drfgtb1

[paperzombiie]

some quick refs I did for ArtFight of some of my furry OCs c:

[wisewidow]

Hello, Your Parents Want Me To Have Your Babies

PAIRING: Natasha Romanoff x Reader

SUMMARY: Melina, my workplace’s neighbour, wants to set me up with her daughter.

I'd only ever hear about Natasha every couple of weeks, when her adoptive father, the mechanic that owned the garage workshop beside my father's cafe slash bar, met up with my uncle for beers one day last year. Ever since then, our families have been loosely intertwined, friendly but not too close. Alexei fixed my mom's wrecked car for a cheap price, in return I let his youngest daughter Yelena have free coffees whenever she pops over.

From what my father told me, Alexei's entire family, including his wife, were all involved in the family business of repairing cars, except for his eldest daughter: Natasha, who turned out to be an FBI agent living in Quantico. Dad says they're proud of her but they miss her.

"(Y/N)," my brother calls from the kitchen. I put down my phone and find him balancing three plates of sandwiches and a salad in his spindly arms.

He opens his mouth to explain the orders, but I cut him off.

"Alexei," I say, pointing to the bacon and egg sandwich. "A salad for Melina. The tuna and tomato roll is Yelena's. Did they want drinks?"

Peter nods. "Four coffees and a large bottle of water, they already have them."

I ruffle his hair to thank him and grab the plates, balancing the third on my forearm until I can place it on a tray. I carry it outside, years of waitressing practice keeping it balanced, and head towards the garage.

"Melina?" I call. Moments later the raven haired woman slips out of the office and smiles. She yells something in Russian that causes Yelena to slide out from under a silver BMW, covered in black grease. Alexei appears moments later wielding a spanner.

They hound me for their orders, gratefully patting my shoulder and carrying their food away to their separate stations. Yelena disappears into the shadows with her sandwich, and her father to his desk, but Melina simply brightens and says, "(Y/N), have you heard? Natalia is visiting."

"Yes!" Alexei yells around a mouthful of bread. "Family, reunion! Grandbabies!"

Melina hisses something in their mother tongue. I laugh, and then ask if Natasha was bringing her kids, though I wasn't aware she had any.

"He means nothing of it, Natalia is focused on work at the moment. Too focused, I think. No babies. No partner."

"Tell her about her penthouse!" Alexei encourages.

Melina flaps a hand at him in irritation. "Yes, well, she has broken up with Bruce, the shy scientist from work. And then Sharon, charming field operative, also from work. And now she refuses to date. Because of work."

I chuckle nervously. "Where are you going with this?"

Melina smiles innocently. "Nowhere. What happened to your last girlfriend, again? Your father mentioned something about . . ."  The look in her eyes is enough to egg me on, though the subject is one I rarely speak of these days.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I say, "Carol left to travel Europe."

"Shame," she nods sympathetically. "You don't seem bothered. Are you not looking for a relationship?"

"Not actively, but I'm sure another troublemaker will find me. I don't have a good track record of steady relationships," I admit.

"Neither does Natalia!" Alexei shouts.

"Oh!" I say. "Does she want Carol's number? Or my friend Harley, she's not looking for commitment."

Yelena snickers. Alexei frowns. Melina chuckles. "No, no, Natalia needs someone she doesn't work with, and you need someone serious, and we need grandbabies before we die, since Yelena neglects it."

I flush a bright red. "Grandb— I'm— okay, first of all, neither of us have the equipment for that—"

"Neither did Dad," Yelena pipes up, referring to the fact that she and her sister were adopted.

"Hey!"

"(Y/N)!" Peter calls, rounding the corner. "Ned's coming over to pick me up, we need to finish our physics project. Uncle Ben should be here soon, can you manage the bar until he gets here?"

I jump onto the excuse and yell back affirmation, say a quick goodbye to Melina before speed-walking back to the cafe.

Peter leaves with Ned soon after, and Ben arrives at around the same time. I move to the kitchens while he takes over serving our regulars, as he's friendlier with them than me.

I work on making more sandwiches and tapas meals until four, when my shift ends. I kiss Uncle Ben on the cheek and head home.

The smell of paprikash greets me as I unlock the door to my apartment, which I guess means that my roommate is home. I call out a hello to her and head to the shower.

