The Brown Hotel

Historic Downtown Louisville Hotel

A Louisville tradition, The Brown Hotel is beloved by generations of guests for its Georgian-Revival elegance and timeless Southern charm. Anchoring downtown Louisville with a firm grasp on history paired with an emphasis on great southern hospitality, this landmark hotel at the corners of Fourth and Broadway blends breathtaking architectural features with the modern amenities and services today’s most discerning travelers expect. From exquisite event space to the city’s finest dining, The Brown Hotel infuses every experience with gentility and refinement. The Brown is the classic elegant hotel experience to hold any event but truly was the perfect host to The Knight/Addison Bridal Luncheon and Rehearsal Dinner.

With a handfull of event spaces to choose from ranging from the pink J. Graham Brown space that is adorned with pink and white floral wall paper and white wainscotting to the rooftop terrace featured later in the rehearsal dinner it truly can serve any need!

Click here to view all of the ammenities at The Brown Hotel or to reserve your meeting room for a special event!

Now let’s jump into all of the details that made the Knight Bridal Luncheon so Luxurious, and heartfelt!

Kentucky Wedding Bridal Luncheon

Elegant Pink Themed Celebration of the Wedding Weekend

I could say a lot of things about this bridal luncheon but a few things really stand out in my memory of what delivered the biggest impact. There also were a few things that I will mention if you are planning a bridal luncheon in 2024 that you may want to consider.

The First detail that the Mother Of the Bride did for everyone in attendance was bough unique candy dishes with lids and wrote bible versus on little slips of paper so they can remove on of the papers and read scripture that was specifically chose for each and every women there! (We are talking 100 versus per person)

The next thing that I really loved about this event was this southern tradition called a “Ribbon Pull” or a “Cake Pull” it originated in New Orleans. Traditionally the bride gathers a number of her single or eligible female friends around the wedding cake. Inserted into the wedding cake are various charms with ribbon tails. After a count of three each of the women pull a ribbon, exposing a charm. The charm is meant to signify the puller’s future. The charms can range from, any of the following options of more.

The ring (which indicates the next to get married), the horseshoe or the four-leaf clover (signifying good luck), the telephone (offering good news), the anchor (encouraging hope), the heart (indicating impending love), the thimble or the button (revealing the old maid), and the penny (meaning poverty). While these are the charms used most often, a cake pull can have up to twenty different charms for the various single friends of the bride. Now obviously not all of these charms feel like great choices, but these are just the traditional ones used.

In the Knight Luncheon’s case the Mother of the Bride had arranged for this tradition to be done a little differently as to incoorporate some of their very important faith. Instead of doing it at the wedding obviously it was done the day prior and in place of single friends it was all of the younger generation of women there who pulled a ribbon. They formed two circles the inner circle consisting of the bride, wedding party, and friends. And then the outer circle consisting of the Mothers, “Mom Maids”, and Grandmothers.

After each women pulled her ribbon she turned around and showed it to the elder generation women behind her, in which they grasped hands and started to pray about what the charm would mean for their future. It was a really special moment to hear these women gather and pray over each other for good fortune, happiness, prosperity, health, and much more!

Click here for a link to the Charms!

And lastly one of the things I liked was the presentation of gifts! The bride had all of the gifts for her bridal party that you would traditionally give day of but with them being PJ’s now they don’t have to bring an extra set of clothes they can just wear exactly what they need to be wearing from the start! The Bride had also gotten gifts for everyone else in attendance which I thought was sweet so no one person felt left out since not everyone was in the wedding party. They were small tokens of appreciation but truly meant a lot.

Now the few things I think could have been done differently, They served a three course meal including salad, a tart and then a bourbon cheesecake, along with the layered cake for the cake pull. I think they could have done a nice charcuterie board or Hors d’oeuvres since the guests were enjoying mingling and standing so much I think it would have had a better flow than the rushed feeling of a full meal, plus it could have given more variety.

And the only other comment I will make which isn’t good nor bad, just a person by person case, it was A LOT of PINK! It was very tastefully done and truly was like a Bridal Barbie moment but from a photographers standpoint it mad lighting very difficult with all of the shades of pink.

Kentucky Wedding Rehearsal Dinner

Rooftop Terrace Event at The Brown Hotel

We are transitioning from Pink and Bridal to Fall tones and Rehearsal! I think these photos speak for themselves, it was a gorgeous set up. The only thing that could have made this event better was if the wind had not been blowing. it made it really cold and especially as the sun went down being on the rooftop of a 15+ Story building was obviously colder than normal!

If you are looking for a place to hold an intimate wedding ceremony the Rooftop Terrace of The Brown Hotel could be the spot, it has lights strung up that give it the most magical glow as the sun goes down, and you get 3 sides of views with the 4th view being the historic and Iconic brown brick of The Brown Hotel.

My Top favorite things from this event besides the food which was delicious and still has me dreaming over it!

1. The Brides dress was this floor length floral applique gown that was fitted yet flowed perfectly! You couln’t find a more perfect dress!
2. The color scheme and florals were complimentary with the bright blue October sky while feeling warm and inviting.
3. The rooftop itself! I find this the perfect event space and think it could be converted into pretty much anything you wish, but truly the views are stunning!

The few things I would change-

1. We did family and friend photos and some portraits which truly ate up a lot of time from the dinner, So I would have started 20 minutes prior with photos to help keep toasts and everything before it got dark.
2. Heaters. Maybe this isn’t an option but It was dang cold with the wind so heaters of some kind to help or give people a place to huddle next to and warm up.

All in all it I feel like I was being pretty dang picky with the things I would change from this entire day! There isn’t much to change when events are planned with this much intent and attention!

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