I have been working on this wedding for days. Typically it takes a few hours to prep a wedding for publication, but Heather from Revival Photography threw me a curveball this week. She sent 300 gorgeous, detail-filled images of this sweet mountain wedding. I have painstakingly selected the best and sweetest moments and details especially for you. Enjoy!
Britteny + Bryan
August 24th of 2013
Ferguson, NC
Why a Mountain Wedding?
My husband and I met while in school at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. We ended up in school there because we both LOVE the high country, so it felt fitting for us to tie the knot in the mountains!
Where did you find your inspiration?
I found many ideas from Pinterest and blogs, and I also drew inspiration from the venue itself. Having a DIY wedding with personal details was important to us from the beginning and being that my Mom (my wedding planner!), my husband and I are all pretty creative, it was a constant flow of new ideas coming from every one of us. Thank goodness my Dad is handy and was able to build almost everything we needed from scratch!
What were some personal details you incorporated?
Every table’s centerpiece was a collection of items: books because we love to read, framed photos of us throughout the past 5 years of dating, horseshoes to represent my love of horses and our venue being an equestrian resort, old iron railroad pieces that we picked up off the tracks that run beside our downtown Winston-Salem loft, etc. Bryan also wore a belt that he designed and had custom needlepointed with bee’s and “b’s”, a play on how many “b’s” we have in our names. In lieu of a guest book we had guests write us words of advice and place them in a box (that Bryan built), during the ceremony we locked the box, and will open it after our first fight (it’s still locked!). All of the stationary (invitations, programs, thank you cards on table) was designed and printed by me. We also custom built, decorated, and filled welcome boxes to put in each guests cabin when they arrived.
Your favorite moment of the day:
It’s hard to pick just one, but our favorite was while we were eating dinner, we were looking out at our guests enjoying themselves as the sun was going down behind a magnificent view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Three things you’re glad you did:
- We are so glad we did a First Look, we were SO NERVOUS to see each other (you can tell in the photos!) but it made the ceremony so much more relaxed and enjoyable.
- Asking our guests to stay in cabins on site at our venue gave us the intimate feel for the weekend that we were going for, everyone felt welcome to drop by our cabin on Friday and Saturday and it allowed us to spend more time with our loved ones.
- Lastly, we are so glad that we had a small wedding, it was relaxed and really gave us the freedom to enjoy the weekend, and each other, without any pressure.
Anything you wish you hadn’t done?
There is nothing that I wish we hadn’t done, but I do wish we had gotten the opportunity to take sunset photos with our photographers. Everything went by so fast and the night just got away from us!
What was the best piece of wedding advice you got?
The best piece of advice I got was for Bryan and I to be true to ourselves when planning our wedding. We enjoyed the wedding we pictured from the beginning and only did what was comfortable to us even if that meant dropping quite a few traditions.
Anything you wish you hadn’t worried about?
The only thing I really worried about in advance was the weather, we had a backup rain plan, but I was hoping and praying for blue skies and sun. My prayers must have worked though because we were only the 2nd wedding of the summer that got lucky enough to be outdoors!
How did you choose your vendors?
The majority of my vendors were chosen based on recommendations from my venue. The cakes were made by my favorite bakery and the french macarons were made by a bakery down the street from where we live in Winston-Salem.
What is your very best advice to other mountain brides?
Be yourself! You will have well-meaning family and friends telling you that you need to invite “so-and-so” or that you need to include all the typical traditions, but don’t feel pressured to please them, this is you and your grooms special day, do what makes you happy.
North Carolina Wedding Vendors
- Photographer: Revival Photography
- Venue + Catering: Leatherwood Mountains.
- Rentals: We rented mason jar glasses, blue antique mason jars, burlap runners and the amazing turquoise chandelier all from Miss Match in Boone, NC.
- Florals: Desi’s Floral & Design Studio
- Mismatched silverware and napkins: Valley Rentals of Hickory, NC.
- Cakes: Maxie B’s of Greensboro, NC
- Macarons: Haute Chocolate, Winston-Salem, NC made the french macarons.
- Hair: Marianne Rochford from Serenity at Oak Hollow in High Point, NC
- Make-up was done by Sharla Bance from Sugar Mountain, NC.
You can find more gorgeous images at Revival Photography’s blog