Helen, Georgia is at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains and has some incredible nature! There is a short and easy trail leading to a gorgeous waterfall within 10 mins of Helen. A must do to get a taste of the beauty of Northern Georgia!

Ride Georgia's first and only mountain coaster!

This attraction is highly recommended in Helen for all ages. Ride an Alpine coaster as fast (or as slow) as you'd like - you control the speed - through the hills and forest of Helen, taking in the expansive views and beautiful scenery!

Helen is very tiny - about a 10 min walk across town - yet gets the 3rd most visitors of any place in Georgia (Behind big cities Atlanta and Savannah)!

There are plenty of shops, restaurants, and bars to check out, and we'd definitely recommend taking it in before popping over to our Welcome Event right in the center of town!

Cowboys and Angels is our recommendation for dinner in Helen! They have a wide menu that should fit everyone's liking, and from our experience, do everything very well.

Some of our personal favorites are the Bison Chili, Cowboy Caviar, Carolina Rainbow Trout, and Cajun Shrimp Mac & Cheese!

A trip to Helen wouldn't be complete without some German food and a proper stein of beer! There's no better place for German food in Helen than Bodensee.

We definitely recommend this for lunch before our wedding... maybe paired with a hefeweizen to get ready to party!

For those with a sweet tooth, there's no better place we'd recommend in Helen than Hofer's bakery. They have a nice selection of homemade cakes and desserts - both German style and non-German. You can also stop by for a proper meal as well!

Right in the heart of downtown Atlanta is Centennial Olympic Park, created for the 1996 World Olympics. There are plenty of touristy things to do in the area, such as:

- Georgia Aquarium: One of the best in the world! You can even see two 45-foot-long whale sharks!

- World of Coke: For soda fans. Best part is trying over 60 different sodas from all over the world.

- College Football Hall of Fame: a very interactive museum that's perfect for sports fans.

- Civil Rights museum: Atlanta is the hometown of Martin Luther King Jr. and played a massive role in the American Civil Rights movement. Check out this museum for a powerful experience of a pivotal moment in our nation's history.

- State Farm Arena and Mercedes Benz Stadium: Atlanta's Basketball and Football/Soccer arenas are a short walk away from Olympic Park. See the iconic stadiums, including 'ATLANTA' spelled out in State Farm's Architecture and the 42-foot falcon statue in from of Mercedes Benz - the largest bird statue in North America!

Piedmont Park is a large, gorgeous park right in the heart of Midtown Atlanta. This is Atlanta's equivalent of NYC's Central Park. Within it, you also have the stunning Botanical Gardens known for their garden sculptures, such as the pictured Earth Goddess. A must do for some tranquility in the 'City in a Forest'

Atlanta did a really cool thing a few years ago and revitalized a 20+ mile loop of old train tracks into a massive walking/biking trail around the entire city. This led to plenty of stores, restaurants and attractions rising up around the Beltline.

We highly recommend taking a walk through there, especially the stretch from Piedmont Park (above) to Ponce City Market and Krog Street Market (see food). The address listed is really close to Ponce City Market!

The Atlanta Braves are definitely Atlanta's favorite team and they happen to be playing at home the entire weekend. If you are a big baseball fan, definitely head over and catch a game.

The stadium is also located in an area called the Battery, which has a ton of restaurants, bars, and activities and could be fun even without the game!

A favorite activity of Dan's - you can catch a Hawks game Sunday afternoon after the wedding. State Farm Arena consistently has one of the best fan experiences in the NBA, and is rather inexpensive!

Atlanta has some awesome food halls, which are revitalized industrial buildings that hold a wide variety of amazing restaurants and shops! No matter your tastes, you will find something amazing in each one - in fact, your biggest issue might be narrowing things down!

We recommend:

- Ponce City Market (On the Beltline!)

- Krog Street Market (On the Beltline!)

- Chattahoochie Food Works (West Side)

++ Stop by Bold Monk Brewing next door for some of the best beers in the city in a gorgeous monastery themed venue with its own library! Cornell alum owned too!

If you want some of the best Asian food in the country, from nearly any country - visit Buford Highway. There may not be a greater concentration of amazing international food in one area anywhere. Anthony Bourdain even had an episode of his show that solely focused on Buford Highway! It's that good!

Some recommendations:

- Food Terminal (Michelin Gourmand rated!)

- Mamak (Incredible Malaysian food!)

- Masterpiece (Mouth watering Sichuan Cuisine!)

This one is a cool experience for history buffs!

Our venue straddles Helen and Dahlonega - a nice town that is known for having the largest gold mine east of the Mississippi. The mine is now defunct and a museum, but we definitely recommend putting on a hard hat and exploring it. Who knows, maybe you'll find some gold too!

This might be a little far from Atlanta and our venue, but we absolutely must recommend our current hometown of Athens, which is also home to the University of Georgia and it's famous football team (Go Dawgs!). It is also known for its live music - R.E.M. and the B-52s are from Athens - and craft beer scene.

If you decide to make the ~1.5h drive out, let us know and we can give you more recommendations than can fit on this page.