If you and your fiancee are diehard snowhounds, have amassed a siz­able guest list for your upcom­ing nup­tials, and/or wish to cel­e­brate your big day with class and style, then a ski resort wed­ding is right up your alley. Here are some of the best venues for a high alti­tude vow exchange.

Heav­en­ly Moun­tain Resort, Lake Tahoe, Nev.
Ameni­ties: There are gen­er­al­ly two options for cou­ples who wed at Heav­en­ly. A cer­e­mo­ny at the Lake­view Lodge starts with a mile-long hike to a breath­tak­ing van­tage point over­look­ing Tahoe in all its glo­ry. Once vows are exchanged, the cou­ple and their guests head inside the lodge for the recep­tion area which accom­mo­dates up to 250 peo­ple. For even larg­er wed­ding par­ties, the Tama­rack Lodge serves up to 400 guests. This cer­e­mo­ny begins as guests are shut­tled to the top of the gon­do­la and seat­ed near the Obser­va­tion Deck, the lodge’s out­door patio  with panoram­ic views of the lake and sur­round­ing countryside.

 

What the Experts Say: “Imag­ine get­ting to your cer­e­mo­ny via a mile long aer­i­al tram. The loca­tion over­looks the sap­phire blue waters in the spring and a win­ter won­der­land in the win­ter” — GroupTravel.org

Sun­shine Vil­lage, Banff, Alb.
Ameni­ties: There’s no short­age of ser­vices avail­able for a Banff wed­ding; from tuxe­do rentals and florists to cake dec­o­ra­tors and video­g­ra­phers, the Alber­ta resort/national park and the sur­round­ing com­mu­ni­ty know how to accom­mo­date a nup­tial cer­e­mo­ny. There’s even a cou­ple of local wed­ding plan­ners on hand to make sure that any two peo­ple who mar­ry in Banff have the time of their lives. Cou­ples even have a long list of cer­e­mo­ny and recep­tion venues from which to choose includ­ing Sun­shine Moun­tain Lodge, Lake Louise (which is locat­ed inside Banff Nation­al Park), and the quaint local com­mu­ni­ties of Can­more and Kananaskis.

 What the Experts Say: “Besides offer­ing the most incred­i­ble scenery in the West, Banff is proud of its user-friend­ly wed­ding leg­is­la­tion — or, as local wed­ding com­mis­sion­er Rick Kunelius says, “No blood tests, no wait­ing peri­od, no reg­is­tered loca­tions” — Tele­graph

Breck­en­ridge Ski Resort, Colo.
Ameni­ties: Breck­en­ridge boasts nine dif­fer­ent cer­e­mo­ny venues, includ­ing Ten Mile Sta­tion, Moun­tain Thun­der, One Ski Hill Place, and The Mag­gie; no mat­ter how big your par­ty or spe­cif­ic your demands, at least one of these spots will suit your wed­ding needs. Also, the Breck­en­ridge wed­ding menu is absolute­ly insane.

What the Experts Say: “A per­fect moun­tain town with stun­ning scenery, an impres­sive cul­tur­al her­itage and a quaint Vic­to­ri­an atmos­phere, Breck­en­ridge is a year-round play­ground for guests of all ages and inter­ests. With accom­mo­da­tions rang­ing from spa­cious hotel rooms to lux­u­ry con­do­mini­ums, indoor and out­door wed­ding venues boast­ing panoram­ic views and end­less activ­i­ties in all four sea­sons, Breck­en­ridge sets the scene for a per­fect moun­tain wed­ding” — Icon­ic Weddings

The Moun­tain Top Inn & Resort, Vt.
Ameni­ties: If a “Ver­mont wed­ding” appeals to you (and you know who you are), then this lav­ish alpine estab­lish­ment just 11 miles from the Killing­ton ski area, will do you good. Venue options range from a lake­side lawn to the inte­ri­or of a barn (again, you know who you are), and any cer­e­mo­ny style — from inti­mate elope­ments to full-on bash­es — is wel­come. It’s also worth not­ing that the resort’s wine list is stel­lar. The Moun­tain Top accom­mo­dates wed­ding par­ties year-round.

What the Experts Say: “Majes­ti­cal­ly set on 350 acres with sweep­ing views of a sparkling lake and the Green Moun­tain Nation­al For­est, The Moun­tain Top Inn & Resort offers an end­less array of out­door adven­tures, ide­al for your fam­i­ly and friends.…while cel­e­brat­ing your spe­cial day” — Ver­mont Bride

Mount Hood, Ore.
Ameni­ties: If you and your sig­nif­i­cant oth­er like out­door venues with sweep­ing scenery, a cer­e­mo­ny at the Mount Hood Ski­bowl, sit­u­at­ed near the vil­lage of Gov­ern­ment Camp, is a great spot to exchange vows. And if a lodge recep­tion sounds appeal­ing, then rest assured that Tim­ber­line is as ‘rus­ti­cal­ly swanky’ as any oth­er alpine estab­lish­ment in the coun­try (and just try to for­get that it’s where The Shin­ing was filmed). And if you want to get off the moun­tain for a lit­tle while, con­sid­er sched­ul­ing the rehearsal din­ner in the near­by com­mu­ni­ty of Hood Riv­er; nes­tled along the banks of the mighty Colum­bia, the town fea­tures an array of restau­rants, pubs and poten­tial oth­er venues for you and your clos­est guests.

What the Experts Say: “If you are [at Mount Hood] on a week­end don’t be sur­prised if you run into a wed­ding  par­ty as [Tim­ber­line Lodge] is a pop­u­lar des­ti­na­tion for those look­ing to get hitched” — Mud­dy Camper

Corti­na D’Ampezzo, Italy
Ameni­ties: If the mot­to of your ski resort nup­tials is ‘go big or go home’, then con­sid­er a des­ti­na­tion wed­ding at Corti­na D’Am­pez­zo. Nes­tled in Italy’s Dolomite range, this for­mer Win­ter Olympics host has it all: breath­tak­ing views, decent slopes and world-class après-ski offer­ings. Of course (as is the case with Banff), you and your part­ner will need to obtain a mar­riage cer­tifi­cate issued by your state of res­i­dence in order to make it offi­cial in the U.S. Unless the offi­cial Ital­ian recog­ni­tion is real­ly impor­tant to you, then a ‘Civ­il Wed­ding’ is the sim­plest route to take once you and your part­ner are in Cortina.

What the Experts Say: “Wed­dings in Corti­na are one of a kind in every way. Dur­ing the win­ter, cou­ples can arrive at the church or wed­ding hall in a horse drawn sleigh or car­riage dec­o­rat­ed with flow­ers. The wed­ding hall is right in the heart of the vil­lage and is a palace with ele­gant stone stair­case; the inte­ri­or is rich­ly dec­o­rat­ed with woods. Your wed­ding pho­tos will take advan­tage of the amaz­ing scenery, the chalets, the flow­er­ing bal­conies and Alpine archi­tec­ture” — Ital­ian Des­ti­na­tion Weddings