Elopements and Wednesday Weddings:
We have discovered that Elopements and Small Weddings are amazing experiences at Hidden River. Not everyone wants a big wedding or an extended engagement and not everyone can afford a big wedding. The people who have eloped or had small weddings (5-75 people) have taught us a lot about how to offer weddings in general. When there are few, if any, other people to please or to prompt "performance anxiety" as you say your vows, it really makes a couple, and the officiant, "cut to the chase" and focus on what really matters. In the 2007 season, we had three elopements and several small weddings. In the three elopements, it was just the two people and, on one occasion, two witnesses. In the other two ceremonies, we even supplied the witnesses for them.
If you've not witnessed such a ceremony, it may be difficult to imagine. The two people typically stand, holding each other just as they might if they were standing on a balcony next to the ocean, looking out over the sea. The officiant talks directly to them about their love and what it means to be making this commitment and they look up at each other and smile. When they say their vows to one another, there is an intensity and focus that is amazing because they aren't thinking about being heard or if they are being judged by another's gaze. It's peaceful. It's slow. It's honest.
Having offered such ceremonies at Hidden River, this has helped us to bring that quality into larger weddings. We do what we can now, when there is a large gathering, to help the couple to slow down and to focus on what they are doing and our officiant has become more and more adept at cutting to the chase and helping the couples to feel, in that moment, what is happening. Small weddings have taught us so much. If you are thinking about eloping, we think our services are very special.
If it's just the two of you, we can likely accommodate you on any day of the week, because even if there is another wedding going on, there are several choices for beautiful ceremony spots.
If you are having a small wedding of less than 75 guests, we suggest our Wednesday Wedding package. Wednesday's are our transition day on the farm as we move from one weekend to the next and this is the best time for us to serve you well. Plus, we do not want there to be two competing groups on the property at the same time. We also find that Wednesdays give the couple a nice, extended honeymoon in Asheville. We've had couples who wed with us and then vacation at the Biltmore Estate. We can suggest many options for you in our region as there are numerous B&B's and great hotels such as the Grove Park Inn. One of the best kept secrets in our region is the Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's open from May to November and has amazing long range views of the mountains. You feel as if you are literally standing on top of the world and they have a great restaurant on the premises. It's 45 minutes south of Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Here's what we offer by way of Elopements and Wednesday Weddings. If there's something else you are looking for, just ask and we'll see if we can oblige.
Standard Elopements are $450 and include:
- A ceremony designed just for you at one of the many beautiful sites on our property, as available.
- The services of our Preferred Officiant, Jeanne Sommer (see her description on this webpage)
- A bride's bouquet
- A small cake and bottle of champagne with Biltmore Estate Champagne and two champagne flutes for you to keep
Additional Items can be added to the Standard Elopement:
- Horse and carriage ride on the property, to the ceremony with the bride and away with the couple: $150
- Preferred Photographer Services (from May-January of 2008) for $300. This includes posed and candid shots before, during, and after your ceremony. The photographer places the best shots in a soft-back coffee table book for you, along with a DVD slide show and also gives you a CD-ROM with every picture he took at your ceremony. If Clients pay $100 additional, he donates 100 percent of the cost of your wedding photography to a small village in India near where he grew up as a child. (We call him St. Bill!)
- Ceremony Music: We can offer several options from $100-$400. These include harpists, violinists, guitarists, vocalists, bagpiper.
For Wednesday Weddings:
For Wednesday Weddings: Please email us to talk with us about what you want. These typically range about $60-$150/person when you include, photography, music, carriage, flowers, officiant, site, cake. This can be less if you go with a lighter fare for the food or with BBQ.
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