How much fun did Holly Williams have at her Nashville wedding Sunday evening? Her dress tells the story, the country singer says.
“I’m looking at my Vera Wang exclusive gown on the hotel room floor and it is covered with mud and ripped to shreds,” she tells PEOPLE with a laugh. “The grandkids will think I was a wild one.”
Despite the couture carnage, the nuptials between Williams, 28 — the granddaughter of country legend Hank Williams and daughter of Hank Jr. — and drummer Chris Coleman, 29, were all southern elegance.
Held at Cedarwood, an 1830s farm estate in Nashville, the ceremony took place outdoors where guests, including Kid Rock and Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus (who sang a solo version of “Bless the Broken Road”), were seated on church pews decorated with lavender sachets. Antique chandeliers hung from nearby trees.
The bride, whose 10 bridesmaids were clad in black Vera Wang gowns, was escorted down the aisle by her father, who, she says “was wildly nervous but he did great with it. He kept himself together.”
Coleman, whose pal Kings of Leon drummer Nathan Followill was one of the groomsmen, says he had a harder time. “Holly was breathtaking,” he says.
“When she turned the corner with her dad I was overwhelmed, and the closer she got the more beautiful she got. I don’t know if it was the sun radiating or her, but either way I was sweating.”
The newlyweds danced their first dance to Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler’s “I Dug Up a Diamond” — a nod to their engagement when Coleman buried a ring for Williams to find.
Later, the crowd hit the dance floor as Kid Rock sang a few Bob Seger tunes along with his own hit, “All Summer Long.” The bride and groom took the stage for a version of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” with Williams on vocals and Coleman on drums.
As the reception ended, the couple were driven off in a 1939 Packard while guests held sparklers. “It was,” Williams says, “magical.”