the journal

Two runners, a stunning Catholic church, a lot of best friends, and a beautiful sunny Knoxville, TN day. This St. John Neumann Catholic Church and Abby Farm Wedding had all the ingredients for a perfect East Tennessee Catholic wedding. Laid-back weddings are the best. I love how Jaclyn and John focused first on the sacrament […]

I will take any chance I can get to travel out to East Tennessee to photograph weddings and I am absolutely obsessed with Savannah and Michael’s Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart Knoxville wedding. From finishing touches at the Embassy Suites in downtown Knoxville, to a rainy arrival at the Cathedral for their traditional Catholic wedding, to a sunny intimate dinner at The Lonesome Dove, this wedding radiated joy, grace, and style. I met these two over the summer for their engagement session and immediately fell in love with this beautiful couple.

Sara and Matthew’s St. Andrew’s Clemson Spring wedding was the most perfect wedding to return from maternity leave and way to open my Spring 2026 season. Sara and Matthew’s St. Andrew’s Clemson Spring wedding was the most perfect wedding to return from maternity leave and way to open my Spring 2026 season.

After five years in the wedding industry, I’ve seen trends come and go. I’ve worked with brides, grooms, and vendors of so many different backgrounds and cultures. I’ve also noticed patterns in the questions I’m asked during consultations and discovery calls. This is in no way exhaustive, I could probably make this list and then three more, but here are some of Madeline Oakley Photography’s Frequently Asked Questions as your Nashville Catholic Wedding Photographer.

Ambra and Tim had one of the penultimate Nashville Catholic weddings and nobody can change my mind. They included all the best things: getting ready on historic Music Row, a Nuptial Mass at St. Ann’s, and delicious food and drink at 5th & Taylor. This St. Ann’s and 5th and Taylor wedding was the perfect finale to my Fall ’25 wedding schedule.

I LOVE weddings with a strong sense of family and community and Faustina and Cole had just that. Their sweet November wedding day was full of loving family and close friends. And you know those people that you meet and instantly realize are just the nicest ever? That’s Faustina and Cole. Their November Cookeville, TN wedding at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and Leslie Town Center was such a joyful and refreshing Fall day.

Louisville is one of my favorite cities and it was even better getting to photograph another bride in the most amazing friend group I am privileged enough to keep getting to work with. St. Boniface Catholic Church and The Bourbon Barrel Loft hosted the most fun, emotional, and intentional November Kentucky wedding. Georgia and Enrique […]

’m not sure there could be better backdrops for a Nashville wedding day surrounded by Fall colors than the historic St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Catholic Church and the Nashville Zoo all decorated for their Zoolumination event.

Hannah and Johnny’s September wedding was a Tennessee DREAM. Since I typically photograph Catholic weddings here in Nashville and the Southeast (so, church weddings), outdoor weddings are always a fun creative challenge. And this one? This is what styled shoots try to look like, but real life. Hannah and her family put so much intention into the design of this wedding.

Savannah and Tanner had their short and simple Catholic wedding ceremony at St. Ann’s Catholic Church (one of my favorites!) in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It was a beautiful, rainy, and emotional ceremony that was an honor to photograph.