Summit to Sea Films — A Midsommar Inspired Elopement at Paint Rock Farm

I’ve been dreaming of a Midsommar inspired elopement at Paint Rock Farm for quite some time. Midsommar is one of my absolute favorite films. Make of that what you will. Horror and weird indie movies are two of my favorite genres so when Ari Aster released his visionary Midsommar, I was hooked for life. After my first watch, I thought – hmm, this would make a beautiful wedding (minus the cliff diving and bear suits). This idea sat in my head for over a year and I finally decided to round up some amazing vendors and bring this to life.

A MIDSOMMAR INSPIRED ELOPEMENT AT PAINT ROCK FARM

When I do something, I like to go all out. I knew I needed the perfect location to capture the essence of the movie. I knew that I wanted this to be real inspiration for couples looking to elope or have a small wedding, so the location needed to deliver doubly. Voila! As soon as I visited Paint Rock Farm for the first time, I knew it was the spot.

Paint Rock Farm is one of my favorite places to visit. They have trails to the river and plenty of space to explore. They have 10 cabins on the property and all contain queen beds. Half of the cabins contain a loft with an extra queen bed. There is ample space if you’re looking to have an intimate wedding with your closest friends and family but want to make an entire weekend out of it. The owners were thrilled of my idea to host a Midsommar inspired elopement at Paint Rock Farm.

There is very limited service at Paint Rock Farm so it’s a great place to unplug and spend quality time together. They have a communal barn with a full kitchen and plenty of tables and chairs to hang out. The barn does have wifi so in case you have to connect to the internet or make a call, it is possible, but not in the cabins. It’s a unique little spot to stay and after you stay once, you’ll want to go back as much as possible.

GETTING READY WITH BRUSHES AND BRAIDS

Since Paint Rock Farm is a great place to unplug, there isn’t electricity in the cabins. To get ready, we used the barn which was perfect because it gave us plenty of space. Tiffany of Brushes and Braids gave Vanessa the perfect braids and makeup reminiscent of the flowers we were using. Vanessa and Al got ready together and Al helped Vanessa with her dress. There was plenty of laughing and dancing to be had.

A MIDSOMMAR CEREMONY

Paint Rock Farm has a few different places to share your vows. We chose the field with the gorgeous mountain views. This space is great if you want to bring your own ceremony arch and you can use the benches from the barn as seating for your guests. Another fun idea would be to lay out blankets and have everyone sit, picnic style, while witnessing your ceremony.

I was thrilled when Amanda with Happily Ever Asheville reached out asking if she could officiate the Midsommar inspired elopement as she too is a huge fan. You can see a little sample of her Midsommar nails in some of the photos! To start the ceremony, Vanessa and Al walked down the aisle together as a way to symbolize walking thru life together. This is something I would love to see in more weddings as I love the idea of couples spending every part of their day *together*.

We wanted to incorporate unique ceremony rituals and Amanda was the perfect officiant for this. Amanda performed a sage smudging ceremony to purge negative energies. To read more on sage smudging, you can check out more here.

Vanessa and Al then shared their vows with each other. We found the cutest little leather bound vow book on Etsy. This is a nice way to keep your vows as a keepsake. They wrote their vows in the same book (no peaking at each others, of course!) but another option is to have two books. One simply allows you less things to hold on to!

After their vows, Amanda lit their unity candle. The unity candle is a way to acknowledge the vows shared and signifies that they choose to share life together, as one. After the lighting of the candle, Amanda cleansed the rings and they placed them on each other. The wedding rings symbolizes their commitment to each other. After the rings were placed on each others hands, there was only one thing left to do – seal it with a kiss!!!

A MIDSOMMAR INSPIRED ELOPEMENT RECEPTION

There are multiples feasts throughout Midsommar. I watched the film multiple times, pausing it to pick up little details of what was on the table (nerd alert!). I knew I wanted the look of the reception to mirror these little details. Samantha with Parkway Picnics was amazing at finding and building a lot of these details. She brought in amazing meat pies from Piearchy Upper Crust and our naked cake from Sea of Sweets Bakery. Samantha decorated the cake with the flowers we got from Sundragon Florals. I think about the pies and the cake often, everything was so good!

ADVENTURING AROUND PAINT ROCK FARM

After our bellies were full of meat pies and cake, we explored around the property as the sun began to set. The property is so beautiful and we only had time to see a little bit as there is so much explore. We even found the ancestral tree (IYKYK) on one of the trails to prove it was the perfect location.

Thank you Vanessa and Al for being absolute legends and bringing this Midsommar inspired elopement to life.