When most couples plan an Asheville wedding, they dream of a beautiful mountain view backdrop and the perfect setting for all of their out of town wedding guests. Stephanie and Kyle’s November wedding at the Ridge and Chateau offered just that! This sweet couple hosted a gorgeous, outdoor ceremony at The Ridge followed by a modern, romantic reception at their new French inspired rustic chic venue, The Chateau.

VENUE

The Ridge is one of the most popular venues surrounding the Asheville area. Its natural appeal includes surrounding views of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and a simple, elegant space four outdoor ceremonies. Recently, they started offering another event space, The Chateau. The Chateau is a stunning, French inspired wedding venue with amazing natural wooden elements and an illuminating chandelier that’s sure to bring a vibrant aesthetic to any event!

DRESS AND SUIT

Stephanie’s gorgeous sweetheart, a-line dress had detailed, lace design work and beading throughout the top and an elegant skirt and train to finish. We really liked the way Stephanie finished her wedding day look with a classic chignon with loose curls, a beautiful, pearl bridal hair comb and a lovely, chapel wedding veil. Our favorite part of the look? The fun, lace leaves Toms that were the perfect fit for an outdoor wedding.

Kyle sported a stunning, navy three piece suit with a classic brown leather shoes and a blue tie to match! He added a white pocket square to tie together the crisp, white dress shirt underneath all the blue! And no groom is ever finished with his wedding look without matching groomsmen socks!

FLOWERS

We loved working on the floral design for this wedding! Stephanie dreamed of having a large, focal flower in her bouquet. She had sent us a lot of inspiration pictures with dahlias, but unfortunately the large dahlias we had in mind were out of season. So, we got creative and came up with a design that centered around a stunning King Protea! Stephanie had never seen a flower like this before, but as soon as she saw her bouquet, she fell in love! And we loved bringing that special moment to life!

Stephanie’s bridesmaids were dressed in beautiful, deep red dresses. So, we brought in different shades of reds and burgundies with lighter accents of ivory and blush flowers. We finished the pieces with a variety of greenery and tied them off with a burgundy satin ribbon.

Kyle and his groomsmen looked so handsome in their navy suits. We brought in a shade of blue to their boutonnieres with some thistle and chose burgundy statement flowers to help tie the colors together with the bridesmaids bouquets and dresses and the burgundy ties worn by all the groomsmen!

CEREMONY DECOR

As mentioned above, one of the best aspects of the Ridge is the 360-degree view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The ceremony site, The Knoll, has the perfect view of mountains and the sunset making it a lovely spot for outdoor ceremonies and pictures. Oftentimes, wedding ceremonies take place in front of an arbor that is adorned with various wedding flowers and/or greenery. However, for most couples getting married in the mountains, they don’t want to take away from the view by adding an arbor. A great way to have mountain views and a stunning ceremony piece is a ground arbor! We can’t say this enough - we LOVE ground arbors.

Ground arbors are independent floral structures that are secured on the ground near the ceremony site. Most ground arbors have lush greenery and some include beautiful flowers that tie in with the wedding colors. Stephanie and Kyle’s ceremony site was put together just this way. We created a lush ground arbor, that was later repurposed at the reception for the sweetheart table, using various, bright greenery and a mix of large, statement flowers in varying heights and colors. We have to admit, this is one of our favorite pieces to date!

Guests were seated in the gorgeous, clear round back wooden chairs provided by the venue! We love the modern, clean look these chairs provide to the space. We lined either side of the aisle with large, white rose petals to finish.

CEREMONY

Before the ceremony began and after all the guests were seated, we started by making an unplugged ceremony announcement. More and more couples are choosing to make an unplugged ceremony announcement before their ceremony begins. This is a great reminder for your guests to be present with you and your soon to be spouse while you exchange vows and say “I DO!” It also allows the photography and videography team to capture your once in a lifetime moment without having to maneuver around camera phones and eliminates the possible awkward moment of someone’s phone going off in the middle of your wedding vows.

