This was the venue for my niece's wedding which had been postponed since October of 2024 because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene. I have some very mixed feelings about the venue, so bear with me.
First, I have to say that the venue is beautiful. The scenic mountain views surrounding it are stunning. The building, which we never went into unless we needed a restroom, was very nice looking from the outside. The deck we ate dinner on was very nice. It is easy to see why someone would pick such a beautiful venue. For most people, this would be the perfect venue. My niece's wedding was, in fact, wonderful for the most part. I am giving it a 4, because it really is a wonderful venue.
Unfortunately, this is where I have to go south with my review. In order to get to the actual ceremony area, guests are required to go down the equivalent of two stories- some on stairs and some on a grassy hill. Later, to get to the lowest area for the reception (the bar area), guests had to cross a grassy area and go up more stairs. From there, to get to the dining area of the reception, they had to climb even more stairs that had those wooden board railings that you can't get a grip on.
The restrooms that guests were being told to use were down on the bottom level of the building. Once again, that required a hike including stairs and the grassy field. There was supposedly a tiny restroom on the level of the dining deck, but we were told several times not to use it because it was too small and uncomfortable.
During the reception, my 72 year old sister in law needed to use the restroom. My wife tried to escort her since it involved the aforementioned hike and she has limited mobility. Unfortunately, the wooden stairs leading down to the bar area were damp from the evening mist and dangerously slick. She slipped, her feet flew up in the air, and she landed on her back and head at the bottom of them. When I got my brother in law, a doctor, he too slipped on the wet stairs and fell down on top of her. She was taken by ambulance to an ER in Asheville. He was only sore the next day.
My point is this, if this is meant to be a wedding venue, it needs to have safer stairs, better railings, smooth flat surfaces leading everywhere, and acceptable restrooms on the dining level. I would even consider an elevator of some kind. At the very least, some of that sand paper stuff needs to be put on the surface of the stairs
No matter how pretty the views were, I could never recommend this venue to anyone who has elderly guests, guests with mobility issues, or guests with other health issues that would make the venue inappropriate for them in its current condition. For everyone else, this is an awesome place to hold your wedding. read more