Top Highlands NC Wedding Venues
Tanya here! It’s as local as it gets, folks! With my partner Harry, as North Carolina Wedding Photographers, we have spent over 16 years photographing weddings across the Carolinas. Highlands NC Wedding Venues have given us some of our favorite days behind the camera. AND it’s the Western North Carolina Mountains that we call home. There is a specific fondness that comes with photographing weddings in Highlands.
We’ve walked these grounds more times than we can count, watching couples exchange vows in gardens, on lawns, and in tiny churches tucked into the hills. So, if you’re planning your wedding in Highlands and trying to figure out where to hold it, think of this as a personal tour from someone who’s stood behind the camera at each of these places.
A quick note before we dive in: I’ve included starting costs and what’s typically included at each venue to give you a general sense of budget, but pricing changes with the seasons and the years, so please confirm current rates and packages directly with each venue before you build your budget around these numbers.
Why Highlands, North Carolina?
Highlands sits at one of the highest elevations in the Blue Ridge Mountains. You feel it the moment you arrive: cooler air, longer views, and a village atmosphere that’s equal parts artsy as it is refined. It’s a town built around galleries, gardens, and good food. The light and the landscape are already doing a lot of the work for us before we even lift a camera. That’s part of why so many couples fall in love with a Highlands, NC Wedding Venue when they start planning a mountain wedding. Let’s dive in!
Old Edwards Inn & Spa in Highlands, NC
Old Edwards Inn and Spa sits right in the heart of downtown Highlands. It’s one of the most sprawling collections of properties we’ve photographed. The resort offers several distinct spaces to choose from, including The Farm at Old Edwards. It is located at 336 Arnold Rd in Highlands. It’s a 30-acre property with a modern barn and event pavilion that can host up to 275 guests, and The Orchard, an outdoor ceremony site framed by landscaped gardens. For photography, that range is a gift. We can move from an overflowing garden of blooms to a floor-to-ceiling-window reception space without ever leaving the same property. It’s a wonderful choice for couples who want a European-style resort feel with the mountains as a backdrop. Old Edwards offers a variety of properties, including smaller garden cottages for smaller events and gatherings.
Contact: 445 Main Street, Highlands, NC 28741 | (866) 526-8008 | oldedwardsinn.com
Starting cost: smaller garden cottages, like the Hutchinson House or Piermont Cottage, start around $4,500 for a ceremony and reception, covering 5.5 hours of event time along with a day-of coordinator, dressing area, and a food and beverage minimum handled by the venue. Larger celebrations at The Farm at Old Edwards, which can host up to 275 guests, start closer to $30,000 and include tables and chairs, linens, lighting, valet or shuttle service, a champagne toast, and a complimentary bridal suite.
Highlands Wedding Venue | Flat Mountain Farm
Flat Mountain Farm is a historic rhododendron farm turned modern mountain retreat, just two minutes outside downtown Highlands. The 28-acre property has a working lake, a babbling creek, shady pastures, and a collection of rustic log outbuildings, all leading up to a Scandinavian-style barn for dining and dancing. Ceremonies here often happen lakeside, with a tent set up on the lawn for the reception. What we love most about Flat Mountain Farm is how much variety exists within one property. We can shoot getting-ready portraits in one of the design-forward cabins, walk five minutes for ceremony photos by the water, and end the night with dance-floor shots under string lights in a tented reception.
Contact: 1359 Flat Mountain Road, Highlands, NC 28741 | (828) 487-4174 | flatmountainfarm.com
Starting cost: An elopement package starts at $4,500 for up to 25 guests, including three hours of venue time, ceremony chairs, on-site staff and a venue manager, a cake, and a champagne toast, available Monday through Thursday. Full wedding packages for up to 200 guests on the weekend range upwards of $30,000 but depend on the season and day of the week, including venue access from 10 am to 10 pm, use of The Wren cabin for getting ready, and tables and chairs.