We started with the entrance of the bride and groom’s parents. Then came the groom followed by groomsmen and bridesmaids. We like to suggest that the bridal party enter separately for the ceremony and exit in pairs so you get multiple sets of pictures! After Stephanie was escorted by her father, everyone was seated for a beautiful, outdoor ceremony. The weather was perfect and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky as Stephanie and Kyle celebrated their love with their closest friends and family. Once it was official, Mr. and Mrs. Kelly started their walk back down the aisle as newlyweds! After the bridal party and parents exited, the guests were invited to cocktail hour on the beautiful porch of the Chateau while close friends and family stayed behind for formal wedding portraits!

BRIDE AND GROOM PORTRAITS

We always suggest getting group family and bridal party pictures done first, and narrowing it down to extended family, immediate family, etc. This narrows down the group to just the bride and groom so guests can start heading off to cocktail hour. In addition, if you start with the largest group for photos, your photographer will not be left having to find more and more guests later to get the bigger group shots.

Another perk of scheduling formal portraits in this order is that it allows the newlyweds a few moments alone in between their ceremony and reception! This moment together is one most won’t forget! Plus it gives them the perfect opportunity for some romantic moments, especially during golden hour!

RECEPTION DECOR

Being that The Chateau is beautiful on its own, it didnt’t take much to turn the space into the perfect setting for a romantic wedding reception. One of our favorite elements at The Chateau is the amazing, showstopping pergola centered perfectly in the space. This is a great spot for a dance floor, the sweetheart table or head table! And what’s more fun than dressing it up in elegant, vibrant greenery? We felt that this smilax was the perfect touch to help bring in some sort of floral element to the space without taking away from its natural beauty.

We finished off the sweetheart table by placing Stephanie’s bouquet as an off-center statement piece and repurposing their ceremony ground arbor in front of the table.

For guest tables, we repurposed the bridesmaids bouquets for half the tables and used loose, mixed greenery and blooms for the others. All tables were finished with pillar candles on rustic, antique candlesticks of varying heights and an assortment of rustic votive candles to help finish up the lighting design.

RECEPTION

After guests were seated and the bridal party was introduced, Stephanie and Kyle went into their first dance as newlyweds. We loved that they shared their first dance under the Chateau’s magnificent chandelier! It was a really romantic moment for the newlyweds!

Stephanie and Kyle started the reception by thanking their guests for joining them to celebrate their marriage. Then, Stephanie’s aunt lead the guests into an Irish toast, which was a really unique experience for most of them. After the blessing, dinner was served!

CAKE AND DESSERTS

Stephanie and Kyle chose to keep tradition while breaking tradition when it came to the cake. To keep the tradition of most newlyweds, they had a lovely cutting cake adorned with fresh flowers and a newlywed cake topper.

In addition to cake, they also had an assortment of delicious cupcakes and cake pops for guests as well! Many couples today are choosing to have a dessert display or bar instead of the traditional tiered wedding cake. However, if you and your partner are interested in doing a cake cutting as well, this is a great idea of how you can have the best of both delicious worlds!

PRIVATE DANCE AND NEWLYWED EXIT

Your wedding day will fly by and sometimes it’s hard to find a moment with just the two of you during the reception. So, ending the night with a private, newlywed dance is a great way to spend some special, quality moments with your new spouse while your guests line up for your newlywed exit. Typically the only people present for this last, private dance besides the newlyweds are the photographer and videographer. We love when couples make some time for this at the end of the night! It really is such a sweet, romantic moment.

Once the reception had officially come to an end, Stephanie and Kyle were greeted by their wonderful guests and a sea of sparklers for their newlywed exit! This is a great way to end the evening, especially if your reception ends after sunset.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Kelly! We are so grateful to have been a part of your beautiful wedding day!

The Fabulous Vendor Team That Made It All Possible:

Venue, Catering & Bar Services: The Ridge & Chateau

Photography: The Veil

Videography: Ryan Edwards

Planning & Floral Design: Carolina Love Events

Ceremony & Reception Music: Split Second Sound

Officiant: Friend of the Couple

Cake & Desserts: 50/Fifty The Art of Dessert

Hair & Makeup: Flawless

Getaway Car: Peak Limo