I groan happily as the hot water rains down on my front. I close my eyes and lean my head back, thinking over how strange the day had been, and lose myself in a trance of relaxation.

"(Y/N/N)!" Wanda barges in. I jump and almost slip grabbing the shower curtain to cover my body as I peek out at her.

"I'm naked," I hiss.

She ignores me and holds up two clothes hangers. "Pantsuit or dress?"

I push my wet hair out of my face. "Uh, are you bar-hopping with Vision or going to a family dinner?"

"Get together with some friends," she explains. "Vis, Sam, Steve and some guy named Bucky who I'm informed we're supposed to be pretending Steve isn't in love with, do you know him?"

"Nope."

"Okay, well, he's bringing some friends, so I'm bringing you. Don't make that face, you know almost everyone."

"I don't feel like getting drunk," I complain.

"Good! You can be the designated driver. Pantsuit or dress?"

Grumbling, I tell her, "Dress."

"Okay, thanks, you wear the pantsuit, be ready by seven. May the Force be with you!"

She ducks as I throw my shampoo bottle at her. We bicker and mock and tease as I pat myself dry and she changes into the scarlet dress.  While she braids her hair, I carefully slip into the navy and white striped pantsuit, and we move into her bedroom to make use of her vanity, since the sun's lowering position in the sky shone straight into the window while my room would be encased in dimness by now. I sit in the chair and she leans over me, brushing her eyelashes with delicate mascara.  We fall into our normal going-out-getting-ready rhythm, periodically handing each other different brushes, comparing lipstick shades, and commenting on our days. She tells me about her brother's latest shenanigans and I make the grave mistake of commenting on Melina's attempted set-up earlier today, much to Wanda's entertainment. The two had never met but they both shared the pure ecstasy that came with matchmaking involving me.

"Do you think she's pretty?" Wanda wonders.

"I've seen photos," I shrug. "She's a redhead. Yelena says she changes hairstyles often."

"That doesn't answer my question! Pretty redhead or no?"

"They were baby photos, Wanda! I didn't have an opinion on her looks past the Wonder Woman pajamas."

She hums, and turns to draw a small heart under my left eye with her gel liner pen. "It would be nice if you wound up with her, but if you do fall madly in love with her beautiful red locks and decide to move to Washington to marry her and have her babies, I will murder you. You pay your rent on time and you're fun and please, please do not make me move back in with my brother."

"Why does everyone keep bringing up babies?" I yell.

An hour later we're pulling up to the bar in the back of  a cab arguing about getting a cat. The debate of whose bathroom would host the litter tray is interrupted by Wanda spotting Vision through the window and quickly smacking my arm and hissing at me to hurry up and pay so she can sneak in and scare him. Unfortunately, I can't locate my purse inside my bag.

"(Y/N), (Y/N), go, go, go . . ."

"Wanda, Wanda, going, going, going . . . Aha!" I pay the driver and find myself being ushered inside before I can put my purse back in my bag.

Sam, a friend of Wanda's from college, ends up foiling her evil master plan by pointing her out as soon as she walks in the door. Vision, being a good sport, pretends to be startled when she yells "BOO!" in his ear. As she cackles manically before sliding into the chair beside him, I notice the only free space is by the pretty blonde woman beside a man with brown hair pulled into a bun.

"Oh, look who I dragged out with me!" Wanda exclaims, taking a sip of Vision's drink and making a grand gesture with her hands. "(Y/N)!"

I'm greeted with a chorus of hello's. I bow and grin as I sit by the woman and offer a polite smile. Steve leans over points to the brunet man. "This is Bucky, we were close as friends. As kids. We were close as friends, when we were kids."

Sam snorts into his beer.

Steve clears his throat awkwardly. "And this is his partner from work, Nat."

I get a closer inspection and my eyes widen in shock. "Natalia?"

"Her name is Natasha." Steve corrects.

"I thought her name was Natalie?" Vision frowns.

"She goes by Nat, who cares?" Sam shrugs.

"Natalia Alianovna Romanova?" Wanda yelps. "(Y/N)! You didn't tell me this was the Natalia!"

"The what? I— Do I know you two?" Natasha asks, bewildered.

"Not me!" Wanda says, and then makes a motion for zipping her lips shut.

Everyone turns to me. I chuckle nervously. "I should probably explain. Hi, I'm (Y/N), your parents want me to have your babies."

