The dress code was “black-tie western,” boots encouraged

NEED TO KNOW

• Walker Montgomery, son of John Michael Montgomery, married Tigirlily Gold’s Krista Slaubaugh on Oct. 23 in Thompson’s Station, Tennessee
• The wedding dress code was “black-tie western,” boots encouraged
• The celebration featured live performances, a Midwest and Southern-inspired dinner, and homemade desserts

Country music artists Walker Montgomery and Krista Slaubaugh are married.

Walker, son of John Michael Montgomery, tied the knot with Slaubaugh, one half of country duo Tigirlily Gold, on Friday, Oct. 23, in Thompson’s Station, Tennessee. The “elevated western” wedding was attended by 130 guests.

“We both are country music artists, so it felt very natural to have our wedding reflect our day-to-day lives,” Krista tells PEOPLE.

The groom, 27, and bride, 28, encouraged their loved ones to follow a “black-tie western” dress code and bring boots for dancing. Even Krista swapped her bridal shoes for Dan Post boots after the ceremony. Walker donned custom black boots from The Boot Builder.

In the morning, Walker and Krista privately exchanged handwritten vows over coffee. “We travel so much for work that when we do get to have morning coffee together, we cherish that time and it always makes the day better,” says Krista, who notes that carving out special time for just the two of them was a non-negotiable.

The couple also got all of their wedding portraits and videos out of the way before their outdoor ceremony — officiated by Walker’s childhood pastor, Rev. Holly Fuqua — so that they could “relax” and fully “enjoy” the celebration after saying “I do.”

The couple exchanged traditional vows in front of loved ones and branded “K+W” into a pair of boots to commemorate their unity. They say they have “a quiet, calm, steady love.”

“I love that Walker always makes me extremely safe and protected,” Krista shares. “He is honest and respects and supports me chasing my dreams. He is also extremely funny and he is truly the one person in this world who I can’t get enough of. He is an extremely strong and smart human, and we make each other better people every single day. We love to travel and make memories together, but more importantly we enjoy everyday life the most.”

Walker adds that he loves “Krista’s joyful and optimistic outlook on almost every situation.”

“Whether it’s people, places or situations, she can always find the positives in whatever it is. I just simply love being around her,” he gushes. “She puts me in a good mood and she is my best friend.”

The solo artist wore a classic black tuxedo custom-designed by Jameson Douglas with a black cowboy hat from Resistol while Krista wore a strapless, mermaid-style gown custom-designed by Olia Zavozina.

“I knew I wanted a mermaid-style dress all along and I tried on many dresses, but I struggled to find one that felt very dramatic and bridal. I wanted to look like a cake topper,” Krista says. “When I tried the sample on at Olia Zavozina for the first time, I got emotional because it was the dress that little Krista always had in her head growing up. I guess when you know, you know!”

She paired the look with a cathedral-length veil with Chantilly lace trim and a heart-shaped “K+W” patch. “[That’s] how we always draw our names together in notes we leave for each other,” Krista shares.

“Blue Clear Sky” by George Strait played as Walker and Krista were pronounced as husband and wife. At the reception, they shared their first dance to “I Don’t Think I Will” by James Bonamy.

Walker is from Kentucky while Krista is from North Dakota. The two “wanted to incorporate a little bit of both of where [they] come from” into their wedding, so they did so through food and drinks. For example, the bar included pickle spears to put in beer as a North Dakota tradition.

For dinner, there was a “Midwest and Southern” meal of short ribs with mashed potatoes and shrimp and grits. A dessert table was filled with homemade goodies from the couple’s relatives, including bourbon balls by Walker’s grandmother (a Kentucky classic), scotcharoos by Krista’s mother (a North Dakota classic), and chocolate sundae bars by Krista’s grandmother (the bride’s favorite childhood dessert). There was additionally a two-tiered almond wedding cake decorated with K+W surrounded by a heart in blue icing.

Krista’s sister, Kendra, and her former piano teacher and youth pastor, Mark Jaspers, sang Sara Evans’ “A Real Fine Place to Start” at the reception. Nik Lizacano also deejayed.

The wedding was planned by Kate Grove of Beyond Details.

The nuptials came almost a year and a half after Walker and Krista got engaged.

Walker proposed during a surprise getaway on May 26, 2025, at a crystalline pond surrounded by the lush Blue Ridge Mountain forests in Highlands, North Carolina. 

“I was overwhelmed in the best way,” Krista told PEOPLE at the time. “You wait for that moment your whole life, and I just wanted to remember and soak it in as much as possible.”

Walker added, “Almost immediately afterwards the sun started shining down on the dock by the pond that we were standing on. It was perfect!”

The couple met in fall 2023 when Walker had a concert in Kansas City, Missouri. At the time, the “I Love the Way You Love Me” singer hit on Krista “in the most indirect way possible.”

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“There was a group of ladies there that asked him during his meet-and-greet if he knew Tigirlily Gold, and he said, ‘Ya. Tell the tall one I’m in love with her.’ (I’m the tall one to clarify),” Krista recalled to PEOPLE last year. “This message got to my mom’s friend, my mom, and then to me. I slid into his DMs pretty shortly after and said, ‘How’s Kansas City lately?’ ”

“I was pretty obsessed from the very beginning to say the least,” Walker told PEOPLE last year. “I’d never met someone so beautiful and elegant.”

The rest was history.

Krista says, “The most romantic game of ‘telephone’ ever!”

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