There is a particular week in April when these mountains cannot decide what season they belong to. The hardwoods are still bare enough to see through, all that gray branch work stitched across the sky, and underneath them the rhododendron has gone deep and glossy, and the azaleas have opened hot pink against the foundation stones. Everything is arriving at once. That is the week this couple got married, and I have never in my life seen a dress better suited to a season.
She came out onto the lawn at The Yellow House Bed and Breakfast on Plott Creek Road in layered tulle that moved before she did, a lace bodice, a veil that caught the wind coming down off the ridge, and a bouquet built around pampas plumes and pale roses. Behind her the yellow clapboard of the inn rose up through the trees with its white columns and its second-story porch, the way it has been since 1885. I stood back and let the whole frame breathe. Some brides you photograph. Some brides you get out of the way of.
The Creek, the Bridge, and the Woods Behind the House
The Yellow House on Plott Creek Road sits on five acres in Waynesville, and the property does not give itself up all at once. You must walk it. Past the gardens, there is a rock bridge laid across the creek, one hewn timber and a stone-stacked bank, and the two of them went out onto it hand in hand. She swept that tulle skirt out over the water, and it filled with light like something out of a story your grandmother told you and swore was true. He held on to her. He never once let go of her hand the whole time we were down in those woods, and I noticed it because I always notice it, and it is the thing I will remember about them long after the color of the flowers has left me.
Farther down there is the arched wooden bridge over the pond, painted deep rust, curved just enough to lift a couple above the waterline. They walked slowly. The pooling water held their reflection, dark and still, and the pines came down close on the far bank. Later they stood in the grass at the edge of it, and she reached up and put her hand flat on his chest, and he looked at her like the rest of the day could wait.
The last frame I made of them; they were blowing a dandelion. Two grown people in formalwear, cheeks pressed together, making a wish on a weed. That is the kind of photograph you do not stage. You just must be standing there when it happens, and you have to have spent the whole day earning enough trust that they forget you are there at all.
Why I Keep Coming Back to The Yellow House B&B
I have been the partner photographer at The Yellow House since Chad and Josh bought the property, and I have watched them build something that most venues talk about, and very few deliver. Their standard is hospitality, not spectacle. It shows in the from-scratch breakfast delivered to the room every morning. It shows in the fact that a couple can arrive here from three states away and not have to make a single phone call, because the in-house planner has already handled the logistics, the marriage license questions, and the shape of the ceremony itself.
If you are researching a small mountain wedding, here is what they actually offer, and I am giving you the real numbers because I would rather you plan than guess.
The Intimate Elopement, from $1,595, includes a two-night stay in the room of your choice, an officiant who tailors and performs the ceremony, florals up to a $200 value, a single-tier bistro cake from a local bakery, sparkling wine for the toast, your pick of ceremony site anywhere on the five acres, and up to two additional guests.
The Elegant Elopement, from $3,195, adds a third night, an hour of professional photography, mimosas and a snack tray while you get ready, chocolate-dipped strawberries on arrival, a sixty-minute couples massage at Sundarah Wellness, two hours on the property, and room for up to ten guests.
The Grand Elopement, from $4,395, is the full weight of it. Four nights, a bottle of champagne waiting in the suite, keepsake robes, a luxury couples spa experience with a foot soak and massage, three hours on the property, and up to fifteen guests. October pricing runs higher across all three, which surprises exactly no one who has ever seen leaf season in Haywood County.
Guest counts top out at fifteen for elopements, and their separate wedding package opens the property to forty.
When the Vows Are Done, We Keep Going
The newest thing we have added, and the thing I am most excited about, is what happens after the cake is cut. Over the past year, we have started sending couples out into the wider country for a true Western North Carolina session. Up onto the Parkway for the overlooks and that long blue distance. Out toward the Smokies for the balds and the old growth and the light coming through it. You put on the dress once. There is no rule that says you only get one landscape for it. My next post will give more details on this exciting new option at The Yellow House B&B.
Elopement, micro wedding, or small mountain wedding, this is the work I was built for. Come see the place.
