Listen to the Podcast About Oakleaf Cottage
Podcast Summary
In a recent episode of Eventful Endeavors, host Steve Sipes provides a warm welcome to a special guest, Cris Angsten of Oakleaf Cottage. The two discussed the venue’s impressive features, perfect for any event.
Angsten shares the captivating story of how they obtained the property just a few hours after noticing it for sale. The speed of their decision to purchase Oakleaf Cottage testifies to the place’s irresistible charm. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the cottage continues to mesmerize visitors, who often describe the experience as ‘magical’.
The captivating appeal of Oakleaf Cottage comes from its brilliant locations. It beautifully nests on the side of Lookout Mountain, bordering Cloudland Canyon State Park on two sides. With a sprawling 32 acres of scenic forest, the property offers ample space for photo-ops against the backdrop of mossy rocks and mountain views, especially stunning during the fall.
Besides the splendid outdoors, the cottage itself comes equipped to sleep nine. With two flexible outdoor ceremony locations, Angsten explains they can tailor to any event’s unique needs. The ‘unbarned’ barn was a point of keen interest. With a white interior and a New England feel, it presents a fresh take on the typical Southern barn, ensuring Oakleaf Cottage stands out among event venues.
In essence, this interview presented Oakleaf Cottage not just as a venue, but a space where magic happens.
Learn more about
Oakleaf Cottage
This interview was provided by
Felix and Fingers Dueling Pianos
Podcast Transcript
Steve (00:24)
All right, welcome to Eventful Endeavors. My name is Steve Sipes. I’m a dueling pianist and event specialist in the Chattanooga era, what I like to call the tri-state area, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama. But today I am hosting this podcast and we have a special guest from a very cool venue. This is Cris Angsten of Oakleaf Cottage. Hello, Cris
Cris Angsten (00:46)
Hello! Thank you for having me. Everything’s good. Trying to stay warm. It’s a little chilly this morning.
Steve (00:48)
Yeah, how’s it going?
Yeah, we’ve got a cold front coming in. They say black ice and snow maybe. I’m betting on snow. That’s the part I’m kind of hoping for. Yeah. I bet it looks amazing at your venue. ⁓ that’s awesome.
Cris Angsten (01:00)
Snow is always fun.
I have some photos. It’s stunning. Absolutely stunning when
that happens. Yeah.
Steve (01:09)
So we’re gonna talk some more about this venue, which is very special. But before we get into that, tell me a little bit about the background of Oakleaf Cottage.
Cris Angsten (01:17)
So as far as purchase or like how long we’ve had it all of that or what we the actual background background.
Steve (01:23)
A little bit about
how you got it and how you got into it. Tell us a little bit about how that happened.
Cris Angsten (01:29)
Okay. Okay. So almost 10 years ago now, this will be our 10 year anniversary of having this property. We came across a listing actually I came across it had been listed at like five o’clock the night before I saw it at 5am. I emailed the realtor. Dave was still asleep. We saw it by noon and we had it under contract by two o’clock. ⁓ We
Steve (01:49)
Well, it was just meant to be.
Cris Angsten (01:53)
We don’t buy shoes that fast. So I tell people that all the time. We don’t buy anything that fast. So we knew we wanted this place because when we got here, it is absolute magic. And we’ve had many past couples and people who visit and everything too. They’re just like, this place is magic.
Steve (01:54)
That’s great.
Awesome awesome, and and I can see just a little bit over your shoulder there so we can kind of see is that a fall photo that we’ve got right there
Cris Angsten (02:12)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, that is a mid-November photo. that’s one of our… So like a lot of people love us for the mossy rocks and it’s like basically the whole side of Lookout Mountain is on the whole backside of the property. So lots of ample places for photos back there.
Steve (02:18)
That’s awesome.
Hmm.
Wow, what a great location. So tell us a little bit about the location. Can you give us a little bit more of their surroundings and what else is in the area?
Cris Angsten (02:37)
Sure.
Yeah. So we are on the side of Lookout Mountain. So on your way up toward Cloudland Canyon State Park. In fact, we border Cloudland Canyon State Park on two sides. So we’ve got 32 acres now because we bought a little piece of property that kind of snuggles up against it. There’s 32 acres. It’s all wooded. We are completely in the forest here. There is a cottage that sleeps nine. And then there are two outdoor.
Steve (02:46)
Hmm.
Cris Angsten (03:03)
ceremony locations and I say all of our locations are flexible so you can have dinner outside if you want, can have dancing outside if you want. mean we we just kind of feel like whatever we can make happen, whatever magic you want to have happen, we’re gonna make it happen. So if you like this location for cocktail hour, we’ll do that. And then of course we have the the barn that we are constantly unbarned so that it does not look so much like a barn.
Steve (03:17)
Man.
Tell
me about that. What does that mean unburning?
