asheville-wedding-planner-the-best

Nicole, and Beth from Studio Flora Diva hard at work making our new space glow!

Well, 2014 is coming to a close. We’ve  had a really exciting year at Verge and are geared up and ready for 2015. We’ll be spending our New Years Eve together doing what we do best- a wedding! This one is going to be a real stunner, it should prove to be a wonderfully elegant and sparkly affair. Then we’ll be charging straight into 2015 with a move into our new office space- who doesn’t like to start a new year with a makeover!? So many exciting things to come- stay tuned!!

Look at this amazing old picture we found of our new office! We have no idea when it was taken but the building is well over 100 years old.

Look at this amazing old picture we found of our new office! We have no idea when it was taken but the building is well over 100 years old.

Xoxo Sarah

Share on: |Facebook|Twitter|Pinterest

‘Tis the season for giving. So in the spirit of the season we’d thought we’d put on our Asheville wedding planner Santa hat and deliver a holiday appropriate “things that make us want to say I do!” post. We see a lot of engagements happening around this time of the year, and this would make the perfect present for a newly or recently engaged bride.

studiowedbox-asheville-wedding-planner-favorite

Wouldn’t you love to see this sitting under the tree?

In our household, at least one subscription service is given each year. We’ve seen beer of the month clubs, and bark boxes; some of them are good, some not so good. The one I’m going to tell you about is great. StudioWedBox is a box subscription service for brides. Basically it’s this super awesome, choc-a-block full box of the best wedding swag, carefully curated and put together in monthly shipments that reflect where you are along the wedding planning journey. Who doesn’t love swag!!

Confused? Don’t be! This is the fun part when I get to show you flashy pictures of the awesome items in these boxes and tell you what I mean.

Ok so each box is themed based on a detail during your planning process – For instance there is an “All About the Bridal Party” box that covers sweet favors and attire for your beautiful bridesmaids. There is a “Rustic Wedding Chic” box that was curated and put together by Maggie Lord who founded Rustic Wedding Chic. Basically it’s like if all of those pins you’ve been frantically pinning on Pinterest came alive and delivered samples to your door of all of those sweet, cute, lovely details you’ve been seeing in the pictures!

rustic-wedding-chic-asheville-wedding-planning

The Rustic Wedding Chic Box!

Think Birchbox on wedding steroids. It would be a wonderful present for a recently engaged daughter, or for that matter – daughter in law, a maid of honor’s gift to her best friend, or for yourself! You beautiful bride!

You can get a full twelve months subscription; you’ll receive twelve totally unique boxes, a sample of everything that StudioWedBox offers. You can also sign up for a six-month subscription, or just pay for it monthly and pick how many months you want.

We love this product – it was created by wedding professionals so it’s full of a lot of the things that we tell our clients about. The boxes are beautiful and so much fun!

studiowedbox-asheville-weddings

If you’re still looking for the perfect gift for a bride-to-be head on over to the StudioWedBox website http://www.studiowedbox.com/shop/and sign them up! AND as our Verge Events Christmas present to you, StudioWedBox was gracious enough to set us up with a discount code for our readers who want to become new subscribers! Just follow the link!

http://www.studiowedbox.com/shop/happy-holidays-verge-events/

Happy Holidays!

xoxo

Sarah

Share on: |Facebook|Twitter|Pinterest

You’ve planned a gorgeous outside soiree under the stars, or if you’re just dying to have that photograph of you on your wedding day in front of a picture perfect sunset, the rain forecast for the day is 30% and then all of a sudden, just when you don’t want it to, the skies open up and it’s raining. What do you do!?

FREAK OUT!!! No I’m not kidding, it’s ok to freak out – you’re allowed to. Run around the room and scream, punch a pillow, and swear at the skies. But then you have to pull yourself together and take a deep breath, because everything is going to be OK. If you’ve booked a good wedding planner they already have a plan, and the goal is to make the plan as good as the original one when rain was not on the guest list.

Our job as planners is to take care of everything that can be controlled – and that is A LOT. In fact it’s almost everything except for the weather, we are Asheville wedding planners, not weather planners. And unless you have a direct line to the heavens that’s true for you too. A lot of time can be spent obsessing about the weather, checking the 6 months weather report (it won’t tell you anything) or the farmers almanac (ditto), even hiring a shaman to bless your day with sunshine isn’t going to give you piece of mind or guarantee no rain. If it makes you feel better, do it, obsess– but I’m willing to bet that it doesn’t. Worrying is a very long road, and once you get on it there are very few exits. So it’s better to do the right thing, stop worrying and turn to your planner.

verge-events-asheville-wedding-planner

Stephanie form Verge Events is still smiling! Even in the rain, because we know the wedding is still going to be GREAT.

