Asheville Wedding Guide

Asheville is so excited to have this beautiful wedding magazine in our area and it was such an honor to be asked to be apart of the styled shoot for the inaugural issue. Hannah Chillag (editor) and Alise Taggart created the most beautiful old-world inspired design, full of elegance and gorgeous florals in the Biltmore conservatory. The fact that we have our own wedding magazine now is very telling on how big the wedding industry has become in our little city and what a popular destination it is to tie the knot. We teamed up with some of Asheville's best industry experts (see full list below).

Want to see more? Check out the Asheville Wedding Guide's post here.

Publication: Asheville Wedding Guide | Event Planner: Alise Taggart | Model: Hannah Gantt | Photography: Rachael McIntosh Photography | Film Lab: Photovision | Venue + Cake: Biltmore  | Gowns: Wildflower Bridal | Florals: Floressence Flowers | Jewelry: Fox and Beaux | Stationery: Baggie Goose | Makeup: Blush Asheville | Hair: Salon Zhenya | Rentals: Classic Event Rental |

Kelsey + Jordan Wedding | Brevard Music Center in Brevard, NC

Kelsey + Jordan's wedding was recently featured in print in The Asheville Wedding Guide and so it seems appropriate to blog some images from their big day at The Brevard Music Center. It was my first time at the venue and I really enjoyed it. Kelsey and Jordan have the most romantic love story and their ceremony was unbelievably sweet. We took portraits by the water and under the trees and while most of the evenings activities and dancing took place under the pavilion, guests mingled outdoors and enjoyed the VW Photo Booth. Kelsey and Jordan treated their guests to brunch items in lieu of dinner as breakfast is their favorite meal! Donuts and cereal bowls were served instead of cake and guests were greeted with cocktails when they arrived. It was obvious from the-get-go they wanted everyone to feel welcome, relaxed and enjoy themselves, and that they did.

Wedding Vendors listed at the Bottom.

Wedding Venue: Brevard Music Center | Catering: Smash Events Inc. | Bridal Bouquets:  Floressence Flowers | Reception Floral Decor: Smash Events Inc | Doughnuts: Hole Doughnuts  | Photo Booth: The Bus Booth   | Hair + MUA: Studio RK Salon | DJ: Andy Stryf | Second Photographer: Olive + West | Film Lab: Photovision |

Snow in Spring | Asheville Family Photographer

Snow often means no school here in Asheville and I love these extra special lazy days together. 

A weekend in Key West + Miami Beach

Bryan whisked me away to Key West for my birthday a couple of weeks ago. I didn't take too many photographs but thought I'd share a few here. We stayed at The Southernmost Beach Resort and just had the BEST weekend. We sat around the pool, rented bikes and explored. Hit Mallory Square, drank a beer in Sloppy Joes, found the Buoy and toured the Hemingway house. We found a French cafe with to-die-for croissantst, a great spot by the harbor for Oyster's during happy hour and had a lovely dinner at Louie's Backyard. I loved that there were Roosters everywhere and learning more about Ernst Hemingway and his cats was really fascinating. The drive down to the Keys was pretty cool. I think it took about 3 and half hours to get to Miami. We spent our last night in Miami beach and ate an incredible dinner at José Andres's restaurant The Bazaar. In case you wanted some travel tips ;)

Key Biscayne Engagement Session | Miami Florida

A lovely Engagement session in Key Biscayne, Florida this past February with Danielle + Matt.

Biltmore Estate Wedding Photographer

I love photographing weddings at Biltmore Estate. I've been so fortunate to spend so much time there with some amazing clients and I wanted to share some of my favorite locations and wedding venues with you.

This magical place has such a big place in my heart. Before my photography business became full time in 2011, I was a restaurant manager at Biltmore for over a decade. I met and married my husband at Biltmore and I was pregnant with all 3 of my children while working there. My kids grew up exploring the grounds, eating amazing restaurant food and have fond memories of employee Christmas parties. I worked so many hours with some of the best in the business. I learned about food and wine, coordinating events/weddings and spent (and still do spend) my days off running and biking on the trails. I know it like the back of my hand and it never gets old.

The gardens were designed to always have something going on, something in bloom and so no matter the season, there is unlimited opportunities for photography backdrops. I challenge myself now to find new locations that are different and to take photographs for my clients that are special to them. However, there are a few spots that I show to all of my couples. They are too epic not to and I have to remember that they will always be unique to them. For most of my clients, getting married at Biltmore is a destination wedding and this might be their once in a lifetime to visit. Some of those spots are the Rompe Deuce, the famous South Terrace with gorgeous mountain views and the Tennis Lawn. The Walled Garden is an absolute favorite and, of course, the Statue of Diana where I often start a session with clients.

