This was the venue for my niece's wedding which had been postponed since October of 2024 because of…read morethe 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.

It was a beautiful wedding venue! Well done wedding! Just make sure you account for enough time to…read morepark at the bottom and wait for the shuttle.

Wedding planning can be tough, especially destinations. AVL Luxury Elopements is here to help…read morehandle every detail without missing a beat.

Definitely would not recommend... For months my Daughter had…read morewaited for her special day... in the interim she had 5 different coordinators with ALE. All were very nice to speak with, however the final coordinator dropped the ball. It was a horrible day. From the Stylist to the cake, to the bouquet, to the venue. My daughter did not get the cake she asked for, nor the bouquet and it looks like she got married in a warehouse. All was very unprofessional, ... It started with us all at the house waiting for makeup and hair. The stylist went to the wrong address, she was then over a half hour late. My daughter calls and speaks to coordinator#5 who tells her with he rain that there are only 2 umbrellas, we were originally told by coordinator 1# if it rains it will be moved inside... okay problem solved? nope. told by the 5th coordinator they don't open the doors on weekdays... okay so fix it? right? should be simple... but no, my daughter is left in tears, Finally, Terran showed up to assist. Albeit, Terran did a great job on makeup, and my daughters hair looked nice. I did not get what I asked for... its not about me though, so I moved on. ( I hated my hair) Terran then brings us all into the laundry room to get ready, WTF... with all going on, a little hectic, it is her job to pull it together.I said it 3 times why are we in here!?! We then migrate to the family room where the men had to leave and hide in the sunroom adjacent to the family room???? whole thing was a mess. Finally all dressed and ready to go... get to venue, no flowers!!! for some reason the coordinator #4 (((because coordinator #5 did not want to come, she did not want to deal with the F**K up so they sent #4,[who knew nothing about what my daughter and coordinator #5 spoke about] and she wung it!!!))any way... #4 brought them to the house and set them in the room, did not tell anyone, and not one of us would even go in or even walk passed to see. Of course we rented a house based on their recommendations which is 45 min from the venue!!! Why? don't know. Not familiar with Asheville and we trusted they knew what was best. So of course can't run back quickly to get anything forgotten. The venue was awful, tables all pushed to the side, chairs stacked, it felt like a warehouse/storage room. There is so, so much more to this story... Not an ounce of class, and far, far from Luxury. Terran offers $1300 back, out of over $11,500 spent for one of thee worst weddings I have ever been at in my entire life.... and of course it had to be My Baby Girls wedding. I see other reviews and photos and I am dumbfounded. ;( We are going to the news and news paper and we are in contact with a lawyer. Thank you ALE for what was suppose to be the happiest day of my daughter life for making it one of the worst and thinking a measly 1300 would fix it!!!! Just so disgusted at the whole thing. Photos below are what she wanted vs what she got

Beautiful location in the hills north of Asheville. Attending a wedding g and it's truly a lovely…read morevenue. Separate areas. A bridal suite & grooms suite near the outdoor ceremony spaces, which are really lovely. A large indoor space for reception with giant doors that can go up or down as needed. An industrial vibe. Plus a yard where games can be set up for entertainment. Multiple packages or a La carte availability. I'm at a beautiful wedding at this moment. Food was really good and bride and groom were able to buy their own alcohol and hire bartenders to serve, keeping costs down. Definitely recommend!

Shay Brown Events is the epitome of professionalism and expertise in pulling off a broad range of…read moreevents. I worked with her the first time on a fundraiser at the Asheville Masonic Temple for a fundraiser our group put on after the passing of Tyler Garrison of Regeneration Station, and she was extremely helpful and I would recommend booking her if you truly want an extremely positive experience from someone who clearly has a long resume of specializing in event planning.

So I was pleasantly surprised last year when I returned to Ridgecrest Conference Center . The…read morerooms have been updated and look like the Hampton Inn . Everything is comfy and the surroundings are beautiful . The surroundings include walking trails . I wish they would work on the food service. The food is not good at all. Its more like an old Golden Corral. This is something that needs to be improved . More fresh vegetables , real eggs, better quality meat and breads . They do offer salads at every meal which compensates for the poor quality food . What ever company that supplies their food it needs to be overhauled to better quality food . It should be restaurant quality . Everything else is great .

Such a beautiful venue. The staff were incredibly welcoming and friendly, the cafeteria food was…read moresolid, and the center itself was clean, tidy, and well organized. I never felt lost, even when wandering around to see the beautiful nature.