Cris Angsten (03:29)
So there’s a lot of barn venues in the South and there was a barn already here. So maybe we wouldn’t have built a barn if we were actually planning on starting a venue, which we weren’t. But we have, painted the interior white. We kind of changed it up. It has more of like a New England feeling to it as opposed to rustic barn.
I kind of wanted everything to feel, well not kind of, but I do. I want things to feel much more sophisticated.
Steve (04:02)
Awesome. that sounds great. Okay, and I was gonna ask you to give us a virtual tour. It sounds like you kind of just did. That you’ve got the the cottages, the different places that they can have their ceremony, their reception there. That sounds awesome. Now, do you have any interesting stories to tell? Things that may have happened at the venue, maybe even during a ceremony that would be fun to hear?
Cris Angsten (04:12)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
I do, so I was thinking on this a little bit and I realized there’s actually several things that happen. And so there’s two that come to mind right away and one that happened just this past year. And our bride had lost her dad and there was a significance to a Luna moth. I will tell you her wedding was not supposed to be held at a time when there are Luna moths. There are two hatchings for Luna moths. It’s usually April and then you usually see them again in June.
There was a Luna moth on the front porch the whole day. And she showed me she had a tattoo of it. Her mom had a tattoo of it. Whenever they left, the Luna moth left as well. So there’s stuff like that that happens. I had a bride that was just like dying to see a fox. And while she’s getting ready, this room upstairs, there’s actually a photo from the photographer. This was years ago. And she looks outside and there is a fox that literally like walks across the driveway.
Steve (05:02)
Okay, I got a little chill there.
Hmm.
Cris Angsten (05:19)
looks up at her and then keeps on walking.
Steve (05:23)
Wow.
Cris Angsten (05:24)
So we have weird things like that.
Steve (05:26)
No, so I’m just going to assume that these are things you plan. It’s that kind of venue folks. These are the things that can happen and may happen if you have your ⁓ wedding there at Oakleaf Cottage because it is magical like you said. ⁓
Cris Angsten (05:31)
I’m
Right, you don’t know.
There’s
lots of things that happen that are just like so fun. An owl hooting just at ceremony at vows or the sun coming out behind a cloud during vows. I mean, that happens all the time. Something, a certain wind, the leaves falling a certain way. It’s wild.
Steve (05:46)
That’s awesome.
Wow. So you do have a little bit of a nature preserve going on there. That’s amazing. Well, what advice would you give to a bride or couples as they’re planning their wedding? What’s something you’ve seen a lot of weddings and you think here’s something that they could benefit from hearing?
Cris Angsten (06:02)
Yeah, we do.
Mm-hmm.
So I know everybody has their opinion. So before anybody or even listen to anybody’s opinion about what your wedding should look like or feel like or what you should do or what you shouldn’t do, because everybody’s gonna have tons of advice, you do not need to follow that advice. The two of you need to sit down and say what is important to each of you. So what is true to you? What feels appropriate? What do you want it to feel like?
Do you want your dad to walk you down the aisle? Do you want both of your parents to walk you down the aisle? How do you want that to be? What traditions do you want to keep? What do you want to pull in that’s maybe tradition and older and maybe from another country? So thinking about all of those things in order to make it truly true to you and thinking too about a simple one that I pull all the time is color. It’s so easy to fall into this Pinterest trap and this Instagram trap and say, okay,
Steve (07:05)
Mmm
Cris Angsten (07:11)
I am in love with these colors. And suddenly, you like you never liked pink before, but you keep seeing pink glassware on tables. And suddenly you’re like, you’re envisioning your wedding with pink glassware and you never would have done it before. 10 years from now, you’re like, why did I choose pink glassware? I don’t even like pink. So look at the colors in your closet and on both of your closets. Look at it, see if you like it. And that would be ideal. You want your friends and family when they get to your wedding to know that it’s your wedding.
Steve (07:21)
you
Right. Ooh, good.
Hmm. that’s awesome. Very good. So don’t necessarily take all of your ideas and advice from Pinterest or social media. All right. I’ve never heard anyone say go look in your closet for ideas. That’s good. All right. Well, that’s great. Okay, now we may have touched on this already, but I’m just going to ask it and you can answer whatever you want. What makes Oakleaf so special? What sets it apart from other venues? Some of that you’ve kind of answered, but let me hear you.
Cris Angsten (07:46)
Mm-hmm, absolutely.
Look around your house, absolutely.
So there’s actually a lot. One of the things that’s very important to me is that we are a full service venue and we are a green certified venue. And so both of those things, ⁓ we want you to fully enjoy your wedding day here. So we don’t want you to be worried about setting tables. We don’t want you to be worried about, you know, are the vendors showing up on time, any of that kind of stuff. So we include a planner and these are real actual professional planners. And there’s a lot of slamming about like venue coordinators.
Steve (08:07)
voice that.