 

Some places have very distinct wet and dry seasons. If you know the area you’re getting married in – great! You probably already have an idea of when the best month is for a rainless wedding. If you’re not familiar with the area you’ve chosen for your wedding, ask – ask the venue, ask the planner. They aren’t going to be able to give you a guarantee but they will be able to tell you if the month you have chosen is a particularly nasty one.

Unfortunately in Asheville our weather is anything but predictable. It can be sunshine and roses one day and snow the next –there’s the rub of living in the mountains, but boy is it pretty. The good news is that our weather is unpredictable! And that means that as Asheville wedding planners, we’ve been around the block with old man weather a few times and we know how to handle him.

 Things not to do:

DO NOT ASSUME IT WON’T RAIN – you need a plan. This is one of those situations where pretending the possibility doesn’t exist or assuming that if you don’t give it a chance to rain it won’t is a very bad tactic. VERY BAD. The universe always wins. So saying to your planner “We’re not going to discuss a rain plan because it’s not going to rain” is OUT.

DO NOT FREAK OUT – ok, you can freak out a little bit but then it’s time to show the weather who is boss and roll out plan B.

 Things to do:

TALK TO YOUR PLANNER– Duh! But seriously, we’re here to make sure that you are going into your wedding day with your mind totally at ease so the only thing you need to focus on is saying “I do” and celebrating. If you want an outside wedding or reception your planner will talk to you about viable alternatives in the case of rain. This could be making sure there is a tent nearby or an indoor venue that can be utilized if it rains.

ENJOY IT – that sounds like a jerk thing to say, but this is your wedding day! It’s about so much more than rain. There is a silver lining. I know, I know, not everyone likes a Polly Anna but for real, sometimes there is a silver lining to rain on your wedding day. We have seen some of the best pictures taken in the rain – yes that even goes for bride and groom portraits. Don’t believe us? We asked some of our favorite photogs to hit us with their best rain picture – and boy did they deliver, take a look below!

Who know rain could be so sultry and sexy? Asheville wedding photographers Meriah and Michael Mozingo at Mozingo Photography certainly turned up the heat in these shots, there is no amount of rain that is going to put out heat between these couples. Take a look at their pictures at mozingophotography.com.

Photo Credit: Mozingo Photography

Photo Credit: Mozingo Photography

asheville-wedding-sunset-photograph

Asheville Wedding Photographer Sunday Grant at Sunday Grant Photography took this wonderful, fun, silly picture – don’t these two just look so happy to be married!? They could care less about the rain. Sunday’s website can be found at sundaygrant.com

Photo Credit: Sunday Grant

Photo Credit: Sunday Grant

And Asheville wedding photographer Galen McGee at Two Ring Studios  reminded us that rain clouds make for the most spectacular sunsets, and great pictures! Take a look a Two Ring Studios at tworingstudios.com

Photo Credit: Two Ring Studios

Photo Credit: Two Ring Studios

If you do feel like obsessing – there is a great app called Dark Sky (no we are not being paid by them in any shape or form). Many of our photographer friends swear by it and I personally have seen it work its magic! The app originally began as a kick-starter campaign back in 2011. It’s unique in its ability to give you the weather surrounding your precise location using GPS. It can tell you how far away the closest rainfall is and if it’s raining in your location how soon the rain will stop. It will only let you obsess seven days out though, so if you’re a bride that feels better obsessing – you’re probably going to have to get a back up farmer’s almanac too J.

– xoxo Sarah

Share on: |Facebook|Twitter|Pinterest

Screen shot 2014-12-07 at AM 11.17.29

If what you want is the perfect fall wedding, look no further than Asheville. Right now we are fully into our winter season, the leaves have all fallen off of the trees, however not so long ago we were in total Autumn mode. Asheville is known for having not only one of the loveliest fall seasons but also one of the longest, and this year was one for the record books! For brides who want an autumn wedding, Asheville offers some unique advantages. I already mentioned the length of the season which means you don’t have to cross your fingers and pray that the leaves are still on the trees on your wedding day, but also, because we’re in the South you get that beautiful New England Fall look without the chilly temperatures that go with it.  So if you want a strapless dress, wear it! And you won’t have to worry about your bridesmaids dying in the heat of the summer.