So my wedding photographer dropped out on me with a week to go (!) and I called Blue Bend. Nick…read morecalled me back and even though he was booked, proceeded to be super helpful and nice. He contacted another Blue Bend collective photographer, Kevin, who was also busy but was willing to shift things around to help us out! This kind of customer service and compassion in the face of a panicking groom is rare. Very very nice people @Blue Bend

Communication is of great importance when choosing wedding vendors. Blue Bend proved a lack of…read moreprofessionalism by disengaging with us after the contract was signed and a sizeable deposit was paid. Less than 3 weeks before my daughter's wedding Blue Bend had not responded to emails or phone calls to touch base with us on final details. We lost confidence Blue Bend would provide services promised, and had to scramble to find a new photographer. Nick, owner & photographer, was completely unresponsive after we booked services six months before the wedding date. Then, just over 6 weeks until the wedding we tried to touch base with a few questions . Between the bride and mother of the bride, we made 8 attempts to reach Nick over a 3 week period. Emails to the very address he had previously corresponded with us were unanswered, but "delivered." We phoned the same mobile number he had previously used, but our calls and voice messages were ignored. I even sent a letter in the US Mail to his PO Box asking that he contact either the bride or me. This makes three methods of communication (email, phone & postal mail) in which two people (from different phones & email servers) were unable to get a response from Nick over an extended time. We then noticed that none of Blue Bend's social media had been updated in over a year. Out of concern Nick may have had a personal crisis, or Blue Bend may have gone out of business, the bride left a voice message with another Blue Bend associate. The associate never responded back either. We did receive an auto-generated final bill that did not even state the amount owed for final payment. Money is due in full before any service is rendered. This form letter had a blank where the amount owed should be. We had no assurance a photographer would be there on wedding day if we made the online payment. If we did not pay the balance in full, we would lose our sizeable initial deposit, and have to find another a photographer less than 3 weeks before the wedding date! The bride sent an email to Nick 6 weeks before the ceremony, with the subject containing the words "Cancel Contract." And suddenly, Nick responded to that within a couple of hours (after 5 months of silence). He gave lots of excuses for poor communication - he changed mobile email provider & had been having trouble accessing emails on his phone; he couldn't find the emails we were referring to (I have a record they were all delivered); he claimed he didn't get my letter because the US Mail is unreliable (the letter was never returned to sender as undelivered). Nick made no excuse or apology for not returning phone calls. Nor could he explain why, if he was having trouble retrieving emails on his phone, he did not think it was important to check business emails on a computer. Nick ignored our requests for a refund. But when pressed, he refused the deposit refund, saying he would "forgive" our final payment of the remaining balance. We are out about $900, and Nick did no work for his money.

After looking through what seemed like hundreds of photographers, my husband and I chose In Tandem…read morefor our engagement photos and our wedding in October 2013. Not only are Sarah and Adam some of the nicest people on the face of the planet, but they're super easy to work with and they craft images that are artsy and truly capture moments in time -- none of the cheesy staged stuff that you see in most wedding photography. Michael and I went with them to a carnival in Dripping Springs, TX for our engagement photos. I wasn't sure Michael would fare well doing the engagement photos since he's a guy and would probably rather be watching a football game. Sarah and Adam made it so fun that he was into it in no time. We both felt really comfortable with them and the images turned out great! They were really interesting pictures because of the cool setting and how relaxed we felt. Sarah and Adam went with us to New Orleans for our wedding (we are Austin based) and they captured every detail, from both of us getting ready in our separate rooms through the second line parade we had at the end of the night. My favorite part was that they really captured the atmosphere and the feeling. I remember hearing a band on the street outside my hotel balcony and there's a picture of it! Every little detail I had in my mind that made my day special was captured on film. We also chose the photo booth option, which I have done before at other weddings and special events. In Tandem's is radically different in that participants can start the camera themselves, see their images and even Faceebook, Tweet, or email them to themselves right from the event. Guests had a blast with this! If I had to do it all over again I would definitely go with In Tandem. They're the best there is.

Thank you Sarah for making me feel very comfortable in front of the lens…read more I'm normally really awkward and uncomfortable but she really talked me through it and made me feel good. She was extremely professional and knew what she was doing. Highly recommend Sarah.

From the first email to the "I DO", Jon-Paul and his lovely wife, Crystal were the best of the…read morebest. The communication was a 10 out of 10. The reassurance was the same. We came from out of town and were a bit nervous about spending money sight unseen. I think, we would have paid double if, we knew then, what we experienced on our wedding day. If you and your significant other are planning to get married, I cannot scream loud enough - DON'T WASTE MONEY ON A HUGE WEDDING! If you are able, go to Asheville and let JP and his wife guide you through a seamless ceremony. No stress, no worries, no regrets! We were able to pamper ourselves all weekend. We added the videographer to capture all the fun. It was just the two of us along with JP and Crystal. We honestly felt like we were with our friends. They made us so comfortable and relaxed. There was no rushing at all. We can't wait to get our photos and video. With all the money we saved by eloping, we were able to comfortably spoil ourselves to the fullest. Lots of Spa treatments, fine dining, shopping, Biltmore Estate....... Trust me on this......Don't waste money on some huge affair that you have to pay for, for years to come. Thank you so very much JP and Crystal.

This guy gets a 0 on communication. Do not use, we asked to change the date and he never sent an…read moreupdated contract. When I decided to use someone else, he took my deposit and wouldn't return it claiming I had signed the contract already. Stay far away.