Elegance & Romance in the Blue Ridge Mountains
Bevin & Will | June 4, 2011 | Cashiers, North Carolina
From the bride:
We wanted a laid back and slightly rustic feel to our day, yet we also wanted romantic, soft and elegant. We didn’t want anything too extravagant or frilly, but rather just to keep it simple.
Photography by 6 of Four
I prefer square items, so we used a lot of squares during the day – the invites, programs, menus and nearly all the flower vases.
After the cocktail hour, we snuck into our suite and had dinner together, just us. This allowed us to actually eat (a wonderful meal we were so looking forward to having) and collect ourselves. The day is such a whirlwind that it was especially nice to calm the nerves and just breathe as well as take in the moment. 
We had square guest pages that guests could fill out with their favorite moments and attach a polaroid shot of themselves. It turned into a really fun guestbook.
Oversized close pins were stained to hold the square table numbers.
All the paper items from the invites to the ceremony programs to menus and various signs were done by Shindig, which really provided great continuity.
In addition to pre-selected white and red wine, we also offered port at the reception which was fun.
In addition to the cake, we had a variety of cupcake flavors (regular and mini size) as well as late night food for munching at the end of the reception at 11 pm.
We provided baskets of flip flops for guests so that the girls could keep dancing all night!
We decided that we didn’t really care to have a bridal party dance, but instead replaced it by calling up both sets of our parents to dance. It was a great celebration and thank you to our parents whose love and support made us who we are today. We had the band play ‘Remember When’ by Alan Jackson, the lyrics of which seemed particularly fitting.
My father is a very good musician and former band teacher. We requested as a surprise to him, that the band let him play with them for one (jazz / swing) song (he had his trumpet with him that weekend and we stole it from his room and had it delivered to the reception). I think the band was surprised how good he was, especially playing on the spot, that they invited him to play a 2ndsong. 
It was such a pleasure to celebrate all weekend with a variety of events allowing us to enjoy the time with our family and friends who made such effort to come. 
RECOMMENDED VENDORS
Ceremony Site: St. Jude Catholic Church, Sapphire Valley, NC
Reception Site & Caterer: The Chattooga Club – fabulous views and fantastic food (some guests told me it was the best wedding food they’d ever had), very accommodating, gracious staff and the venue itself had the right mix of a bit rustic yet elegant.
Event Planner: Becca from Asheville Event Co.– the best. She really provided unbelievable service and really got to know us as a couple and our tastes. Especially important to us was her incredible attention to detail the weekend of so that our families could simply enjoy the long weekend and not be bothered with wedding details and last minute scrambling.
Photographer: 6 of Four – provided very professional and gorgeous pictures. The quality of the pictures was spectacular and the really captured the essence of the day while not being obtrusive or overbearing.
Wedding Gown: Vera Wang // Shoes: Valentino // Bridesmaid Dresses: Amsale // Florist: Blossoms at Biltmore Park // Cake: Tiffany’s Baking Co. // Rentals: Mountain Party Tents & Events // Invitations & Programs: Shindig // Band: Rhythm Nation
Honeymoon Location: Maurtitius