The best thing about Biltmore (besides the house of course!) is that they have several venue options and ceremony sites, their own catering teams AND a winery. It's so convenient and there's lots of activities for everyone to do so you don't need to leave the grounds. Biltmore used to have a massive advertisement on 1-40 that simply stated 'Rest Stop' with a beautiful image of the house behind it. It's that simple. Your guests arrive, check-in and the rest takes care of itself. Anyway, I could rave for hours! Hop over to their website to learn more and here's a handful of images showcasing the different venues.

It always amazes me how the staff can quickly flip those spaces from ceremony sites to stunning receptions during cocktail hour and they always have a weather back-up plan. Their hotels provide beautifully lit locations for bridal parties to get ready in and I can always find a secluded and gorgeous spot for the "first-look" and portraits no matter how busy the estate is. I do always recommend organizing some form of transportation for everyone to travel together and especially for photographs around the grounds. It's easier to navigate that way, less stressful and way more fun.

No matter the size of the wedding, it seems like Biltmore Estate can cater to it all! It has been a true gift to document so many gorgeous weddings here.

I am just going to list some of my favorite wedding vendors that I've worked with and whose work is showcased here at the bottom of this post if you're interested.

Thanks for reading along!

Rachael xoxo

WEDDING PLANNERS
Mary Bell Events | Two Sweet Sparrows | Asheville Event Co. | Honey Darling Events | Belle Soiree Events

FLORAL DESIGNERS
Floressence Flowers | The Bloom Room | Blossoms Creative | Flower Gallery of Asheville | Two Buds and a Blossom | Flora of Asheville | Biltmore Estate Floral Team

HAIR + MUA
Lola Salon | Blush Asheville | Powder Me Pretty | Pop of Color Asheville | Anarie

VIDEOGRAPHY
Magic Hour Creative | Almond Leaf Studios

DJ'S + BANDS
Spintastic Sounds | DJ Dillion, 

WEDDING GOWNS
Wildflower Bridal Boutique

TRANSPORTATION
Elite Limousine | Mingle Events

EVENT RENTALS
Classic Event Rental

I know I'm forgetting someone here! If you're looking at these for your wedding, be sure to look at your venue's preferred lists as they will be the most professional, tried and tested!

Fall Wedding at Biltmore Forest Country Club | Asheville, North Carolina

Biltmore Forest Country Club is so charming and quickly becoming one of my favorite places to shoot especially in the fall. I was so excited to work with Sara and her team at Wedding Connections and Flora's beautiful floral designs are always SO captivating!

I started the day as I always do, arriving a little early to scope out the lay of the land and document some details. It's a good way to ease into the hustle bustle of everything and get acquainted with the families. After a little run in with the local turkeys, I found the bride doing her bridesmaids’ hair and makeup, pumped and ready to jump into that dress. We did a little first look which allowed us to get some of the formal portraits out of the way and meant that Jonsie and John could enjoy more of their wedding day and actually attend cocktail hour. I just immediately fell in love with this couple and I had an amazing time documenting their day. They really knew how to have fun and threw an exceptional party! Here's some highlights and vendors below ...

Venue + Catering: Biltmore Forest Country Club | Planner: Wedding Connections | Floral: Flora Asheville | Wedding Cake: Sugar Cloud Bakery| Tent + Rentals: Classic Event Rental | Ceremony Music: The Grit Lickers  | Entertainment: Complete Desire on Fire   | Second Photographer: Bren Dendy | Film Lab: Photovision |

The Carolinas Magazine

So excited to see Carrie and Clement's Biltmore wedding featured in The Carolinas Magazine inaugural issue. 

Lauren + Patrick's Christmas Elopement Wedding at Biltmore Estate

Lauren + Patrick looked like they just stepped off of a movie set! Can't wait to share more from this gorgeous elopement on Biltmore.

Venue, Floral and Catering: Biltmore Estate | Hair + Make-up: Blush Asheville |

Father's Day 2017

I feel so lucky to have found the best life partner for me especially as we navigate this parenthood adventure together! It's not always easy, but we are muddling through and having a ton of fun doing it :) 

We surprised Bryan with this little Father's Day montage yesterday! xoxo

Engagement Photographs in Asheville, NC

I'm excited to document Amaura and Aaron's wedding in Charlotte this summer. I just recently met up with them for a quick session on their visit to Asheville Easter weekend. Here's a couple of highlights!

Film Scanned by Photovision.

Jekyll Island Family Photography

I had the best Spring break. Bryan had to work and Gabe had plans, so it was just me and the twins; We hit the road for Jekyll Island and I of course took my camera.

They fight a lot but love each other so much, I hope it will be like that forever. 

Spring Wedding at Biltmore Estate | Asheville, NC

This was such a sweet spring wedding at Biltmore estate in the mountains of North Carolina a couple of weeks ago. Check out the little video montage and vendors involved at the bottom of the post but first, some favorite images of the day.