The Vineyard at High Holly in Highlands
For couples who want a true destination feel, The Vineyard at High Holly is one of the most distinctive Highlands, NC, Wedding Venues. Set on nearly 30 acres between Highlands and Dillard, Georgia. The property includes a working vineyard, an award-winning dahlia garden, a pond, walking trails, and a rustic-chic event pavilion with retractable clear panels for that perfect indoor-outdoor flow. Ceremonies are often held in the meadow, surrounded by rolling vines and mountain views, with cottages and a restored farmhouse on-site for the wedding party to stay all weekend. It’s the kind of setting where the landscape itself becomes part of the story we’re telling.
Contact: 37 High Holly Road, Scaly Mountain, NC 28775 | (828) 482-5573 | thevineyardathighholly.com
Starting cost: The Wine Cellar Package starts at $4,250 for up to 20 guests, available Monday through Thursday, and includes an outdoor ceremony site, a reception in the Wine Cellar, an outdoor fire pit area, a day-of rehearsal, tables and chairs, a golf cart, and two nights of accommodation in the Farmhouse. Full single-day wedding fees start around $11,000 and include access to the Gathering Pavilion and the Vineyard Ceremony Site for the day, along with tables, chairs, setup and breakdown, and an in-house chef to customize your menu.
Half-Mile Farm
Half-Mile Farm is a quieter, more intimate option, tucked onto 14 acres just minutes from downtown Highlands. It is a part of the Old Edwards Hospitality Group. This luxury country inn has a Napa-style sensibility, with a lake for paddling, gardens, and rolling lawns that make for a graceful, unhurried ceremony setting. Couples can exchange vows on the front lawn by Apple Lake, in the courtyard garden, or in front of the stacked stone fireplace inside the historic farmhouse. Each space offers a different mood, from open and airy to warm and close-knit.
Contact: 214 Half Mile Drive, Highlands, NC 28741 | (828) 787-2610 | oldedwardshospitality.com/half-mile-farm
Starting cost: The rental fee starts around $30,000 for a ceremony and reception. That fee covers the bride’s and groom’s dressing areas, tables and chairs, linens, silverware and glassware, outdoor lighting, venue setup and cleanup, a day-of coordinator, full kitchen facilities, and overnight accommodations on-site.
Wildcat Cliffs Country Club
Wildcat Cliffs Country Club sits between Highlands and Cashiers, near the ridgeline of Whiteside Mountain, at some of the highest elevation and coolest climate in the whole area. It’s a private club, so a wedding here typically comes through a member, but the setting is worth the ask: a romantic outdoor ceremony against the mountain backdrop and the club’s own golf course, followed by cocktail hour on the open terrace. The reception moves indoors to the main dining room, with cathedral ceilings, tall windows, and wrought iron chandeliers that give the whole evening a formal, old-world glow. For photography, it’s a beautiful mix of wide-open mountain views outside and warm, architectural detail inside.
Contact: 770 Country Club Drive, Highlands, NC 28741 | (828) 526-2164 | wildcatcliffscc.com
Starting cost: The reception rental fee starts at $2,500 and includes six hours of event time, excluding setup and cleanup, along with wedding planning services, tables, chairs, and linens. A food and beverage minimum applies to all events.
Highlands Golf Cullasaja Club
Cullasaja Club is one of the most exclusive private communities in the Highlands-Cashiers area, built around an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and a clubhouse with sweeping views of Whiteside Mountain. It’s a member-only setting, so a wedding here comes together through a member or their family, but the property has real range for a celebration — a renovated clubhouse for dining, four tennis courts and croquet lawns, and a 30-acre lake near the headwaters of the Cullasaja River. We’ve photographed family celebrations on properties like this one, and what stands out is the layered scenery: manicured fairways in the foreground, dense hardwood forest behind, and those 50-mile mountain views stacking up beyond it all. It’s quiet, refined, and deeply photogenic in a way that feels distinctly Highlands.
Contact: 1371 Cullasaja Club Drive, Highlands, NC 28741 | (828) 526-9057
Starting cost: As a private, invitation-only club, Cullasaja doesn’t publish wedding packages or pricing. Costs and what’s included are worked out directly with the club through a member, so if this is the setting you have in mind, it’s worth reaching out early to start that conversation.
