Location Report: The Biltmore in Asheville, NC

For us, when we think about destination weddings, they are usually intimate gatherings on some beach somewhere. However, one of the nicest wedding destinations we’ve seen recently is The Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina.

We went to The Biltmore in Asheville for some personal relaxation time, but while we were there, we observed several weddings. It dawned on us – wow! This place makes a great wedding destination.

The Inn on Biltmore Estate makes the perfect home base for your wedding. It’s on the property, offers stunning views of the Great Smokey Mountains, has several nice restaurants and offers all the amenities you’ll need for your wedding. The hotel is rather large, but has a quaint charm since it is decorated in this French renaissance style. The staff is quite friendly and attentive.

The Biltmore House is the main event. This was originally the Vanderbilt Family’s country estate and they advertise it as America’s Largest Mansion. It is a huge mansion, meticulously maintained and thoughtfully presented. As we took the tour, we were able to look out onto the grounds and noticed there were several weddings going on. It dawned on us – this is a very romantic spot for a destination wedding.

For your ceremony and reception, there are a number of locations on the property – the lawn in front of the house (where the Biltmore serves as the backdrop), a terrace just off the house (looking out on the Great Smokey Mountains) or down in the Walled Garden (where you are surrounded by immaculate gardens and millions of flowers).

There is one downside to a destination wedding at the Biltmore – it doesn’t appear that they close down part of the facility for you. So, as you’re getting ready for your wedding, you could have tourists gawk at you (just as we gawked at folks on our visit).

Now, fair warning, we have no idea on the expense of a destination wedding at the Biltmore. I’m betting those weddings cost a pretty penny. They are gorgeous, but surely expensive. They have a wedding website, but it doesn’t have much information on it.

For the day after your wedding, consider having a brunch for you and all your guests at the Deerpark Lodge on the Biltmore property. They serve a decadent brunch in charming converted stable. It’s both rustic and sophisticated.

The Biltmore Estate is a wonderfully beautiful place and would be a romantic place for you to tie the knot.

Our Destination Wedding Ceremony

A few weeks ago, we were at a wedding for one of our co-workers. The Catholic ceremony was almost two hours in length and typifies everything we despise about big church weddings.

Coincidentally, we were cleaning some files off the computer and found our wedding ceremony. At about 20 minutes, it was short and sweet! (and left plenty of time for partying with our guests).

Here is the ceremony:

Opening
Friends, we have been invited here today to share with [bride] and [groom] a very important moment in their lives. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together.

This celebration is but an outward sign of an inward union of the heart. [Bride] and [groom], it is this day you take a giant step of courage and commitment to love, understand and grow. You are now taking into your care and keeping the happiness of the one person in all the world whom you love the most. You are adding to your life the affection of each other, companionship and a deep trust as well. You are agreeing to share strengths, responsibilities and love. You are agreeing to take your journeys together as husband and wife.

Giving in Marriage
Who gives this woman to wed this man? Bride’s grandmother - "Her family and I."

Reading
I Corinthians 13: 1-13

Reading
Pablo Neruda- Sonnet XVII

Vows/ Exchange of Rings
You will now re-dedicate your desire to be united in marriage by joining right hands.

[Groom], do you take [bride] to be your wife? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to live together in marriage, forsaking all others so long as you both shall live? [Groom] - "I do." [Bride], do you take [groom] to be your husband? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to live together in marriage, forsaking all others so long as you both shall live? [Bride] - "I do."

May I have the rings please? The wedding ring is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two loyal hearts in endless love.

[Groom] place the ring on [bride’s] finger and repeat after me " I, [groom], take you [bride], to be my wife, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you. I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy. What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold, so I give you my life to keep. With this ring I thee wed."

[Bride] place the ring on [groom’s] finger and repeat after me " I, [bride], take you [groom], to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our friendship and love you today, tomorrow, and forever. I will trust you and honor you. I will laugh with you and cry with you. I will love you faithfully through the best and the worst, through the difficult and the easy. What may come I will always be there. As I have given you my hand to hold, so I give you my life to keep. With this ring I thee wed."

Signing of Marriage Register
By Bride, Groom and 2 witnesses.

Pronouncement of Husband and Wife
And now that you have stood before me and exchanged these rings and these vows, and have agreed to be married according to the laws of The Commonwealth of The Bahamas. With the authority invested in me as a Marriage Officer of these Islands, it gives me great pleasure to pronounce that you are husband and wife.

A Simple Destination Wedding

Until recently, we thought that everyone had the same idea when it comes to a destination wedding. A small group (i.e., less than 50) of friends and family join you for your special day and then you celebrate afterwards.

However, we found a YouTube video (below) for simple destination weddings (hat tip to LaQuinta South Padre Island, Texas). Slowly, it dawned on us that there is a market out there for very, very, very simple destination weddings. OK, we’re a bit appalled that the minister didn’t really have the bride and groom’s names nailed and seemed to stumble through the ceremony, but maybe that’s what this couple wanted.

In our book, this qualifies more as an elopement than a true destination wedding. However, we post it here because as we researched our own destination wedding, many resorts sold this kind of a wedding as a “destination wedding.”

Frankly, some were even worse…offering only a tape recorded ceremony that is played back with the appropriate pauses for the bride and groom to announce their names, etc. We find these kind of Vegas-esque “ceremonies” to be ghastly and appalling. And yet there is a market out there for them.

So... the whole point of this posting is to be sure you really investigate that you are getting the kind of destination wedding you want. Don’t assume that the terminology means the same thing to everyone. Ask probing questions. And, if at all possible, try to do a visit of your destination in advance and observe someone else’s wedding.

This simple destination wedding could be what you are getting:

Bridal Processional Music

In the past, your choice of processional music was Mendelssohn’s Wedding March and Wagner’s Bridal Chorus.

These days, tastes have changed. You have many more options than you used to. More contemporary music choices include:

• Pachelbel’s Canon
• Delibes’ Flower Duet
• Verdi’s March (from Aida)
• Vivaldi Spring (from the Four Seasons)
• Handel’s Hornpipe (from the Water Music Suite)
• Beethoven’s Ode to Joy
• Bach’s Air on the G String

Now, if you have a destination wedding, you may or may not have a procession or music. This is something you need to consider and work trough.

For us, music was very important. We hired a local violinist to play for about a half-hour before the ceremony and about 10 minutes after.