[katerinu]

I have arrived at the Yashahime is Over Party! I never, ever wanted a sequel, I was much happier with my own opinions and headcanons as to what happened after the show was over. (As I'm sure many fans were.) InuYasha has always been this great, big sandbox, where you can do whatever you want. Yashahime basically came in and stomped on everybody's fun time, so now I'm just trying to rebuild what I had! This rewrite isn't exactly my thoughts to a T on what I think should have happened at the end, rather, I tried to keep in mind the premise of Yashahime and just... fix it!

I know that my likes and opinions tend to be a bit disjointed from the rest-- for example, I LOVED the filler episodes. To this day, some of my favorite episodes that I go back to rewatch have been filler. I like slow and steady, I like lots and lots of dialogue. But Yashahime? Not like this. Never like this. For my rewrite, this is no longer a fantasy romance action adventure whatever. This is slice of life.

For my rewrite, Moroha becomes the main character. The story follows her as she travels around Japan, basically meeting old friends of her folks, and meeting some new ones along the way. InuKag and MirSan live generally happy, peaceful lives, with the Root Head demon being the last of their major problems for a long while.

I love the idea that with InuYasha and Kagome being a committed couple in an "unusual" relationship with an "unusual" daughter, Kaede's village over time becomes a safe haven for weak demons, half demons, and like-minded humans. It expands into a vast and bustling town, with plenty of colorful characters in addition.

Sango spends a lot of her day training Hisui and Gyokoto. She doesn't go out herself much anymore, and has basically passed the torch to her children and, of course, younger brother. Her time is mostly spent now creating and repairing weapons, though her real passion is in experimenting with fabrics to create stronger, more resistant material. Miroku continues to travel (so long as he stops by to say hello to his wife once and awhile) alongside his daughter Kin'u, who basically apprentices under him. He's so proud of who she's become.

Moroha is at that age where she longs to see the world outside their humble home. She packs her things, says goodbye to her mom and dad, and sets off. I can totally see her keeping the bounty hunter job as it would be a great way for her to make money on her own. And with her being loved and reasonably fed, whenever she loses a head, it can *actually* be funny. She still uses the rouge to become Beniyasha in tough times, but without the red pearl. (No pearls in this, the pearls are stupid.) She made a promise with her momma to only use the rouge in DIRE situations, since it can be dangerous. Of course, she's looked over by grandpa Myoga... and Shippo!

Shippo is much older now, but given that he's a demon (and I do subscribe to the demons age slower HC, despite the shit I give it) he appears to be around, or a little younger than Moroha. They're about equal in power which means they have to work together a lot to get out of sticky situations. They act as brother and sister since Shippo was basically adopted by InuKag, so there's no romance between them. It's purely familial.

Over the course of the series, Moroha meets old characters, both filler and canon, from the OG series. (Some Shippo recognizes, some he doesn't.) They help out with whatever problem-of-the-week is going on, as the episodes are primarily laid back and focused more on character interaction and development. They meet old faces like Jineji, Botan and Momiji, Kanta, Bunza, and even Shiori!

Shiori would have an episode or two, going more in depth on half demons and their human nights.

To keep the "mystery" aspect Sunrise TRIED to do while also putting a long term goal/conflict in the show to prevent it from getting boring, I would include Towa/Setsuna. But here's the kick-- I would combine them into one character.

Zetsumetsuko would sometimes run into our main cast and cause issues, mostly based on what the audience infers is some kind of misunderstanding or jealousy. This character will butt heads with Moroha, similar to how InuYasha and Sesshomaru were, but with her having a bit more sass.

Moroha says they smell familiar, but she can't place her finger on it. Zetsumetsuko tends to say some cryptic stuff, saying she knows some info that Moroha doesn't. This character is basically a wild card, and is to keep the audience on their toes. It is of course, later revealed that this character is the daughter of Sesshomaru. (Not that it's hard to guess, haha.) It happens when the main cast run into Rin. Zetsumetsuko appears to try and cause more trouble, only for Rin to excitedly shout, "Sister!" And begin doting upon her.

With tensions eased, the characters manage to sit and chat calmly. Zetsumetsuko feels like she doesn't belong, and struggles to find a place in the world similar to InuYasha. They barely knew their own father, raised primarily by Rin and Jaken. She doesn't even know her own mother. Zetsumetsuko has been following Moroha out of a sense of jealousy, since they're related but their paths have been so different. She basically reveals how lonely she's been, too. Which leads to her joining the group!

