In the glittering world of modern worship music, where arena lights, Grammy wins, and sold-out tours tend to shine on one person at a time, there is almost always someone standing just outside the spotlight holding the whole thing together. For Chris Tomlin — the man behind “How Great Is Our God,” a song sung in churches on nearly every continent — that person is Lauren Bricken, an Atlanta-born makeup artist who married him in 2010 and has spent the years since building a family, a home, and a marriage that survived a genuinely rocky start. She rarely gives interviews, almost never seeks attention, and has still managed to become one of the most quietly influential figures in her husband’s life and songwriting.
Quick Bio
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Lauren Bricken Tomlin |
| Known For | Wife of worship artist Chris Tomlin |
| Birthplace | Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Auburn University |
| Profession | Professional makeup artist |
| Years Active | 2008 – present |
| Spouse | Chris Tomlin (m. November 9, 2010) |
| Children | Ashlyn, Madison, and Elle Grace Tomlin |
| Current Residence | Franklin, Tennessee |
| Faith | Christian |
| Volunteer Role | Women’s coordinator, Adventures of the Heart |
| Public Profile | Highly private; limited social media presence |
Who Is Lauren Bricken?
Lauren Bricken is best known as the wife of contemporary Christian music artist Chris Tomlin, but that description undersells her considerably. She is a working makeup artist with more than fifteen years in the industry, a mother of three daughters, and by her husband’s own account, the more direct and expressive half of their marriage. Where Chris tends to process things internally, she says what she thinks — a dynamic he has openly credited with making him a better communicator.
What makes her interesting is temperament rather than proximity to fame. She has never leveraged her husband’s platform into a brand of her own and has largely stayed off the interview circuit. When she does speak publicly, it is usually in service of something bigger than herself: a conversation about marriage, faith, or the parts of family life that are harder than they look from the outside.
Early Life and Education in Atlanta
Lauren Bricken grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, in a family environment that shaped the steady, faith-centered outlook she carries today. Details about her childhood are genuinely sparse — not because they are hidden, but because she has simply never traded them for attention. What is documented is that she attended Auburn University, the Alabama school that draws heavily from the Southeast and has a famously tight-knit alumni culture.
Auburn matters more than it might seem. Southern college life gave her the network that later fed directly into her career, since professional makeup work in that region runs almost entirely on weddings, referrals, and word of mouth. By the time she settled back into Atlanta life, she had the mix of creative instinct and people skills that would define her working years.
A Career Built on Her Own Terms
Lauren Bricken has worked as a professional makeup artist since 2008, taking on bridal clients, print shoots, and corporate video productions. It is skilled freelance work that depends entirely on reputation — brides do not take chances on unproven artists for the biggest photographs of their lives — and she built that reputation before her married name meant anything to anyone.
That timeline matters, because 2008 is also the year she met Chris. She was not a fan who married a star; she was a professional with her own clients and income who happened to fall for a touring musician. She has continued that work since, fitting it around family life, and also serves as a women’s coordinator with Adventures of the Heart.
How She Met Chris Tomlin
Lauren Bricken met Chris through a mutual friend in 2008, shortly after he relocated from Texas to Atlanta. The introduction came with a memorably bad prediction attached: their friend reportedly said the two would have a great time together, but that it would never last. In hindsight, it is the kind of detail the couple now tells with obvious enjoyment.
They dated for roughly two years, and in 2010 Chris engineered an elaborate proposal in Guatemala. He convinced her that the country’s president had asked him to perform at a week-long celebration, then took her to a restaurant in Antigua where she believed they were about to meet officials. Waiting in the back room instead was a private, candlelit setup — and, by her recollection, a visibly teary Chris on one knee. They married on November 9, 2010.
The Hard Years Nobody Saw
What Lauren Bricken and Chris Tomlin have both been unusually honest about is that the early years of their marriage were difficult. An unexpected first pregnancy arrived while they were still learning how to be married at all, and Chris was on the road constantly. Unresolved personal struggles he had never fully confronted surfaced once the pressure of daily life set in.
They have said plainly that things had to get worse before they got better. Traditional counseling did not click for Chris, so they leaned instead on family, close friends, and a slow process of learning to actually see each other. The marriage did not survive because it was easy — it survived because two stubborn people refused to quit, which is a far more useful story than the polished version.
Family Life at “Peacefield”
The Tomlins now live on acreage in Franklin, Tennessee, just south of Nashville, on a property the family affectionately calls Peacefield. Their three daughters are Ashlyn, born in 2011; Madison, born in 2014; and Elle Grace, born December 14, 2020 — a surprise pregnancy that inspired Chris’s Christmas song “Miracle of Love.” Lauren reportedly announced it by gift-wrapping the positive test and handing it to him.
For Lauren Bricken, day-to-day life sounds refreshingly ordinary: school runs, family dinners, occasional nights in watching television together. The older girls have inherited some of their father’s musicality and have joined him onstage. It is a household built deliberately around normalcy, which appears to be exactly what she wanted.
Final Thoughts
The story of Lauren Bricken is a useful corrective to the way we usually talk about people married to famous men. She is not a footnote in someone else’s career, and she is not a symbol of quiet self-sacrifice either. She is a professional who built something before marriage, kept building it after, raised three daughters, and walked through a hard stretch of marriage without turning it into content. Her influence on her husband’s music is real but indirect — it lives in the songs about gratitude, second chances, and unexpected grace.
FAQs
Who is Lauren Bricken?
She is a professional makeup artist from Atlanta, Georgia, and the wife of Christian music artist Chris Tomlin.
When did she marry Chris Tomlin?
The couple married on November 9, 2010, after roughly two years of dating and a proposal in Guatemala.
How many children do they have?
Three daughters: Ashlyn, Madison, and Elle Grace.
What does she do for a living?
She has worked as a makeup artist since 2008, covering weddings, print work, and corporate video, and volunteers as a women’s coordinator with Adventures of the Heart.
Where does the family live?
In Franklin, Tennessee, on a property they call Peacefield.
Is she active on social media?
Only minimally. She keeps a deliberately low public profile.
