4 Reasons that Eloping in the Summertime in the Asheville Mountains is the best!

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4 Reasons that Eloping in the Summertime in the Asheville Mountains is the best

 

There’s a reason Spring & Fall weddings are so popular. Most of us have been to that one wedding in July out in an open field or on a beach where everyone was sweating and miserable.  

But if you are planning to elope and can find availability in summer, the Asheville, North Carolina mountains could be the perfect time and place to say “I do.”

As a videographer with Elope Outdoors, summertime is my favorite time to shoot elopements. Due to it being more comfortable, the films reflect the relaxed nature of the couples and turn out beautiful. 

I reached out to Brides who have eloped with us in the summer to get their perspectives!  

Here are 4 reasons eloping in the summertime in the Asheville, North Carolina mountains is the absolute best! 

 

 1.  The temperature is 10-20 degrees cooler in the mountains. 

No matter the season, we can’t promise perfect weather with no rain or fog for your elopement (the mountains are wild) but we can tell you that weather in the summer on a mountain is often ideal. This is because down in Asheville it can be 85 degrees, but once you go up in the mountains it can be closer to 75 degrees or cooler! 

Now of course when you’re exposed on a mountain bald, you’ll feel the sun shining down on you, but scheduling your elopement later in the day closer to sunset or to sunrise will help keep things cool. By choosing these times with softer light, you are set up to receive the perfect weather if mother nature decides to offer it. 

We hold our elopements right before sunset or sunrise and have found the couples we work with love it. One of the places we have elopements is 6000 feet in elevation and can be a little windy sometimes, which is a great contrast to the hot summer sun. 

Here’s what our summer brides had to say about the temperature on their special days!

 

Megan, August 2020 Bride:  The temperature was great on our Elopement Day.  It was warm enough for everyone, but not too hot!

Rachel, September 2020 Bride: Honestly, temperature is something that you take into a lot of consideration when planning a wedding – will I be too hot or cold in the dress of my dreams? Will I sweat all my makeup off? Will I be shivering or sweating in my pictures? 

Especially up in the mountains, the low humidity summer weather made for the perfect elopement. We loved our hike up and the beautiful views from our elopement spot. 

Angelina, September 2020 Bride: It was ideal weather to hike to our ceremony location. No sweating, which was nice considering how much time went into hair & makeup. We all brought light jackets that we used when the sun went down. 

Kelly, July 2020 Bride: The weather was perfect! We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Being from Florida, we weren’t expecting the cooler weather up in the mountains. We had a great breeze and we felt completely comfortable throughout our whole ceremony. 

 

2.  It’s easier to be in the moment when the weather is right!

When you elope in the summer, you typically don’t have to worry about shivering the whole time.  Even as the sun dips down into the magic hour sunset, it usually is helpful to have a jacket or something on hand but it’s typically very comfortable!

Creating an experience for you is key at Elope Outdoors. Our collective is all about creating moments of enjoyment, relaxation and romanticism from providing cake and champagne for you post-ceremony, to encouraging you to wander around on the mountain as we snap photos and video in the background. But this is so much harder to enjoy when you’re freezing! Shoots on colder spring/fall days are sometimes a bit more heightened and quicker just due to the fact that it can be chilly wearing a dress in 30 degrees with wind whipping! 

It’s easier to take your time and relax when you are comfortable in the summer sun.

Kelly, July 2020 Bride: We felt 100% in the moment and the weather definitely helped contribute to that. We felt completely at peace and our ceremony was totally serene. It was exactly what we dreamed of!

Rachel, September 2020 Bride: The temperature was absolutely PERFECT! Just warm enough that Josh was comfortable in a suit, but I was also comfortable in a sleeveless dress with no shawl or jacket. We had a small hike up to our elopement location and the temperature made it so that we were comfortable on the way up and down and didn’t get too sweaty or too cold. 

 

3.  More activities, festivals and fun if you’re visiting AVL for a few days!

When you elope in the summer in the Asheville area, you get to join in on the many outdoor activities that are going on from music festivals to farmers markets to exploring downtown Asheville.

There also isn’t a more perfect time to visit a waterfall and take a dip! The water is cool from the mountains and the sun will warm you right up! It’s the perfect combination. 

