Cynthia Viola Photography

Blue Ridge Mountain Wedding

Elopements on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Wedding PhotographyCynthia Viola

For Earth Day, it seemed appropriate to highlight the beauty of our Blue Ridge Mountains with all the magical elopements I’ve had the honor of capturing lately. There’s just something about the rolling land and vast sky that draws so many to make their commitments here.

Sha’Lanika and Mike drove up from Florida, seeing mountains for the first time on this trip, and while a little nervous on the roads, were overwhelmed by the beauty surrounding them. We chose Thunder Hill both due to its ease of access for hiking and also because it happened to snow and ice just the day before closing off the rest of the parkway to access by vehicle. You never know what kind of weather you’re going to get up here!

Keith and Rebecca drove down from Illinois and chose Carvers Gap on the Appalachian Trail at Roan Mountain State Park because they are newly avid backpackers who met during covid and fell in love with backpacking and each other! We swapped hiking stories while we walked as Roan Mountain is still, in my opinion, the most beautiful section of the Appalachian Trail I’ve seen to date and I frequent the balds both for shoots and for camping! We were freezing in the 38 degree temps of course but Rebecca was such a trooper, you’d never even know her teeth were chattering.

Oh my goodness, when Claire told me they were driving down to Blowing Rock from Ohio and their big day would be more of a “private affair,” I knew exactly what she meant and my heart broke into a million pieces. Sometimes these elopements can have a bittersweet feel to them, however, the love these two share, CANNOT, be denied. They were so precious to witness all day. The friends and family who came to support them were all they needed to feel loved and adored. Tears flowed from each of us all day but the flood gates came when Claire got down on her knees to promise to love and honor Erica’s kids as well. I know this little family will be there to support each other for life.

And just yesterday Jon and Kristianna said their “I dos” at The Blowing Rock. Their kiddos couldn’t have been happier to participate and celebrate with them and the weather was Carolina perfection. I can’t believe I’ve never been to The Blowing Rock before… in all the years I grew up and built my business in these mountains, for whatever reason had simply never made it. So grateful to know what I’ve been missing though! I’ll be back very soon! All Kristianna wanted was a photo standing on the edge of the rock and she walked up there like a damn queen. I am really beginning to love these intimate affairs. The freedom of the schedule to adjust with the weather and wind or an upset child or delayed friend. There are no rules, just overwhelming love and support from those present.

I am grateful to each of you for including me! Can’t wait to see all that is to come!

Jodi and Matt's Wedding at Twickenham House

Wedding PhotographyCynthia Viola
I’m not good at making specific plans. Just meet me under the sky somewhere and be alive with me.
— Victoria Erickson
Twickenham house cliffside wedding

Despite the torrential downpour we received right as the reception began, Matt and Jodi’s wedding was one for the books! I have been dying to shoot at Twickenham House in Jefferson, NC and it did not disappoint! The views are unbelievable and of course the coordinator, Leigh, was so super helpful the entire weekend. They have tons of rooms for your guests to stay in if you want to make a weekend out of it and beautiful hiking spots all around. We were able to hike right up to the edge of the mountain at their Cliffside Ceremony location and the backdrop was incredible for photos.

While they are from Wisconsin, and currently living in Florida, the mountains have always held a special place for them, so they had all their family meet in the middle in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Matt proposed on a 4th of July trip to the Great Smoky Mountains back in 2015. They had been exploring all day and ended up hiking to Cataract Falls where he got down on one knee to propose. They were the only ones at the bottom of the waterfall until suddenly there was a large family watching them to celebrate the proposal! The mountains seemed like the perfect way to capture that important piece of their story.

Twickenham house cliffside wedding
Twickenham house cliffside wedding

They, of course had to include their fur baby Slinky in the big day. She was very excited and showered them in kisses all day while also being the perfect companion to the sweet flower girls.

Twickenham house cliffside wedding
Twickenham house cliffside wedding
Twickenham house cliffside wedding
Twickenham house cliffside wedding
Twickenham house cliffside wedding
Twickenham house cliffside wedding

It was thundering and lightening as we were finishing up all the photos and we knew we didn’t have much time but they were willing to risk it for the photos. Shortly after we reached the reception hall a huge thunder clap was heard all around and the lights went out! Luckily Twickenham has excellent generators so we barely skipped a beat before the bottom dropped out and all the rain that had so graciously held off all afternoon came all at once!

Twickenham house cliffside wedding
Twickenham house cliffside wedding

You guys I cannot thank you enough for including me in your big day! I had so much fun exploring the cliffs with you!

The Vendors who made the day possible:

Photographers: Cynthia Viola with Martha Shannon

Venue: Twickenham House

Dress: Alfred Angelo Bridal

Tux: Ike Behar from The Tux Lady in Jefferson

Her Ring: Jareds Galleria of Jewelry

His Ring- Custom from Celestial Rex

Hair and Make Up: Mark of Eden Salon, Tera Shaw

Florist: Log House Florist

Officiant: Gerard A. Murphy with High Country Ministers

DJ: Dan Etzler, On Target DJ

Videographer: HoneyDew Films

Catering: Frugal Gourmet Catering

Invitations: Minted.com, Artist - Grace Kreinbrink

Favors: Koozies