Autumn Earthy Boho Vineyard Wedding in Georgia

Welcome to Chris and Angela’s CeNita Vineyards wedding in Georgia, US. It was the most beautiful spot, with mountain views and a rustic barn for the reception.

They chose their outdoor ceremony and location to reflect their love of hiking. Their proposal took place on a hiking trip and their honeymoon was a week of mountain hiking too. Amazing!

Everything was kept simple and natural, with burgundy tones, seasonal flowers, sensational outfits and a show-stopper mountain cake. Look out for their first look, the glorious sunset and those views.

Thanks so much to Kate Hensley Phillips Photography for sharing these beautiful images with us.

CeNita Vineyards Wedding

The Proposal

Chris and I love hiking/backpacking and camping, and he proposed on a beautiful fall hike on Shining Rock in North Carolina. (So I say I got “my shining rock” on Shining Rock).

I had no idea he was going to propose, and I had no idea what the ring looked like (I gave him a few ideas a couple years back), but he picked it out himself and did amazing! The proposal was so sweet and simple and our dog was with us and the fall colors/view was gorgeous, so it was so special.

The Vision

We’re such outdoorsy people, so we definitely wanted an outdoor wedding, and we could think of nowhere better than up in the North Georgia mountains where we hiked and camped together so often, and were so special to us.

We also wanted a fall wedding, and we knew the weather and fall colors would be amazing, and would go with the Fall/Earthy/Boho vibe we’re going for.

There are so many beautiful venues in North Georgia, and they’re also not too far from Atlanta where we live, so it was kind of like a destination wedding, but still convenient for our family and guests.

Budget

I was the first girl in my family to get married, so my parents were excited to throw the wedding party, and we all had such a tough year and were all looking forward to it. So we didn’t really have a set budget, but we’re pretty frugal and got some good deals.

I have a huge family, so for a guest count of 100 people, we kept it under $25,000.

The Venue

When we saw The Venue at CeNita Vineyards up in Cleveland, GA, we knew right away it was where we wanted to get married. It was a gorgeous vineyard with Yonah Mountain in the background (a mountain we’ve hiked many times before), and had a beautiful open air covered event space which also made it a little bit more Covid friendly.

The venue was also dog friendly, so we were able to include our dog Ava in our ceremony. There was also a fire pit for s’mores and a beautiful lawn area with lights for cocktail hour. The whole setting was so laid back like we wanted – simple and natural.

Your Outfits

I got my dress from Bridal Sense, which was a boutique down the street from where I grew up, and we knew the owner Nancy, who would help with my father-daughter dance dresses, homecoming, prom dresses, etc. when I was younger. So it was so special to get my wedding dress from a local store and someone we knew.

I knew I wanted a form-fitting dress with lace and long sleeves (since it would be a fall wedding outside), and a simple boho vibe. I didn’t want a veil (just like a hair vine), and I didn’t want a long train. I only went to Bridal Sense and tried on maybe 10 dresses and found the perfect one. I also got a healthcare worker discount since I’m a nurse, so it was a great deal!

I just wanted Chris in a grey suit with a Cabernet colored tie to go with the fall theme, and his groomsmen in navy suits with Cabernet ties, to match the Cabernet bridesmaid dresses. So he just went to Men’s Warehouse and rented it.

The Ceremony & Music

Chris’ uncle is a pastor, so he was our wedding officiant which was so special to have him be part of our ceremony. It was short and sweet. We wrote our own vows, and it was a beautiful setting outside with the mountain as our backdrop.

We had a DJ who played our ceremony and reception music.

Your Photographer

Kate Phillips of Kate Hensley Phillips Photography

The Styling & Decor

We wanted a Fall/Natural/Boho vibe and all the decor was beautiful and simple with hints of burgundy and fall colors.

We had a wooden arbor with just a simple white drape and vines for our ceremony setting. The mountain and the fall leaves made for the perfect natural decor.

I didn’t want a huge bouquet and I wanted to use some local mountain flowers/plants like we see on our hikes, and seasonal fall flowers. The florist did an amazing job and did just that using pampas grass, ferns, eucalyptus, neutral roses, burgundy and peach flowers, some local mountain flowers and a couple of my favorites like blue thistle and snapdragon.

The Honeymoon

Since we both love hiking so much, we thought what better way to spend our honeymoon than a backpacking trip! So we decided to hike the Georgia section of the Appalachian Trail for our honeymoon!

We’d hiked many parts of it in GA before, but not all the way through, so we took the week off after our wedding, and hiked over 90 miles to the North Carolina border. It was the perfect time to do it, with beautiful fall colors and weather. It was the best honeymoon we could ask for, doing what we love most with who we love most. Our dog Ava came with us, too! 🙂 We plan in the future to hike the whole Appalachian Trail all the way to Maine.

Memorable Moments

Having Chris’ uncle be our officiant and having our dog Ava be part of our ceremony was really special.

Also my Dad is from England, so we have a lot of family in England who couldn’t come due to travel restrictions and other family who couldn’t come due to Covid. So we live-streamed the event and were able to Zoom/FaceTime with them during the reception which was so special.

Advice For Other Couples

Obviously wedding planning is stressful, but try not to stress too much, because what’s important is your love for each other and it’s YOUR wedding day. That’s all that matters.

Do what feels right for you, you can’t please everyone, and that’s okay.

Start planning early, just take everything one step at a time and lean on each other for support.

The planning process should be exciting and fun, take it all in and enjoy it because it goes by so fast.

Try not to sweat the small stuff if something doesn’t go exactly as planned on your day, because probably one will notice and it shouldn’t matter because everyone there should be there just to support, celebrate and love you!

Chris and Angela thank you ever so much for sharing your CeNita Vineyards wedding story with us.