asheville wedding planning — A Wedding Planning Blog

Sydney and Andrew woke up and began their wedding day with an early morning hike. While I know that it made for a long day for them, I absolutely love that they incorporated their love for hiking into their day, truly making it their own.

They began their early morning together around 8am. Sydney in her dress, Andrew in his suit- both in hiking boots as they read personal vows to one another amongst the quiet of the mountains. Sheila Nolt soon met them to take their couples portraits before they headed back down into the city to get ready for their ceremony and reception amongst family and friends at Heavens Cloud Event Center.

Sophie McArdle, our Asheville associate planner and assistant, Kimberly spent the afternoon at Heavens Cloud greeting vendors, setting personal decor and ensuring that every detail was perfect for Andrew and Sydney’s day. This was a unique planning experience in that Andrew and Sydney live in Atlanta but chose a destination wedding in Asheville to be amongst the mountains and one of their favorite cities. This gave Like the Dazzling the opportunity to plan with them from both of our home cities which was so fun! I (Hannah) personally got to know Sydney and Andrew over the course of planning here in Atlanta with many a meeting over coffee & tea at Taproom in Kirkwood and was truly so sad to miss their wedding myself but knew they were in the best of hands with Sophie in Asheville.

The weather was gorgeous, the food incredible and the atmosphere, exuberant. Sydney and Andrew, thank you for entrusting Like the Dazzling with such an important day. We loved being part of your wedding and wish you all the joy in the world.

it was SO difficult to narrow down our favorite photos from this day as Sheila truly captured so many beautiful moments for this couple. Please see a sampling of photos below and of course scroll for all vendors that made this day possible.

Venue: Heavens Cloud Event Center

Photography: Sheila Nolt Photography

Coordination: Like the Dazzling, Sophie

Floral: Flora

Catering: Bun Intended Food Truck & Catering

Bar: Cask & Canter Mobile Bar

Dress: Kelly’s Closet, Alexandra Grecco

Mensware: Q Clothier

DJ: Spinfire Entertainment

Hair + Makeup: Lauren Elizabeth McGraw @laurenelizabeth.hairdesign

I first met with Jennifer and Chris over a glass of wine in Inman Park. Upon our first meeting, we chatted about our mutual love for Asheville, Music.Traveling and of course their wedding plans. We were introduced by mutual friends so I really should not have been surprised that we hit it off so quickly. I run my business out of both Asheville (my hometown) and Atlanta (my now home) but when those worlds collide, it is the best! Asheville will always have a special place in my heart and I’ve loved expanding my business there over the past year. Finding a fellow Atlanta resident that chooses a destination wedding in Asheville is an absolute dream!

Jennifer and Chris had been vacationing in Asheville for some time and simply fell in love with it, hence why they chose to have their wedding their. They found the ideal location for their laid back, intimate affair with their closest friends and family in Junebug Retro Resort. Let me tell you, this place is incredible. Owners, Charlene and Tom are collectors of mid century campers and travel trailers and created this space originally as a Retro RV park for guests to take a step back and get away. After their wedding at Junebug, they expanded their vision to include an events venue as well as vacation destination.

The couple rented out the entire space, including all RV rentals so their closest friends could stay on site the entire weekend of their wedding together. This way when the formal reception ended, the ones staying on site were able to take the short walk back to the camping area and continue the festivities around a bonfire.

The men played football the morning of the wedding (how awesome is that?) while the ladies headed to Engaged Asheville for Hair and Makeup services. With its location close to downtown Asheville, yet far enough away that they had their own private oasis, this intimate wedding of about 60 people focused on friends, family, music and all around a really great party for a fantastic couple!

Photos below are courtesy of Matthew Pautz Photography. (please scroll to bottom for all the vendors who contributed to make this event possible)