We really can’t express how excited we were upon receiving this email in May of last year from Sarah: “Nothing’s official yet, shhhh, but we’re looking ahead to next April for possible dates for Jim and I to get hitched in Asheville. If y’all would be able and willing to make the trip, it would really mean a lot to us.” (Now picture Eileen squealing while I do a happy dance.)

Eileen and I first met Jim, Sarah and her family when they called us up for family portraits during a vacation they took together in Blue Ridge. We connected with them right away. Of coures, they all are so exceptionally warm and loving, everyone they meet must feel immediately like part of the family. At the time, Jim hadn’t yet popped the question. But it was already pretty clear to us, they were meant for each other!

Sarah and Jim are also wonderfully playful and creative. Their beautiful, mountaintop home in Asheville is super colorful and whimsical, featuring bicycles everywhere. We love how their wedding (that was filmed beautifully by the Best Wedding Film Company) carried that theme through — the cycling peloton really is a great metaphor for marriage, teaming up and carrying each other through the race. Sarah described the details this way: “We’re doing an untraditional, fun-themed Tour de France bicycle wedding.. overlooking the Asheville cityscape/valley, with dinner and celebration to follow down the street at..the Grove Park Inn. I’m wearing a custom-made B.Priddy polkadot dress (famed ‘King of Mountain’ style), and we’ll have fantastical decor, flowers, cakes, gifts, and lighting to go along with the spring blossoms.” What she didn’t mention then was the amazing reception plans, full of interactive games from miniature bicycle racing, to karaoke, to ice cream-eating contests (an ode to traditions Sarah and friends competed in while hiking the Appalachian Trail). And, boy, were those bacon-flavored ice cream sandwiches tasty!

Congratulations again, Sarah and Jim! We’re so happy for you as you pedal forward together in your peloton together!

To see Sarah & Jim’s wedding slideshow, scroll to the bottom of this post! View their complete gallery here to order prints.

Vendors //
Venue: Grove Park Inn (Asheville, NC)
Caterer/Cake Design: Grove Park Inn – Amy Mihok
Hair: Beth, at the Middy
Makeup: Elizabeth, at Channel
Dress: B.Priddy Conrad “Ship to Shore,” custom made in Asheville, NC
Men’s suits: Ralph Lauren