Congratulations Carley and Daniel!

Carley Arrowood and Daniel Thrailkill on their wedding day – photo by Sarah Coffey Photography

It was a full on bluegrass wedding June 26 when Carley Arrowood married Daniel Thrailkill at the Back Creek Presbyterian Church in Mount Ulla, NC.

The happy couple are each pursuing a career as bluegrass performers, Arrowood as a singer and fiddler recording for Mountain Home Music Company, and Thrailkill as guitarist and vocalist with The Trailblazers. Both are on the up among young grassers, with bright futures in the music.

Back Creek Presbyterian is Daniel’s home church, where he dad has been pastor this past twenty years. The senior Thrailkill officiated at the wedding, assisted by Carley’s pastor. As young artists, there was plenty of music during the service from friends of the bride and groom. Nate Burie sang at the opening, and again in duet with Carley’s sister, Autumn. Chosen Road sang How Great Thou Art at the end, and played as the couple processed from the church.

Chosen Road then played a full set while wedding photos were taken. During the reception, Carley and her band performed, as did The Trailblazers, with a special guest set from The Foreign Landers. 

Daniel tells us that the 190 people at the ceremony were the perfect component of family of friends to share the day with.

“We had a good group of people around us… really encouraging. A lot of the Scripture we had been studying before the wedding was about peace. My dad reminded us that what we were doing was about building something invisible – the commitment between the two of us.”

And Carley said that the setting was perfect.

“There was so much music in the ceremony, and I couldn’t have imagined it any other way. It seems that a lot of weddings are over so quickly, and I wanted ours to be something to remember. It was about an hour long service. I had been praying that I would be calm and be able to soak everything in. And I was!”

The couple shared their first dance to Love Never Fails, sung by their friends Zack and Savannah Alvis. For Carley’s Daddy/daughter dance, Daniel sang Cinderella from Steven Curtis Chapman.

Following the reception, Daniel and Carley left for a honeymoon near Marion, VA. They rented a cabin in the woods, and enjoyed some peace and quiet away from all the hectic wedding activity. There they got to take a bicycle ride along the Virginia Creeper Trail.

Carley said that while the honeymoon was mostly peaceful, they did have some visitors.

“These crows would come to our front yard every morning and crow. The last day we were there, they came and started pecking on the windows!”

The newlyweds will reside in Newton, NC, just south of Hickory, where they are currently renovating their new home.

This weekend they are headed back to Marion for a show at the Lincoln Theater, with both the Carley Arrowood Band and The Trailblazers on the bill.

Congratulations and best of luck to Carley and Daniel!

Photos courtesy of Sarah Coffey Photography.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.