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Take the show on the road to create the perfect day.
Whether it’s a two-hour drive or half a world away, destination weddings are a hot trend—and not just because of the obvious allure of marrying your beloved in a breathtaking setting. There are other pluses, including more quality time with family and friends and, often, a more intimate event, as guest lists for out-of-town weddings tend to be smaller. Last but not least, many hotels and resorts—including those that follow—have wedding coordinators or other staff to handle all the details from a distance, including such pesky matters as legal documentation for out-of-country weddings. (Be sure to check marriage license requirements if you are marrying away from home.) The end result? With any luck, a memorable wedding with a relaxed, vacationlike vibe in a lovely locale.
In California
The Ahwahnee Hotel
Yosemite National Park
The dazzling wonderland known as Yosemite offers countless spectacular backdrops for staging a wedding, and The Ahwahnee Hotel is the national park’s most popular stage of all. This historic venue boasts the best of both worlds: all the creature comforts of a four-star hotel in a gorgeous natural setting.
The hotel’s wedding lawn, set amid a canopy of towering trees, cliffs and waterfalls, is the park’s most sought-after spot for the big day. Indoor sites for the reception include a solarium (capacity: 100), with views of Glacier Point, and the Mural Room, good for smaller groups and graced with a mural of Yosemite’s flora and fauna. There is no guest minimum for weddings here; the maximum is 200.
The Ahwahnee’s old-world charm—it opened in 1927 and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places—is one of its big draws, notes hotel spokesperson Tami von Isakovics. “Everything down to the china pattern in the grand dining room is original or restored to the time period when it opened,” she says. The hotel has 123 guest rooms, including suites and cottages.
Beaulieu Garden
Rutherford
An elegant space for weddings in the bucolic Napa Valley, Beaulieu Garden is a private estate originally owned by, and still in the family of, Beaulieu Vineyards’ founders Georges and Fernande de Latour. From the sycamore tree-lined drive leading onto the estate to its lush gardens, fountains, grapevines and manicured lawns, Beaulieu Garden promises a magical and serene setting for your event.
The possibilities for weddings here are endless, according to Paula LeDuc, whose Bay Area catering company manages the property and assists couples in creating a personalized celebration. Have your ceremony in the sunken garden next to a pool of lilies surrounding a cherub fountain, followed by dinner under a huge sycamore arbor and, later, dancing by a candlelight-encircled pool. “These are only a few examples of what your special day could be like,” says LeDuc.
The guest maximum is 500. If bad weather strikes, custom tents can be rented and placed beside the sycamore arbor and in the sunken garden. And while there’s no lodging, a bridal suite is available to the bride and bridesmaids from 1 to 8 p.m. the day of the wedding.
This classic lodge on the western shore of Lake Tahoe offers a picture-postcard setting for weddings, with a deck sitting right on the water’s edge, not to mention a handsome dining room with a rich mahogany interior and lake views that can be used for the big event. But most couples want to enjoy Tahoe’s natural beauty out-of-doors, which is why the majority of ceremonies at Sunnyside are held out on the deck during spring and fall, says lodge manager Don Edelstein. Weddings can be held year-round here except July and August.
The guest minimum is 100. When both deck and dining room are used for an indoor/outdoor event—“That’s how most of our weddings are done,” says Edelstein—250 can be accommodated. The dining room seats 150 and is often used for both rehearsal dinners and receptions.
If your bridal party and guests are staying the night, Sunnyside offers 23 guestrooms and suites with goose-down pillows and comforters, private patios and decks—some with views of the lake.
The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa
Berkeley
Nestled up in the Berkeley hills like a white castle reaching for the sky, this landmark East Bay hotel offers a mix of vintage charm (it’s been around since 1915) and modern conveniences. But what really stands out about The Claremont can be summed up in two words: the view.
“The view is priceless,” says Denise Strasburg, the hotel’s senior catering manager, of The Claremont’s spectacular San Francisco Bay views. Four ballrooms are available for weddings, according to Strasburg, though only two have legendary lookouts. Prefer an outdoor ceremony? The pool area is available May through October. Guest limit poolside is 150; indoors, it’s 320. A 50-guest minimum applies to all wedding packages, which range from a traditional three-course-meal reception to more elaborate affairs. Included with each: white glove service, personalized menu cards, a honeymoon guest room and a cake designed by Bay Area cake designer Katrina Rozelle.
Another plus: The Claremont’s on-site spa and salon, where bridal parties can indulge in everything from green tea seaweed wraps to hair and makeup for the big day. And for guests who are spending the night at the hotel, some rooms offer—you guessed it—that stunning view.
Sunnyside Steakhouse & Lodge
Tahoe City
An elegant space for weddings in the bucolic Napa Valley, Beaulieu Garden is a private estate originally owned by, and still in the family of, Beaulieu Vineyards’ founders Georges and Fernande de Latour. From the sycamore tree-lined drive leading onto the estate to its lush gardens, fountains, grapevines and manicured lawns, Beaulieu Garden promises a magical and serene setting for your event.
