Welcome to Asheville, North Carolina, MountainWed headquarters and the place we proudly call home. In recent years, this vibrant city in the South has garnered quite a reputation as a travel destination, but we think it’s also the best city for an adventure elopement. What makes it so special? Here are five reasons why Asheville is the perfect place to get hitched.

1. It’s the Land of the Sky

Asheville’s nickname is “the Land of the Sky,” and you’ll only need to take one look at our cityscape to understand why. Encircled by rolling mountain ridges, Asheville is no doubt easy on the eyes, but it’s scenic good looks are also what make this city a hotbed of outdoor recreation. With easy access to public lands like Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Pisgah National Forest, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Mount Mitchell State Park, Asheville is a convenient basecamp not only for your outdoor adventures but your outdoor elopements, too.

From downtown Asheville, you can be at a scenic overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway or on the banks of the French Broad River in under an hour. Whatever natural backdrop you’re imagining for your special day—be it waterfalls or mountain vistas, blooming rhododendron or craggy cliffs—Asheville’s sure to have it in spades.

2. It’s the ‘Napa Valley’ of Craft Beer

As four-time winner of Examiner.com’s Beer City USA poll, Asheville has earned its rightful place atop most beer-lovers’ beercation bucket lists. NPR even went so far as to dub the city the Napa Valley of beer. According to C + R Research, Asheville has a whopping 17 breweries per 50,000 people (Asheville has a population of roughly 91,000).

Home to award-winning craft breweries like Burial Beer Co. and Zillicoah as well as big-name beer brands like Sierra Nevada and New Belgium, Asheville’s streets are dripping with beer (literally; take one spin around town on the cycle bar and see for yourself). If you and your partner are suckers for hops, Asheville’s a great place to raise a glass in honor of your love. Even if beer isn’t your thing, there are dozens of companies brewing up locally made cider, wine, spirits, and kombucha to quench your thirst.

3. The music scene

When it comes to producing music legends, Asheville knows how to churn them out. Icons like Roberta Flack, Nina Simone, Warren Haynes, The Steep Canyon Rangers and Doc Watson all have roots in the region. No matter what your musical tastes may be, there’s plenty to love about Asheville’s eclectic scene. From impromptu drum circles at Pritchard Park to late-night shows at the Orange Peel and intimate concerts at The Grey Eagle, it seems there’s live music somewhere in Asheville every night of the week. Just because you’re eloping doesn’t mean you have to forego the band (or the first dance).

4. It’s on the WNC Cheese Trail

This could be five reasons, in and of itself, but if you’re vegan (or somehow not a fan of cheese), Asheville’s culinary reputation extends well beyond the fact that it’s an epicenter of cheese. In fact, the foodie scene in Asheville is so revered, it’s been featured on the Food Network, the Travel Channel, and National Geographic. Whether you’re a vegetarian with a nut allergy or a red-meat-only kinda guy, you and your partner would have to spend a month in Asheville to experience all of the classics this worldly city has to offer. Did we mention there’s cheese?

5. It has a castle

Technically it’s an “estate,” but if the Biltmore isn’t the closest thing to a castle in the South, we don’t know what is.

In all seriousness, the fact that in 1888 George Vanderbilt chose Asheville as the site of his 8,000-acre estate is testament alone to the city’s storied reverence for art and culture (Vanderbilt was a patron of the arts and his collection is still on display in the Biltmore today). Oil paintings by masters like John Singer Sargent, tapestries, sculptures, ceiling murals, and innumerable other priceless pieces of art - not to mention state of the art 19th and 20th Century inventions like indoor refrigeration, indoor laundry, indoor swimming pool, and even the first automated elevator in the US fill this estate. But beyond just the Biltmore, Asheville itself is a city filled with art installations, sculptures, graffiti murals, art galleries, studios and more. Dream big as you stroll hand-in-hand with your partner along the River Arts District. There’s no better place to fuel that love with creativity.