I wanted to introduce Zetsumetsuko as the daughter of Sesshomaru at the same time I introduced Rin as her sister, basically cutting Rin out of the running for potential mother right away.

The mother would be Kagura, who... I don't have a design for, ah! I heard a lot of talk and rumors about Kagura having become a goddess and I think I would apply that idea to my rewrite. It would explain why Kagura wasn't around for Zatsumetsuko growing up. Ah, now I have to make a Goddess!Kagura design, hahaha.

In conclusion, my sequel would be made purely for nostalgia's sake. No retcons, barely even touching the original plot of InuYasha. It would be a way to see the old cast through new characters, who would be charming in their own right without relying on their parents, and would allow us to revisit one-off and filler characters again. The sequel wouldn't be a necessary watch to enjoy InuYasha, it would just be a way for fans to go, "Oh, I remember that character! Good times!"

That's about it! I worked really hard on the character designs and thinking about their personalities and how they fit in, so if you haven't yet, it would be nice if you took a look at the links I put in and read a bit more about their characters! Please feel free to ask questions, I'm not the best at explaining myself at length since my mind gets jumbled, haha.

Thank you!

[drwcn]

CQL Ladies Appreciation Hour, sister edition: Can I say I absolutely *adore* Jiang Yanli's relationship with Wei Wuxian? I mean, the whole Yunmeng Trio speaks to my found family loving heart, but those two in particular... It's so rare to have an adopted brother-sister pair that isn't at risk of some weird romantic subplot (or maybe I just watch the wrong dramas lol), and here they're allowed to be *siblings* and tender with each other with no ambiguity. It's wonderful. Jiang Yanli is best.

Thank you for your prompt! :) 

exam went to shits so i need a distraction that’s nice.  So here it is, Yanli as a head of her family on Wei Ying’s his wedding day. Maybe not what you were thinking of, but I wanted to show off Jiang Yanli’s importance as the woman who pretty much raised Wei Wuxian in a ceremonial way. :) 

///

“The grooms are coming, the groom are coming!” 

A throng of novice Yunmeng Jiang disciples announced as their feet pitter-pattered up the steps to the main hall. Behind them, novice Gusu Lan disciples were hot on their heels, grinning excitedly despite the fact they were breaking several sect rules. 

This was not your usual Gusu wedding. 

Cloud Recesses was splendid in red. In the courtyard of Songfeng Shuiyue Pavilion, guests gathered in anticipations. At the hollering of young disciples, heads turned towards their direction where around the bend of the path a parade of disciples, two lines of purple and two lines white, could be seen making its way towards the outer entrance. At the front, leading the entourage side by side were the groomsmen Lan Xichen and Jiang Wanyin, their robes proudly displaying their clans but brightened by their matching red accessories. The two figures of interest, swathed in crimson and protected at the center of the procession, marched amidst the music and cheers towards the ceremony that awaited them.

Behind his brother, Lan Zhan sneaked a glance at the man who was to be his husband, so utterly beautiful under the warm golden sun. Wei Ying’s eyes turned crescent by his mirthful smile when they met his, and Lan Zhan had to steady his breath. Patience. Remember your teachings. But what man could remember Gusu’s 4000 clan rules on his wedding day? 

When the wedding company arrived before Songfeng Shuiyue, all music ceased, and a hushed quiet fell over the crowd. 

Taking measured careful steps, Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng crossed the threshold one foot at a time. Today, they were not Sect Master of Gusu Lan nor Sandu Shengshou. Today they were just groomsmen, brothers of two lucky young men about to be joined together in matrimony. Hands clasped together in deference, they bowed. 

“The grooms have come to pay respect to the elders and head of family of Yunmeng Jiang and Gusu Lan.”

When the idea of marriage had been initially brought up, how the wedding was to be done became a hotly debated topic amongst the elders of both clans, as neither could agree which side was to be （娶） qu and which to be（嫁） jia. In the end, having convinced Grand Master Lan, Sect Master Jiang Yanli proposed a modified ceremony which would satisfy the traditions of both families. Now, seated within Gusu’s sacred pavilion, the elders of Yunmeng Jiang lined one side of the room, while the elders of Gusu Lan lined the other. Today marked not only the beginning of a marriage, but the beginning of an alliance between two great sects which had never been so intimately bound before. All eyes were on the two young grooms without whom none of this could have been possible. 