Jenny wore the same shoes she wore the day she first met Jake and I just loved that. We were lucky to get some fabulous spring weather in March as it had literally been snowing the weekend before and of course it's always a treat to have a couple of hours to take photographs around the property before all of the ceremonies started.

Another gorgeous wedding planned by Cortney of Asheville Event Co. and Congratulations Jenny + Jake!!!

Venue, Floral, Cake & Catering: Biltmore Estate | Wedding Planner: Cortney of Asheville Event Co. | Hair + MUA: Lola Salon & Gallery | DJ: Spilt Second Sound | Transportation: Gray Line TrolleyTours | Additional Photography: Bren Dendy |

Fundraiser to Support Preemptive Love Coalition

As a mother, wife, business owner living a beautiful life in these gorgeous mountains it's really easy to ignore the horrible things happening else where in the world. I want to help, but I often don't know what to do? How to get involved? A hundred people were killed a couple of weeks ago in a chemical attack in Syria, and I just found it horrifying! I wanted to do something and so I quickly put together a 'mini mini' Portrait session and invited people to join me and raise some money together for this wonderful organization Preemptive Love Coalition. I loved spending a few minutes with the folks that signed up and I'm so grateful they took time out of their busy weekends to be apart of something bigger with me, and we raised just over $700!!!! Here are just a few of my favorite images that we created.

A Destination Wedding in Charleston, South Carolina

"A good time occurs precisely when we lose track of what time it is." ~ Robert Farrah Capon

I'm pretty pumped when I get the opportunity to combine work and travel and especially to Charleston, one of my favorite cities in the US. Megan found out about me from her Maid-of-Honor who met and became friends with one of my brides on their honeymoon last year. How awesome is that? Take that google! There is still more power in the word of mouth. Anyway enough about that; Lets get to Megan and Andrew's gorgeous wedding details. If you're interested check out the vendor list at the bottom but in the meantime here's some highlights. Megan is an amazing artist and so of course designed all of her own paper goods and invitation suite. Most of their guests were coming from a far and so they rented entire houses down town for the guys and girls to get ready in. We hit The Battery for portraits and travelled in a cool vintage bus over to the Ceremony at The Francis Marion hotel. The party continued at the infamous Edmunds Oast (where I didn't try the beer obviously but the fried chicken was the best to be had). The bag-piper was a dear friend and played during the ceremony as well as the final sparkler-lit exit! The biggest hit however at the reception aside from the DJ was the Donut wall.

Thanks for inviting us along Megan + Andrew we had such a great time! 

Wedding Planner: Kat Leitner of | Hair & MUA: Design Rogers and Charlie Mack Salon | Floral Design: Branch Design Studio | Ceremony: The Francis Marion Hotel | Transportation: Lowcountry Valet| Reception, Catering and Cake: Edmunds Oast | Donut Wall: Joey Bag O'Donuts | Reception Music: Nice Entertainment | Second Photographer: Emily Baucom | Film Lab: Photovision |

Charleston, South Carolina

I could spend days photographing the beautiful streets of Charleston South Carolina. Iron gates, cobbled stones, quaint window boxes and the doorways filled with as much character as the people that live there. Here's some of my favorite images not taken at Megan and Andrew's wedding a couple of weeks ago :)

Lucy + Graylyn | A wedding at The Biltmore Forest Country Club, Asheville, NC

I hadn't met Lucy and Graylyn until the day of their wedding. I don't know if it was hearing the English accents or just their warm presence but they immediately felt like long lost friends. They met and fell in love while attending St. Andrews college in the UK. They recited their vows at Graylyn's parents home infront of the fireplace and an intimate group of family from both sides of the Atlantic. The following day; A big bash at the Country Club! It was such a cold February weekend (not that anyone noticed) Lucy and Graylyn barely left each others side, grinning the entire time. After the long distances and time apart it seemed to make the celebration and commitment even more special.

Venue: Biltmore Forest Country Club | Floral Design: Blossoms at Biltmore Park | Hair: Amanda Hughes & Makeup: Wendy Balance of Blush Asheville | Cake: The Peninsula Grill, Charleston | Reception Music: The Dickens | Film Lab: Photovision |

Wildflower filled Fete in Asheville, North Carolina

Sarah and Eric's wedding at The fields of Blackberry cove is on Borrowed and Blue today! Such a fun couple and a beautiful day planned by Weddings by Wendy with Catering by Corey and flowers from Flying Cloud Farm.

See more images here.

Kristen + Stephen | Biltmore Country Club Wedding, Asheville NC

A couple of favorite's from Kristen + Stephen's gorgeous Biltmore Country Club wedding in Asheville, North Carolina.

Planner: Party Envy Weddings | Venue, Cake & Catering: Biltmore Forest Country Club | Floral: An English Flower Cottage | Hair & MUA: Lola Salon and Gallery | Film Scans: Photovision |