This was an incredible wedding celebration at The Farm at Old Edwards Inn and Spa in Highlands, NC. It was obvious how much thought was put into the ceremony and reception details. I asked Nell if she could write a piece to expand on the story behind the wedding theme and decor:
Ryan and I toyed with ideas of getting married in Iceland, Italy and Maine before we settled on Highlands. I mentioned Old Edward’s Inn late in our discussions. When he saw the place, he agreed it was perfect instantly.
My grandparents retired in Highlands in the 70s and my family still owns their home there. It is also where my great grandparents, as well as my grandparents, took their honeymoon. It’s where I learned how to snow ski, play black jack and dig for gold. Ryan and I have both traveled the world for work and pleasure, so, we wanted to incorporate that into the natural theme of the event.
We had the pleasure of working with Nicole Riley and Stephanie Douglas of Verge Events as our wedding planners. We also worked with Beth Hohensee of Studio Flora Diva as our florist. At the first meeting, they captured the world/madness we wanted to create on the day instantly. We couldn’t have dreamed of a more magical day. Nicole, Stephanie, Beth and all the team made everything perfect. They handled all of our insane requests like they were a breeze.
About a month prior to the wedding Beth (Studio Flora Diva) and I had a call to follow up on the process of the planning. During this call I decided to mention the idea of only having “dead” aka dried flowers throughout the wedding. Beth, being as cool as she is, was on the same page as I, and a “dead” flower wedding was born.
First Look
Upon arrival, our guests were welcomed with a sign reading “Come Away With Us” before being led into the orchard for warm apple cider from an old wagon.
Dried flowers hung overhead from the apple trees in the orchard where the ceremony took place.
My six nephews led the way down the animal topiary lined aisles with rusty old tool boxes full of dried leaves my dad had collected that morning.
Upon kissing my groom at the most magical alter the crowd used an array of noise makers from train whistles to 1950’s tin clappers.
Tables full of flowers, trinkets, maps of places Ryan and I had traveled. It was perfect and mirrored the madness of our antique filled home. When Beth requested I try and find her old maps from places I had been, I had no idea of the adventure I would be in for. I searched charity shops, car boot sales, and flea markets to find the places we had been on paper. Russia, Tanzania, France, Hong Kong, Scotland, Singapore, Morocco, Tunisia, Iceland, Ghana, Italy, France, California and England started the list. Our home were all represented in the end along side other places we had visited.
Verge built us the most amazing boiled peanut stand. This was more entertaining than originally expected as most of our guests had never experienced a boiled peanuts.
The Studio Diva team took to the ceiling to fill the request to have it feel like it was raining dried flowers when one looked up.
Raining Dried Flowers
We had a photo booth, with plenty of props, set up for guests. After they received their image strips, we asked them to place one copy in a book for us to keep.