Side by side, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian approached Jiang Yanli and Lan Qiren seated in equal positions of distinction at the center front, with only a small table separating them in between. Behind them, on an altar which had been erected for this special occasion rested four ancestral plaques - Cangse Sanren, Wei Changze, Lan Qirong*, Qiu Baiti* - none of whom could be present in person. May their spirits watch over their children and bless them on this holy day. 

Back in his room when he’d been getting ready, Wei Wuxian had desperately told himself he would not cry, but seeing his shijie now, holding him in her gentle gaze shining with dignified approval and joy, Wei Wuxian could not help the tears welling in his eyes. 

Jiang Yanli was magnificent in embroidered indigo silk, like a midnight sky adorned with lilac clouds. Today her hair was gather up by her most formal headdress, silver pieces curled and shaped into lotus petals with pearls pinned into place like seeds. Nodding, she gave him a reassuring smile. 

Lan Xichen cleared his throat and declared for all to hear, “First Bow, to Heaven and Earth!” 

And so it began. 

When the three bows were complete, the groomsmen carried cups of tea to the grooms. Lan Zhan picked up his from Jiang Cheng’s outstretched tray and presented it to Jiang Yanli with his head bowed. 

“Zhang-jie (长姐), please accept this cup of tea from your new brother.” 

Wei Wuxian watched as his sister smiled at his new husband and took hold of the cup, downing the tea elegantly behind the wide expanse of her sleeve. 

Then from a velvet cloth resting on the table, Jiang Yanli picked up a silver bell, the bell of clarity of Yunmeng. “Wangji,” she addressed him firmly. “From this day till your last day, you shall be of Yunmeng Jiang. I gift you with this bell, may it protect you and show you the light in your darkest moments.” 

Then, she bent and leaned down to loop the ties of the bell around his belt. With her this close, only Lan Zhan himself and Wei Ying kneeling beside him could hear her gently whisper,

“Please take care of my A-Xian, Wangji, as I’m sure he will take care of you.” 

Lan Wangji nodded stiffly in response, looking as overwhelmed by the day and as close to tears as Wei Wuxian already was. (Not to mention, he saw Jiang Cheng make a quick swipe at his eyes when he thought no one was looking.)

Then it was Wei Wuxian’s turn. 

Tearing his eyes away from his shijie, he focused on the man directly in front of him who he was soon to call shufu. Lan Qiren had never liked him, but hopefully his acceptance of this marriage meant that his opinions were starting to change.

Picking up his cup of tea from Lan Xichen, Wei Wuxian presented it to Lan Qiren. “Shufu, please accept this cup of tea from your new nephew.”  

Lan Qiren did not have any words of comfort or wisdom, but he accepted the tea with dignity and said, “From this day till your last day, you are of Gusu Lan.” He held a short white ribbon in his hand, not enough to tie around the head, but enough for the wrist. “This ribbon is a piece of your husband’s. Now, it is yours, as he is yours.” 

“Thank you, shufu.” Wei Wuxian bowed and quickly made a dab at his damned leaking eyeballs. 

He barely noticed when Jiang Cheng’s voice rang out with the last call,  “礼毕!” (Conclusion of Ceremony). 

“Elders, honoured guests, please proceed to the banquet hall. Meals and beverages have been prepared. Tonight, Gusu and Yunmeng and our dear friends shall celebrate!” Ever the magnanimous host, Lan Xichen led the way for the wedding party. 

Jiang Cheng, not as quite charming but grew up as the heir of the clan, also played his part guiding the guests to their designation. As he left, pulled along by Nie Huaisang and his other brother-in-law Jin Zixuan, he tossed one last glance over his shoulder, just in time to see his sister take Wei Wuxian’s hand. 

“Silly boy, why do you cry?” 

“I-I am just s-so glad and - and happy.” Wei Wuxian blushed and sniffled, a tad bit embarrassed. Thank heavens he didn’t make this scene in front of the elders. 

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan took his other hand, but his eyes were red and glassy too. 