Cris Angsten (08:33)
Basically, I’m the venue coordinator. I am the person who’s running around making sure the venue looks good and doesn’t burn down. That’s my job. Your planner comes with us and they are the one that is making sure that everything runs well and that you don’t have anything to worry about except enjoying the day. And that is also why we handle everything that we do. So we are full service. We do not want you to be stressed from the time that you book us until the end of the night. Like we want everything smooth as butter.
Steve (08:38)
Yep.
that sounds awesome. And you may have already answered this, but what does a perfect wedding day look like from your point of view? Kind of a perfect wedding.
Cris Angsten (09:06)
I know everybody wants flawless. That’s hard to achieve. Things do happen. But the thing is, if it’s things that you can look ahead and see, so like that’s part of having a planner, is you can look ahead at that timeline and say, you know what, there’s a chance that this could happen. Or having a good solid rain plan in place. So knowing that, even when something unexpected comes up, you know how you’re going to pivot. Or if you’re having to pivot because of something small like,
Steve (09:07)
Hmm. Hmm.
Hmm.
Cris Angsten (09:34)
Okay, we ran out of ice, we’re gonna have to run down the store or go get some. Somebody in the background runs out to go get it. There’s an assistant planner, that’s her job. She’ll run out, she’ll go get the ice. Nobody knows that we were out of ice. You know, that kind of thing.
Steve (09:45)
Right. I remember my nephew’s wedding and it just happened to be my wife and I were the backup plan for just about everything. So I know what you’re talking about. we have the hors d’oeuvres but we don’t have anyone to set them up. Or we ran out of ice. I mean that was actually one of the things. yep.
Cris Angsten (09:52)
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
It happens on a hot day
and people use more ice than you expected. Like, normally you’re like, five big bags should have done it. Should have had two bags left and not so much. So, yeah.
Steve (10:06)
Hmm
Right.
Yeah, great. Great
advice. Now, just kind of a little curveball question here. Is there a song that you’ve heard that gets played more than any other song at weddings?
Cris Angsten (10:25)
So I thought about this, because yes, there are some songs that we hear more often than others. I know Packable Cannon is always popular. I mean, it was at my wedding. But for the most part, our weddings tend to be very individual. And so I’ve actually been very impressed by the variety of songs that we hear at ceremony. I’ve been very impressed. I’m like, how did you even think of that?
Steve (10:33)
Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
awesome.
Wow.
So you’re giving them some stars, giving them a little, good job. You chose something I hadn’t thought of. that’s great.
Cris Angsten (10:55)
We’ve got some incredibly creative couples. So I’ve
been very impressed.
Because if you asked me to think of a song off the top of my head, I would probably come up with something with Queen in the backdrop, because it’s in your backdrop right now. I literally cannot. Like,
yeah.
Steve (11:08)
Yeah.
Well, so for those of you listening, and grooms, if you’re creative, this is a good place to go. You’ll be able to express your creativity and you’ll be able to see lots of wildlife. So this will be Oakleaf Cottage as the place to check out. Or at least there’s the possibility of those things.
Cris Angsten (11:21)
happens.
It’s a possibility. I can’t guarantee anything because it’s nature, you know.
Steve (11:28)
Sure. Sure.
It’s like those whale watching tours. They can’t guarantee it, but we hope so.
Cris Angsten (11:32)
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
Steve (11:35)
Alright, after so many weddings, what is something that you would love to see happen at a wedding?
Cris Angsten (11:41)
I want an elephant.
I have had, I’ve had highland cows, I’ve had alpacas, I haven’t had a camel either. We’ve had horses, we’ve had all kinds of things. I am ready for an Indian elephant to come up that driveway.
Steve (11:55)
And it is a possibility. Wow, well that’s great. All right, well this is great. Is there anything else that you would like to share with us about Oakleaf Cottage?
Cris Angsten (11:55)
Yeah, right?
I can’t think of anything. I feel like we’ve covered a lot.
Steve (12:09)
Well, tell us, and maybe I kind of,
I think I jumped over this, where are you located?
Cris Angsten (12:14)
We are on the site of Lookout Mountain just outside Chattanooga, Tennessee. So we are kind of located right between the little bitty town of Trenton and the little bitty town-ish of Rising Fawn. So we are right there, right at the corner. We are 20 minutes from Chattanooga and I think about a stone’s throw from Alabama. So we are on that far corner with all those beautiful mountains.
Steve (12:24)
Right. OK.
Yeah.
Yes, and it definitely is. OK, well, this has been really fun and I appreciate you sharing with us. I think you do have a special place there. So very cool that everybody can learn some more about that and hope you have a good day. Watch out for the black ice this weekend.
Cris Angsten (12:51)
Absolutely. But I’m hoping for the snow. I will find a way up here and I will definitely share, in Instagram stories, I will share what it looks like up here because it is stinking gorgeous.
Steve (12:55)
me too.
that’s awesome. have a good day. We’ll talk later. Thank you.
Cris Angsten (13:09)
All right.
