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Ever want to marry with a Smoky Mountain backdrop? Or see a mountain view out the window of your rented cabin or the perfect dream home you purchased recently?

Three "sister" companies based in Townsend can assist with the dream wedding (Mountain View Weddings at Heritage Park), vacation cabin rentals (Townsend View Rentals) or dream home (Townsend View Realty). Townsend View Rentals also can help cabin owners make their properties more accessible to the visitors.

Mountain View Weddings

Nestled in the heart of the Smoky Mountains, Mountain View Weddings at Heritage Park offers the bride and groom their wedding experience of a lifetime. Maree Christian, special events coordinator, works with the couple to plan every aspect of the wedding day.

"One of the things I love most about coordinating weddings at Heritage Park is the opportunity to create every wedding to be one that is very different from the last," Christian said. "(Here) the only common denominator between weddings is a fantastic view of the mountains."

The couple and the wedding coordinator can design a unique wedding ranging from Celtic hand-fastening ceremonies to beautiful garden weddings or country-themed ceremonies, complete with hay-bale seats.

Christian, in her fourth year as wedding coordinator for Heritage Park, served as an events coordinator for many years, both in the local area and in Phoenix, Ariz. She and her family relocated to the Townsend area 14 years ago.

Brides desiring an outdoor wedding may choose from seven acres of beauty. A charming outdoor pavilion seats up to 300 guests in a ceremony-style setting or 150 in a reception-style setting. Depending on the weather, the coordinator can raise or lower the pavilion sides at a moment's notice.

"Most couples desiring an outdoor wedding prefer to use one of our beautiful grass court areas for their ceremony location, and plan their reception under our open-air pavilion," Christian said.

An outdoor wedding can also feature a pond where water trickles down a landscape of river rock, or a fountain, cattails weeping willow and even a few fish.

A log structure with a large stone fireplace and hand-pieced parquet floor continues the great atmosphere. The building contains a bridal suite and upstairs banquet room. The banquet room, which can accommodate up to 100 guests, is perfect for rehearsal dinners, receptions, family reunions and corporate meetings. Only one wedding per day is planned at Mountain View Weddings at Heritage Park in order to give each bride and groom the one-of-a-kind experience they desire.

Contact Maree Christian at (865) 257-3854 or through the Web site at www.mountain viewweddings.com

Christian said today's couples often choose a destination wedding, where family and friends come together to popular vacation areas to celebrate a marriage and enjoy a mountain vacation together.

Townsend View Rentals

Longtime Townsend resident John Hames and his Townsend View Rentals stand ready to meet any accommodation need, not only for the wedding crowd, but for other vacationers as well. The office is located on the same site as the wedding chapel, just off U.S. 321. For more information or to reserve a cabin, call 448-8822. Reservations also may be made online at www.townsendviewrentals.com.

In addition to weddings and receptions, Townsend View Rentals' Heritage Park facilitates corporate retreats.

"The multiple meeting areas are great for ice breakers, mixers and breakout sessions during the training process," Hames said. "Our large grass courts and pond area, along with the all-weather pavilion are perfect for team-building exercises."

Hames purchased a home in the Stonegate community a few years ago, offering it as an overnight rental program to guests visiting the Smoky Mountains. This year, he decided to open his own property management program, offering three different property management opportunities. He now represents many other cabin owners who have rental properties in the area.

"We offer the standard 40 percent contract prevalent in the programs in the Townsend area, along with a sliding scale contract that reduces the commission rate charge for longer reservations," Hames said. "For locally-owned 'mom and pop operations,' we offer an additional program."

Under this program, Hames said Townsend View Rentals handles all the reservations, check-ins and check-outs. Property owners clean and maintain their own homes.

"This program allows owners the freedom of having someone else answer their phone for reservations and allows their guests the use of the heated pool at Heritage Park,

Hames said. "The synergies pulling these smaller programs together and incorporating their cabins into our on-line reservation program offers tremendous results and frees up personal time for these owners to enjoy living in the Smokies."

Townsend View Realty

Anyone wanting to purchase a cabin or dream home in the Smokies will find a new friend May 1. Townsend View Realty, LLC, a sister company to Townsend View Rentals and Mountain View Weddings, will provide a full-time professional team geared to helping customers buy or sell a home, lot or investment property. Experienced Realtors will provide knowledge and skill while communicating each step throughout the transaction.

"The one thing we do extremely well is to listen," John Hames said. "The other is to find the home that fits your needs and financial situation. Our goal is to be a professional real estate company dedicated to servicing the needs of our clients from start to finish."

Hames said the company will conduct its residential and commercial real estate business with the highest regard to integrity. Along with the Smoky Mountains area, Townsend View Realty, LLC, also features homes in all of Blount County, as well as Loudon, Sevier and Knox counties. For more information, call 865-448-8822, 877-448-8822 or view homes and contact the company at www.townsendviewrealty.com.