“There, there, you two,” Jiang Yanli lifted their chins and dabbed their tear streaks with her handkerchief. “War heroes or not, I see you are still children. Do not cry anymore, or your eyes will be puffy and you will not be pretty for your new husband later tonight. Do you not think so, Grand Master Lan?”

Lan Qiren harrumphed, the tips of his ears turning pink. 

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian exchanged incredulous looks. Did their sister just…just…?????  

“Oh there now,” teased Yanli with a laugh. “Not even a smile on such a happy day, Grand Master Lan? Not even on my account?” 

“Unfortunately, we cannot all be blessed with your amiable personality, Sect Master Jiang,” replied Lan Qiren as he stood. 

But Yanli paid his grumpiness no mind. “Perhaps a couple of drinks shall soon fix that. Sect Leader Lan explicitly told me alcohol is not forbidden for weddings.” She stood as well, smoothing the non-existent wrinkles in her robe. “After you, Grand Master.” 

Then with a mischievous side glance to the newlyweds, she said, “Well, what are you two still kneeling there for? Are you not joining us at the banquet and skipping straight to the -” 

“Of course - of course not - c’mon Lan Zhan, let’s go!” 

“Mn.” 

Jiang Yanli laughed. 

All was well. 

—

Zhang-jie (长姐) - formal way of saying ‘older sister’. 

Lan Qirong [蓝启容]

Qiu Baiti [邱百瑅]

My own hc names for LWJ’s parents

[celebritylive]

Bachelor alum Lauren Bushnell and country star Chris Lane didn’t waste any time putting a happily-ever-after chapter on their storybook romance: Less than a year ago, they went public as a couple, began co-habitating in March, got engaged in June, and now just four months later, they’re husband and wife!

 The two wed on Friday evening before 160 family members and friends in an indoor “secret garden” ceremony in their hometown of Nashville, PEOPLE confirms exclusively.

“I’ve just looked forward to the day for quite some time and I’m glad that it’s finally here,” Lane, 34, said. “I feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world to be marrying her.”

“I feel like the luckiest girl,” said his bride, 29. “We both recognize what we have is special, and we feel very lucky.”

As fast as their courtship was, the couple actually got off to a slow start. Acquaintances since 2015, when they met at a radio event in Austin, Texas, Lane explains he “randomly asked” Bushnell in August 2018 to join a group of friends he was gathering for a Bahamas vacation. In the tropical setting, the two recognized their mutual attraction, but Lane threw up a roadblock. “He talked about how he wanted to be single forever, how he didn’t know if he wanted kids,” Bushnell recalls. “Chris decided to use our entire trip to completely scare me away.”

Bushnell also admits she put up her own walls. “I think I was just very guarded and protecting myself,” she says.

Says Lane: “I think we probably both were just fighting ourselves over the whole thing.”

But after Lane returned to Nashville and Bushnell went home to LA, he couldn’t get her off his mind. Daily phone calls led to more get-togethers, and the two found themselves falling in love. Last November, they walked the red carpets together for the first time during CMA Awards week in Nashville.

“That was kind of the ‘all right, let’s do this thing and see what happens,’” Lane recalls.

By the first of the year, they both were all in. She pulled up stakes and moved to Nashville, and the couple soon began ring shopping. “I just wanted to get her exactly what she wants,” Lane says of the 3.5-carat emerald-cut diamond that Bushnell selected. “I feel like that’s a practical way to do it. Why not?”

He presented the custom ring to her on June 16 in a surprise proposal at her parents’ home in Portland, Oregon. The moment came with its own soundtrack. Lane had worked for weeks on a song that exactly described his “Big, Big Plans“: “We’re back in her hometown, and I’m down on one knee / I guess she finally figured out I’m gonna ask her to marry me.” The music played on a boombox as Lane lived out the words he’d written.

Bushnell was caught totally off guard. “Truly until I heard the words, ‘I’m going to ask her to marry me,’ that’s really when it all hit me,” she says.

RELATED: Country Star Chris Lane and Bachelor Alum Lauren Bushnell Are Engaged: All the Proposal Details

Lane had his heart set on a fall wedding, so the couple knew they had no time to waste. Enter Nashville wedding planner Josiah Carr of Ninth & Everett — “we clicked right off the bat,” says Bushnell — who helped the couple with every event detail.

