Destination Weddings

Published in High Country Wedding Guide, Winter 2009

It’s the most romantic day of your life, a day when all the stars align and time stands still. So why not savor this moment in on e of the most beautiful places on earth? There are so many reasons why a bride should select the High Country for her perfect day. Whether on a mountain with a sweeping vista backdrop or a quaint country inn, the High Country provides year-round scenery and a variety of mountain settings to choose from. The climate here is pleasant most of the year, with spring-like temperatures throughout much of the summer months. The local people are a warm, friendly and hospitable a group of folks as you will ever find.
Over the past couple of decades the High Country has grown in reputation and distinction as a premier destination wedding location. Home to Appalachian State University, alumni brides return here to carry out their dream wedding day in a place where so many other lifetime memories were made. Summer residents bring family and friends to the High Country for their son’s or daughter’s most special day. Once their guests have had the experience of coming to a wedding in the mountains, they don’t forget.
Part of the credit for our area’s great reputation goes to the professionals who pay attention to each detail. The High Country wedding vendors are top-notch pros whose years of experience and artistic styling make each wedding a unique experience. Award winning photographers, top of the line floral designers, and accomplished wedding planners have helped to orchestrate a wide range of wedding themes as diverse as a Wizard of Oz themed wedding on top of Beech Mountain to a gala event at the White House. Adding to the list of vendors who make for a storybook romantic wedding day are the musicians creating a pure, clean sound from a mountain dulcimer or a Celtic harp, or a classically-trained string trio playing “Claire de lune” before your anticipated entrance down the aisle to the spiritual resonating sound of a bagpiper playing Amazing Grace while escorting your guests away from your outdoor ceremony site. These are the nuances that help to make your wedding a special and memorable event.
The setting of your wedding event can vary greatly. The High Country resorts and inns are staffed with experts in the wedding industry that know all the ins and outs, ups and downs of wedding fare. Staff event coordinators work with couples in the planning of every detail of their day, from accommodations for family and friends to a stay for a night or a week. Entertaining out-of-town guests when in our area is a breeze. The choices abound for golf, hiking on the Blue Ridge Parkway, kayaking-canoeing-tubing down the Watauga and New Rivers, visiting the many area attractions such as Tweetsie Railroad, Mystery Hill, Gem Mining, and the Blowing Rock, keeps kids of all ages entertained. Shoppes on the Parkway features top designers and brand name store outlets. The boutique shops in Blowing Rock, Boone and Banner Elk offer one of kind merchandise. Time and again brides with their gal-pals and also the guys can enjoy venturing out shopping or enjoying a game of golf or a hiking, bike riding, or white-water rafting.
For catered wedding events the vendors in our area will bring you the best of the best whether it is organic vegan options to your favorite country-cooking classics. For a more elegant gourmet cuisine, you will find the choices are plentiful and the caterer’s anxious to please their client’s discerning tastes.
Sculptured wedding cakes, groom’s cakes, floral draped cakes, and cup cakes make a statement and a great photo op when cutting the cake. The artisan cake bakers here in the High Country will surprise you with their skilled and tasty wedding master pieces.
As stated earlier the High Country area has grown over the past couple of decades as a premier destination wedding spot. Each bride-to-be has her own unique style, taste, vision and heartbeat to bring to her wedding. Weddings are like fingerprints, no two are alike. All the vendors, innkeepers, and specialized wedding consultants keep this in mind, and as frequent as weddings are up here, every about-to-be married couple is treated as uniquely special. As you travel the highways of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway itself, or the back roads, the High Country can provide as many options as your heart can dream of for your wedding day.