Brides who choose to get married in the fall are special. They know what they want, they’re not afraid to be different, in fact they LIKE being different, that’s why they’re getting married in the fall! It makes them an Asheville wedding planners dream! Today we’re pulling one from the vault just to show you what we’re talking about.

Tiffany and Robert were married in October, which is peak leaf season in Asheville. They took full advantage of their gorgeous surroundings and had their ceremony outside on a wooded path surrounded by gold light coming through the trees.

 

asheville-wedding-homewood-verge-events

asheville-weddings-homewood

The reception was held at Homewood. Homewood weddings always have such an elegant, intimate feel to them.

 

asheville-wedding-planners-verge-events

Tiffany came to us with a good idea of the feel and look that she wanted, there were tons of fun details that we loved. First of all, check out these incredible shoes!

asheville-wedding-planners-verge-events

Other details we loved were the rich warm color palate, the custom beer labels they created, and the incredible homemade pies the bride provided!

asheville-wedding-planners asheville-wedding-at-homewood

And can we talk about the send off!? Look at that amazing car!

asheville-weddings-at-homewood

Vendors:

Venue: Homewood

Planner: Brittany Ghio – Verge Events

Photographer: Kelly Hill – Grace Hill Photography

Makeup: Wendy Ballance – Blush

Hair: Mother of the bride –  Willow Salon Studio

Florist: Studio Flora Diva

Caterer: Black Eyed Susan

DJ: Mr. C’s Mobile DJ

 

If you’d like to see more pictures of this wedding checkout Grace Hill Photography.

And if you still want more this wedding was also published on Something Turquoise and Borrowed and Blue.

-xoxo Sarah

Share on: |Facebook|Twitter|Pinterest

Southerners are SERIOUS about their pimento cheese, and it’s one of the biggest, and one of our favorite new food trends to hit the scene. No, don’t go running from the room screaming, I’m not talking about that weird yellow stuff in the supermarket with the orange flakes in it (though I wouldn’t say no to even that under the right circumstances, I just love it so much!!).  I’m talking about real, cheezie, just the right amount of spice and mayonnazie, Pimento–with-a-capital-P  cheese.

 

In Asheville we have the Granddaddy of this spreadable cheese over at Colorful Palate. Their True South line of pimento cheeses is to D-I-E for.  You’ll hear squeals of delight from the planning crew whenever it’s offered at one of our events (hey someone has to elect themselves to be the taste tester).  As I said earlier, this is not your supermarket variety of nuclear cheese, this is pimento cheese taken to a totally different level: the lick your fingers, go weak in the knees level.

 

Even if you’re not from the south, if you’re choosing to get married down here it’s for a reason – maybe it’s just for our stunning views and grand estates. Out of town Brides often bring pieces of home with them to incorporate into their design and tell the story of the place they hold near and dear to their heart.  But sometimes it’s nice to also anchor the event in the culture and traditions of the region.

 

This pimento cheese is fancy without being stuffy, and fun without being juvenile. Offering it at a rehearsal dinner or as part of a cocktail hour would be a great, unexpected way to bring a hint of the south to your wedding and is pretty much guaranteed to convert some skeptics into fanatics. Our personal favorites are the El Diablo and the Pecan pimento cheeses, but we wouldn’t turn our noses up to any of them. It’s a great departure from the tired French onion dips and hummus platters and has just the right amount of southern ‘kick-up-you-heals’ attitude.

 

True South pimento cheese - now that is a "spread" if we

True South pimento cheese – now that is a “spread” if we’ve ever seen one!

Verge recently included the True South’s pimento cheese at an event as an item on a bourbon bar, it was a huge hit – we knew it would be a great pairing.

 

Who doesn

Who doesn’t love pimento cheese and bourbon!?

P.S. I’m so excited!! And not just about pimento cheese! There are going to be some changes hitting this space in the coming months. We’re upping the ante; you guys are going to be hearing from us A LOT more! In addition to covering our real weddings we’re also going to be bringing you a slew of other fun posts, on the regular. And this pimento cheese post is just a taste of what’s to come (come on, you didn’t think we could go all this way without at least one pun, did you?).

 

– xoxo Sarah

Share on: |Facebook|Twitter|Pinterest