Rachel, September 2020 Bride: This was our first trip to Asheville and we loved hitting up all the breweries, floating down the river on inner tubes, eating at rooftop and outdoor restaurants, and all the beautiful hikes in the area. Since our elopement, we went back for NYE, but these activities just couldn’t compare to the experience we had there in the summer.

Angelina, September 2020 Bride: We got to experience a lot of good food, breweries, and live music. My husband and I also decided to make a day trip and go back to Black Balsam Knob (just the two of us). We watched the sunset, listened to some music, and had a few beers. Returning back to the scene of the crime is a great way to relive the moment without the added chaos of a wedding day. 

 

4.  A Lush backdrop emerges as plants come to life!

From summer to early fall, the plants in the forest surrounding the mountaintops come to life! The backdrop is lush and green versus in the winter when everything is more brown and bare. Summer in Asheville is when you really can tell it’s classified as a temperate rainforest! But because of the elevation, you typically don’t feel the kind of humidity you would expect – it’s actually very comfortable. 

Rachel, September 2020 Bride: In summer, you get beautiful weather, you avoid the mass influx of fall tourists searching for the changing tree foliage, you get late nights and beautiful sunsets, and you get so many fun activities to partake in and around Asheville that aren’t as enjoyable at other times of the year!

Angelina, September 2020 Bride: I would absolutely recommend getting married in the mountains towards the end of the summer. The foliage is very lush right before the leaves change color. It’s not too hot and it’s not too cold. The views are breathtaking and the pictures to remember them by are unreal. 

 

Now let’s talk about a few reasons why people don’t elope in summer.

Summer is a popular time for people to visit the Asheville area and there is concern that the hiking trails will be busy. This is why sunrise ceremonies on weekdays are an ideal solution, as typically there are less people on trails at the crack of dawn. Some locations attract a lot of campers like Max Patch but because there is a lot of room up there, it’s typically very easy to find a private area for your ceremony. And truthfully, fall is actually a more popular time to visit Asheville because of changing leaves, so summer is likely going to be a bit less busy.

Another tip for your elopement would be to hike a little further instead of going where everyone else is going. Our coordinators guide you to find the best places and times and can give tips for how to hike up with your dress. Our team knows all of the best spots in the popular locations and are very passionate about creating a special space for you to be in the moment no matter what is going on around you. 

Another concern is rain. Asheville receives a lot of rainfall. Many people don’t want to run the risk of it raining. But there are many ways to manage rain on your day, as many of our Brides discovered. 

 

Rachel, September 2020 Bride: We really didn’t have any fears of getting married in late summer – it was actually our preference for weather, perfect tree foliage, etc. We had been a little worried on our drive into the mountains because it was raining off and on, but the weather was absolutely perfect when we got to the trail. We loved that beams of light were shooting through the clouds during our ceremony – it made the whole thing seem that much more magical.

Megan, August 2020 Bride: Our date was my grandpa’s birthday!  We were getting ready to close on our first home together and wanted to be married before we moved in.  We had done some research and looked at the weather in the area and weren’t too nervous about that.  Elope Outdoors made everything so effortless.  It was supposed to rain on our day, so the photographer moved our wedding up a few hours and we just missed the rain!  

Angelina, September 2020 Bride: We got lucky and ended up getting married during a harvest moon. Our special day couldn’t have worked out any better. The day before our wedding it was raining a lot. We were concerned about what the backup plan was. When we reached out we were assured that the weather tended to fluctuate especially at a higher altitude. That was comforting and it didn’t rain on our day. 

Kelly, July 2020 Bride: Our only fear was the potential for rain. Elope Outdoors was so reassuring, though, and we discussed a plan in place if that had happened. We knew it would still be special no matter what, thanks to Cassie. It did actually rain a little in the morning, but it did clear up and it was beautiful by the time of our ceremony! There was a fog that rolled in during our ceremony, but felt like that added to the charm of our whole experience!

All in all, eloping in the mountains in Summer is a solid move! We would love to welcome you to the Blue Ridge Mountains and help reduce the stress of planning your elopement. We have years of experience creating low-key, enjoyable experiences complete with all the vendors you need to make the experience fun and easy.

Check out this testimonial from Rachel & give us a shout when you are ready to begin planning your day : )

Click HERE to get your summer elopement book with Elope Outdoors!!