Kristi & Dave Getting Ready at a Franklin NC Airbnb Cabin | Wayah Bald Elopement - 1/4
What does your dream wedding look like? For Kristi and Dave, it looked like low stress and a whole lot of adventure. They're the kind of couple who plans vacations around trailheads - hiking, hunting for waterfalls, mountain biking, chasing whatever the mountains have to offer that weekend. So it made perfect sense that when it came time to plan their wedding day, they skipped the ballroom and picked the Blue Ridge Mountains instead.
This is the first post in a four-part series telling the story of their wedding day, from sunrise at the cabin to a waterfall session the morning after. If you're planning your own Wayah Bald elopement or Franklin, NC wedding, I hope this gives you a real sense of what a day like this can feel like.
Why We Chose an Airbnb Cabin for Getting-Ready Photos
Kristi found this cabin outside Franklin, North Carolina, on Airbnb, and she picked it for one reason: the light. She was right to. Mornings here pour gold across the room, and the view from the porch stretches straight into the mountains exactly the backdrop you want on your wedding morning, without leaving the property or coordinating a hotel room block.
More of the couples I work with in the Franklin, NC and Nantahala area are choosing a rented cabin over a hotel for getting-ready photos, and once you've seen the difference, it's easy to understand why. A cabin gives you:
Natural, directional light - big windows and porches instead of fluorescent hotel lighting
Privacy - no hallway traffic, no other guests, just you, your people, and the morning
A backdrop that matches the day - exposed wood, mountain views, a porch worth sitting on with coffee
Room to breathe - space for hair and makeup, quiet corners for nerves, and somewhere comfortable to just be together before the ceremony
If you're planning an elopement or an intimate wedding anywhere in the Blue Ridge, Nantahala, or East Tennessee mountains, an Airbnb cabin is one of the simplest upgrades you can make to your morning — and one of my favorite things to photograph.
Wedding Details in Mountain Light
We started the day here with full getting-ready coverage: the small details couples spend months choosing and then almost never see photographed - rings, invitations, shoes, the dress on its hanger by the window — followed by Kristi getting dressed in that soft early light. This is where the story really starts, before either of them had said a word to the other that day.
Next: Heading Up to Wayah Bald for the Ceremony
From here, the whole group headed up the mountain to Wayah Bald for the first look and ceremony - a historic fire tower sitting on public land, right on the Appalachian Trail.
Continue the story:
Getting Ready at a Franklin, NC Cabin (you are here)