Charisse and Ryan’s Destination Wedding Weekend at Old Edwards Inn: Wedding Day
Charisse and Ryan originally intended to host 150 guests in the mountains of Virginia for a summer 2020 wedding celebration. Though they were forced to let go of that vision, in only a few short months, we reimagined, relocated, planned, designed, and produced an intimate celebration in Highlands, North Carolina, Below are a few of the images and details we are so excited to share, beautifully captured by Heather Beerman.
As we mentioned in Charisse and Ryan’s rehearsal dinner and welcome party post, this beautiful couple’s utmost priority was health and safety, driving the decision to select Half Mile Farm, a luxury country inn by Old Edwards, whose grounds and rooms were exclusively reserved for wedding guests, allowing for an intimate weekend retreat and plenty of social distancing.
With ever-changing gathering restrictions, out of an abundance of caution, and with some inventive logistical planning, the couple chose to host two separate reception dinners, one for family and one for friends, following their intimate ceremony on the Farm’s event lawn.
With only 10 people permitted to gather indoors and 25 outdoors at the time, the incredible team at Half Mile Farm closed the main entry access to reroute any traffic, enabling us to set the dinner and wedding cake under the exquisite porte cochère.
We loved incorporating Charisse’s love of flowers across multiple design elements, including this dreamy floral Nuage linen that added a layer of texture to this dinner al fresco.
While the family guests enjoyed an open-air dinner with overheard cover, the second group enjoyed the same farm-fresh menu in the property’s Woodland View Room. With three of its walls able to fully open to the mountain fresh air, this space qualified as an outdoor gathering, allowing us to accommodate the remaining 25 guests. It was unconventional to say the least but looked so lovely that it seemed completely intentional to the guests!
With all of the changes and sacrifices that had to be made, the one detail we could retain was the floral design. Charisse adores flowers, and we were thrilled to be able to deliver one of the only details from the original design plan, complete with romantic antike garden roses, quicksand roses, blush spray roses, pink hydrangea, blush ranunculus, and so much more.
As dancing was not permitted for safety purposes, the evening concluded with a “concert on the lawn”, utilizing the small sailcloth tent from the prior evening’s welcome party.
Photography: Heather Beerman | Planning/Production, Floral Design, and Stationery: Rebecca Rose Events | Venue: Half Mile Farm | Catering: Half Mile Farm | Tent, Rentals, & Lighting: Professional Party Rentals | Table Linens: Nuage Designs | Chargers: Emerson James Rentals | Cake: Cotton Leigh Bakery | Calligraphy: Calligraphy by Carole