The possibilities for weddings here are endless, according to Paula LeDuc, whose Bay Area catering company manages the property and assists couples in creating a personalized celebration. Have your ceremony in the sunken garden next to a pool of lilies surrounding a cherub fountain, followed by dinner under a huge sycamore arbor and, later, dancing by a candlelight-encircled pool. “These are only a few examples of what your special day could be like,” says LeDuc.
The guest maximum is 500. If bad weather strikes, custom tents can be rented and placed beside the sycamore arbor and in the sunken garden. And while there’s no lodging, a bridal suite is available to the bride and bridesmaids from 1 to 8 p.m. the day of the wedding.
This classic lodge on the western shore of Lake Tahoe offers a picture-postcard setting for weddings, with a deck sitting right on the water’s edge, not to mention a handsome dining room with a rich mahogany interior and lake views that can be used for the big event. But most couples want to enjoy Tahoe’s natural beauty out-of-doors, which is why the majority of ceremonies at Sunnyside are held out on the deck during spring and fall, says lodge manager Don Edelstein. Weddings can be held year-round here except July and August.
The guest minimum is 100. When both deck and dining room are used for an indoor/outdoor event—“That’s how most of our weddings are done,” says Edelstein—250 can be accommodated. The dining room seats 150 and is often used for both rehearsal dinners and receptions.
If your bridal party and guests are staying the night, Sunnyside offers 23 guestrooms and suites with goose-down pillows and comforters, private patios and decks—some with views of the lake.
Wente Vineyards
Livermore
Imagine exchanging vows on a pristine expanse of lawn surrounded by sandstone hills and vineyards, then moving the party to a historic barrel room and raising a toast with wine made on the premises. At Wente Vineyards, which encompasses some 3,000 acres of sustainably farmed vineyards in the Livermore Valley, that’s just one possible scenario for your wedding celebration.
“There are different ways to mix it up,” says Wente marketing manager Kelly Hansen. A variety of options are available, including indoor settings for smaller groups and sprawling outdoor venues that can accommodate 1,000. There’s even an on-site golf course, with a terrace adjacent to the 18th hole (capacity: 40–180 seated) and a clubhouse grill that can accommodate 20 to 35. No lodging is available on the premises.
The catering team’s focus on fresh, organic, seasonal ingredients, custom-paired with Wente wines, makes the 127-year-old family-run winery a special place for a celebration, says Hansen. “It’s not just a beautiful place to get married, but you have an amazing culinary team, fabulous wine and upscale food. It’s kind of like one-stop shopping.”
Faraway Locales
Weddings in Tuscany
If you dream of a wedding in Tuscany, the toughest part may be choosing a spot: The Italian region’s picturesque vineyards are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what draws people there from throughout the world. There also are villas, farmhouses, castles, medieval villages, Renaissance gardens and more. To help you wade through the options, you may want to enlist the assistance of a company such as Weddings in Tuscany, which works hand in hand with local vendors to arrange all the details (including legal paperwork) before you hop on the plane.
Chiara Sernesi, owner of the events-planning firm, names Villa dell’Olivo, an 18th-century Tuscan villa with a panoramic view of the Chianti hills, as one of her favorite properties for weddings. Surrounded by 10 acres of olive groves, the fully restored villa, which can accommodate 14 overnight guests, has a private swimming pool with full southern exposure, “ensuring sun continuously from morning to evening,” Sernesi says. Another of her favorites: Farmhouse Tenuta Borri, a 15th-century stone building on a 30-acre estate in the Tuscan countryside, which can host 47 overnight guests. Features include a large park of olive groves and vineyards, and a swimming pool with sun terrace and gazebo. “Here you can feel the real essence of Tuscany,” says Sernesi.
Grand Wailea
Wailea, Maui, Hawaii
With its beachfront location and 40 acres of lush tropical gardens, this luxurious resort offers a bevy of beautiful backdrops for your Hawaiian wedding. There are lanais and gazebos, oceanside gardens, open-air dining rooms, waterfalls—and, of course, the beach. The Grand Wailea’s No. 1 spot for tying the knot, according to hotel spokesperson Christina Yumul, is the nondenominational Wailea Seaside Chapel, an intimate New England-style chapel (it seats 100) with stained-glass windows of tropical Hawaiian scenes and ocean views. The largest outdoor reception site, Molokini Garden, situated between the ocean and a saltwater lagoon, can accommodate up to 2,500.
Several wedding packages are available, some including such island touches as a wedding lei exchange and Hawaiian guitarists. For the full aloha treatment, opt for a traditional Hawaiian wedding complete with a torch maiden leading the procession, a hula dancer swaying to the “Hawaiian Wedding Song,” and Tahitian drum dancers performing in celebration of the newly announced husband and wife.
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