While my new wife and I respect tradition, the bride-in-white, dressy formal wedding at a church was not for us. We needed a wedding that was a little off-beat, unique. Something more our style. Having yawned our way through plenty of weddings in the past, our highest priorities were bringing the people we love together to witness our day, and making sure they had fun. Sugar Hollow Retreat is the only place I can imagine that really fit us.

I don't know about you, but I greet each fall with a sigh of relief. Here in central North Carolina, fall means relief from a sauna-like sticky heat, no more mosquito bites, ACC football time, and my personal favorite holiday, Halloween. In my hometown, it is also a time to catch the riot of fall colors before the trees drop their leaves. Fall is traditionally the driest season of the year before we settle into our customary gray winter days punctuated by freezing drizzle, so it's no wonder we search out the best places to catch mother nature's last big show before things settle down.