For the venue, they selected 14TENN, an industrial-chic event space with bright white walls, exposed beams, and dark hardwood floors. The large, open room gave Bushnell and her Nashville florist, Stella Rose Floral, the perfect canvas to create an indoor garden. “I really wanted to incorporate a lot of green,” she said. “Nashville is really green, and then I’m from Oregon so that’s kind of how I wanted it to feel. I wanted it to have a secret garden kind of feel — really romantic.”

For her dress, Bushnell says she was in a “kind of indecision paralysis” between store-bought and custom-designed. Carr broke the standstill when he suggested a consult with Nashville designer Olia Zavozina. To Bushnell’s delight, Zavozina sketched out her dream dress, a simple but elegant white silk gown with a lengthy train to bring what Bushnell calls “the wow moment.” Other refinements made it more special: A lace veil, even longer than the train, was handmade by Zavozina’s mother. And, for sentimental reasons, buttons from the wedding dress that Bushnell’s mother wore also were added to the sleeveless gown.

Zavozina ended up designing attire for the entire wedding party, putting Lane in a sharp, black tux (he wore his first bow tie) and dressing his best man, identical twin, Cory, in a black suit. Bushnell’s maid of honor, younger sister, Mollie, helped design her strapless champagne gown.

RELATED: Lauren Bushnell and Chris Lane Celebrate Engagement Party: ‘Wish We Were Getting Married Tonight’

Lane wanted to wait for a first look when his bride walked down the aisle, but practicality won out. Formal photos were taken before the wedding so the couple could mingle with their gathered guests immediately after the ceremony. Among the names on the guest list were country singer-actor Jana Kramer and her husband, former NFL player Mike Caussin, Abby Smyers, wife of Dan + Shay‘s Dan Smyers, Lane’s labelmate ERNEST and four of Bushnell’s fellow alums from The Bachelor Season 20, Amanda Stanton, Jen Saviano, and twins Haley Ferguson and Emily Ferguson.

Both bride and groom wrote their own vows; Lane selected the officiant, Dr. Clayton King, a South Carolina pastor and author whose books have had a strong impact on Lane.

During the cocktail hour that followed, the site of the ceremony was curtained off so it could be transformed into a space for a formal dinner to be served. The Beyond Details-catered menu featured roast chicken, beef filets, Parmesan risotto, asparagus and strawberry shortcake for dessert. There also was a traditional white wedding cake, with salted caramel buttercream filling, a creation of Dessert Designs By Leland.

“We didn’t want anyone leaving hungry,” Bushnell says, explaining the two desserts.

For their first dance, Bushnell bustled her long train, and the couple swayed to Lane’s proposal song, “Big, Big Plans,” which he re-recorded in a more intimate acoustic style.

“Chris wrote it, and it was inspired by our relationship, and it has such a special meaning to us,” Bushnell says, “so I don’t think we could really dance to anything else.”

Afterward, guests took the dance floor, rocking out to tunes spun by Jesse Frasure, who co-wrote “Fix,” Lane’s first No. 1 single, and has DJ’d on the road for Florida Georgia Line.

The evening was capped by the surprise arrival of a Shake Shack food truck, which appeared to serve burgers and fries. “You’ve been dancing and you work up an appetite,” Bushnell says. “So my ‘must’ was we had to have late-night snacks.”

Though bride and groom are planning a quick post-wedding getaway, they’ve set their sights on a “real honeymoon” — as Lane says — perhaps to Hawaii, once he completes his touring schedule this year. And there’s one more thing on their immediate to-do list: They’ll be quickly moving out of their downtown apartment, along with their recently adopted mutt, Cooper, and into a brand-new home in the city.

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“We have a lot to look forward to,” Lane says. “I’m praying for a long career in music. It’s something I’m very passionate about. To get to have somebody like Lauren as a best friend, just in life, is going to make it a million times better. There’s just so many firsts that we’ll experience — hopefully kids. Just the whole nine yards. I want all of that with her.”

The new Mrs. Lane says she, too, can’t wait to share “all the different chapters in life” with her husband. “I’m sure I’ll only continue falling in love with him throughout those chapters,” she says. “I’ll have him by my side, through thick and thin, the good and bad, the challenges and all of the excitement. Just being able to call him my husband through all of that is very exciting.”

from PEOPLE.com https://ift.tt/349hIXv