Highlands Country Club
Highlands Country Club is one of the oldest and most storied private clubs in the area, built around a Donald Ross-designed course that opened back in 1928. It’s a members-only setting, so a wedding here typically comes together through a member, but the club has real history for celebrations — we’ve photographed a formal reception there that leaned into a classic, black-tie feel, with the clubhouse and grounds giving the whole evening a timeless, elegant backdrop. For couples drawn to that traditional country club atmosphere, paired with the mountain setting Highlands is known for, it’s a beautiful, understated choice.
Contact: 981 Dillard Rd, Highlands, NC 28741 | (828) 526-2181 | highlandscc.net
Starting cost: As a private club, Highlands Country Club doesn’t publish wedding pricing. Events are arranged directly with the club through a member, so it’s best to start that conversation early if this is the setting you have in mind.
Rockwood Lodge | Highlands NC Small Wedding Venue
Rockwood Lodge is one of the most dramatic private estates in Highlands, North Carolina — a 16,000-square-foot Adirondack-style lodge perched atop one of the highest peaks in Highlands, set within 350 private acres of the Nantahala Forest. The drive alone, down a long, winding road through creeks and switchbacks, builds anticipation before you ever reach the house, and the interior matches the scale of the setting: a cavernous great room with a massive stone hearth, timber trusses built from recycled sugar mill beams, and panoramic windows looking out over the valleys and peaks below. Couples typically host a rehearsal dinner in the lodge’s dining room, exchange vows out on the lawn, and gather for cocktail hour back in the great room, all before the wedding party settles into the estate’s eight bedrooms for the night. Rockwood Lodge is a full-property buyout, so it’s just your group on the mountain for the whole weekend, which makes for some of the most unhurried, intimate photography we get to do all year.
Contact: Highlands, NC 28741 | (828) 526-8919 | rockwoodlodge.com
Starting cost: Rockwood Lodge doesn’t publish set wedding packages, but third-party estimates put pricing at roughly $12,500 and up for around 50 guests. A three-night minimum overnight stay is required, along with a tent for outdoor events, and the venue asks that couples inquire directly for full details on pricing and what’s included.
Notable Mention: Highlander Mountain House
While it’s not typically the setting for a ceremony or reception, the Highlander Mountain House deserves a mention as one of our favorite spots in Highlands for a rehearsal dinner or welcome party. This historic inn, built in 1885, sits right on Main Street in the heart of downtown, with a cozy lobby fireplace, a wraparound terrace, and a restaurant and bar serving Appalachian-inspired food and local craft cocktails. For couples hosting out-of-town guests for the weekend, it’s an easy, walkable gathering spot the night before the wedding — the kind of warm, low-key setting where everyone can relax before the main event. We love photographing rehearsal dinners here for exactly that reason: the candlelit rooms and fireside seating give us soft, intimate images without any extra styling required.
Contact: 270 Main Street, Highlands, NC 28741 | (828) 526-2590 | highlandermountainhouse.com
Starting cost: As a restaurant and inn rather than a dedicated event venue, Highlander Mountain House doesn’t publish set rehearsal dinner or welcome party packages. Costs depend on your guest count and whether you’re booking a private dining area or a full buyout, so it’s best to reach out directly to discuss options for your wedding weekend.
Finding the Right Fit for Your Story
Each of these Highlands NC Wedding Venues has its own personality: some polished and resort-style, some rustic and pastoral, some built for a big celebration and others made for something smaller and more intimate. Part of what Harry and I do, beyond showing up with cameras, is help couples think through how a venue will actually photograph: where the light falls at your ceremony time, which corners offer privacy for portraits, and how the space will hold up if the mountain weather has other plans. We’ve walked enough of these properties to give you real answers, not just guesses.
Whatever venue you choose, our approach stays the same — a calm, practiced presence, two perspectives working in sync, and a commitment to capturing the day as it actually unfolds. The composed and the candid. The directed and the discovered. That’s the balance we bring to every Highlands wedding, no matter which venue you choose.
Looking for a wedding photographer for your Highlands, North Carolina wedding?
If you’re planning a wedding at one of these venues — or anywhere else across the Carolinas — we’d love to be part of your day. Harry and I bring 16 years of experience, a true partnership behind the lens, and a deep respect for the trust you’re placing in us to hold onto these memories. Visit our home page to see more of our work, or head straight to our contact page to start the conversation. We’d be honored to help tell your story.
