brought, then her grandmothers helped put it all together. Getting to watch the bouquet take shape was easily one of my favorite parts of being there.
Her grandmothers also made all the floral centerpieces and decor for the celebration at the Airbnb. And they went beyond flowers on a table: arrangements hung from the patio ceiling above the serpentine table settings. The whole setup had so much personality, made even better by knowing whose hands had put it together.
The reception was a luncheon before the ceremony, with everyone gathering on that beautiful outdoor patio before heading to Anthony Chapel. Flowers overhead, family around the tables, and the wedding still to come.
Then it was time for the chapel. The glass ceiling draws your eyes up, while the woodland setting gives the space its own atmosphere. Beyond it, Garvan Woodland Gardens stretches along Lake Hamilton, with bridges, cascading water, and greenery that make the grounds worth taking in, too.
What sticks with me is how intentional it all felt. Taylor chose every flower in her bouquet, her grandmothers brought the luncheon florals to life, and the chapel was given room to do its thing. They knew where to go all in and where to let the setting speak for itself.
