Mountain Destination Wedding

• Scenic locations in the Blue Ridge Mountains provide the opportunity for couples to arrange a destination wedding in the area. The Crest Center (crestweddings.com) lies close to Asheville in North Carolina. Set on a mountain top location, the venue caters to weddings. A beautiful wooden gazebo overlooking the surrounding mountains and valleys provides an elegant outdoor setting to stage a wedding ceremony. The wood construction and huge stone fireplace of the Crest Center provide it with a rustic, mountain lodge appeal. This building has space to accommodate receptions of around 50 to 350 guests.
  
  

Lake Destination Wedding

• The Rumbling Bald Resort (rumblingbald.com) offers a lakeside wedding ceremony, with the scenic beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop. Situated on Lake Lure in North Carolina, the resort has a lakeside wooden gazebo set amid flower gardens and woodlands. This provides a beautiful rural setting for an outdoor ceremony. The Lakeview Terrace has space to accommodate up to 350 guests, with this building having impressive views of the lake and surrounding mountains.
  
  

Blue Ridge Wildflower Theme

• For those that don't have the inclination to travel, having a Blue Ridge theme wedding offers the opportunity to bring the beauty of the mountains to their wedding, wherever the ceremony takes place. Stylish ideas include using Blue Ridge Mountain wildflowers for the floral arrangements. Common species -- including birdfoot violet, buttercup, and yellow ironweed -- will produce elegant and colorful displays. Use these for the bride and bridesmaid posies, and buttonholes for groom and male guests. Placing a wildflower display in rustic clay pots, baskets or wooden containers also makes attractive table centerpieces.
  
  

Blue Ridge Music Theme

• A fun idea to bring some rustic mountain charm to a wedding involves hiring an old-style Blue Ridge band to play at the reception. These fiddle, banjo, and guitar ensembles have long provided entertainment at rural social events in the Blue Ridge Mountains region. Wedding guests will enjoy the toe-tapping music the bands perform. The fun of a square dance also will encourage guests to get on their feet and join in the entertainment.