It’s late September in Cashiers, North Carolina, and the Blue Ridge Mountains are doing their absolute most. The leaves are just beginning their color moment, 250 people who love Emily and Sloan Warner have made their way up into the hills, and an hour before the ceremony, the skies opened up in a full torrential downpour. There was also a buried bottle of bourbon, a surprise late-night coffee bar, and a needlepointed cummerbund stitched by the bride herself. You are going to want to keep reading.

Emily and Sloan met at Washington and Lee University, in the foothills of the very mountain range where they’d eventually say their vows. For most of college they were simply friends, until their third year, when they were both heading off to study abroad on opposite continents. He went to Australia. She went to Spain. “People thought we were crazy,” Emily says, “but we grew closer with every phone call and handwritten postcard.” Handwritten postcards. Across oceans. For six months. If that’s not a love story worth celebrating in the mountains, we don’t know what is.

The Chattooga Club in Cashiers was never really a question. Both of them grew up visiting western North Carolina with their families, their college years were full of camping trips and scenic drives along the Blue Ridge, and Sloan’s family has a home at the club where the two of them have been collecting happy memories for years. They also refused to trim the guest list for the sake of the destination, so they shuttled all 250 guests in and kept the energy moving by hosting each part of the evening in a different area of the club. A second line after dinner led everyone from the pavilion into the tent and onto the dance floor, and the party was off.

The design vision was “traditional funk,” which Emily, a designer, explains perfectly: “Keeping the classic warmth and charm of a fall wedding in the mountains while bringing in fun pops of color that reflect the kind of party we wanted: full of energy, fun, and lots and lots of dancing.” Her eye for texture showed up everywhere, from the Schumacher leaf fabric overlaid with grasscloth on the custom bar and stage fronts, to the wedding cake designed to mirror the vertical folds and ruffled edges of her gown. Then there was the coffee bar. Sloan is devoted to espresso, Emily to espresso martinis, so instead of signature cocktails they built a full late-night coffee bar inspired by Ralph’s by Ralph Lauren in New York, where they live. Emily designed the logo, menu, cup sleeves, and the barista’s apron herself. It stayed closed for the first half of the reception, then opened with great fanfare alongside the dance floor props. “The coffee bar is often an afterthought,” she says, “so guests really enjoyed the surprise.”

The ceremony took place on the club’s grassy terrace with the Blue Ridge Mountains as the backdrop. Pastor Toby Summerour, who had been close with Sloan’s late grandparents and knew the family’s history in Cashiers, officiated. Emily skipped the first look, so when her father walked her down the aisle, Sloan saw her for the first time at the altar. “His reaction was priceless.” Both of their living grandmothers served as ring bearers. Emily’s younger niece walked down the aisle ringing a bell that belonged to Emily’s late grandmother, a schoolteacher who used it to call students in from recess. “Hearing that ring down the aisle before I came out was a beautiful tribute to her memory.” A bluegrass string band played hymnals throughout, then shifted to instrumental Tyler Childers for the processional and recessional. Emily walked in to Shake the Frost and out to All Your’n. If you know those songs, you already understand.

Throughout the day, there were handmade touches everywhere: Emily needlepointed Sloan’s monogrammed cummerbund and gave it to him that morning, hand-painted vintage backgammon boards sourced from eBay served as the guest book, and wool fabric envelopes for the petal toss were DIY’d to match the color palette. Oh, and one month before the wedding, they buried a bottle of bourbon at the venue to ward off the rain. The clouds parted just in time. They dug up the bottle after the ceremony and shared it with their guests.

When we asked what she’d pass along to other couples, Emily didn’t talk vendors or logistics. “Don’t forget to enjoy the small moments along the way. Keeping a mindset of love and gratitude and intentionally romanticizing the little moments throughout the process made all the difference for us.” Emily and Sloan have known that from the very beginning, postcards and all.

Vendors: Photography: Leslie Hollingsworth; Planning: Asheville Event Co.; Venue: The Chattooga Club; Florals: Floressence Flowers; Bride’s Gown: Nadia Manjarrez; Groom’s Attire: Michael Andrews Bespoke; Cake: Mrs. Sugar Booger; Hair & Makeup: Pop of Color; Stationery: Elora Collective; Ceremony Music: Deans Duets; Reception Music: Atlanta Showstoppers; Videography: Molly & Jon Harris; Rentals: Professional Party Rentals