White Wedding Ideas: 7 Ways To Tie The Knot On The Slopes

Forget the beach! If you’re a skier or snowboarder, there’s no better place to tie the knot than on the slopes—and it’s no surprise that weddings in ski areas are growing in popularity.

The ski areas themselves are getting more creative at creating not only special wedding packages, but also unique experiences that really take your special day to a higher level – perhaps in a gondola cabin themed as a magical flying coach?

Here are some of our favorite on-mountain wedding ideas:

1. Build Your Own Snow Wedding Venue

PHOTO: Iglu Dorf

Igloo villages and ice hotels have become increasingly popular at ski areas in Europe over the past decade and they’re now rebuilt annually at dozens of ski areas. One of the biggest players is the Swiss company Iglu Dorf, who operate in half-a-dozen leading resorts and stage a number of weddings each year. Along with their existing igloos filled with fantastic ice sculptures, they’re happy to create snow buildings to any spec so you can be married in any snow building you like!

2. Marriage or ‘Elopement’ ?

PHOTO: Timberline Lodge

Many ski areas now have special wedding coordinators, but if you just want to tie the knot quickly and quietly, few do it better than Timberline on Mt Hood in Oregon – America’s only near-year-round ski area. They offer a huge choice of wedding packages but the ‘Fireside Elopement Package’ is an affordable $1390 and ensures you get hitched while throwing in a few nice extras on top.

3. The Wedding Carriage Gondola at Arber, Germany

PHOTO: Arber Ski Area

Arber may not be one of the best-known ski resorts in Germany, but it has gone further than most to make a bride’s day special. The Wedding Gondola can be rented and comes complete with white horses and a fantasy-carriage make over. The ski centre also has a popular ‘cuddle cabin’ with tinted glass that’s popular with canoodling couples.

4. The Mass Wedding at Loveland, Colorado

PHOTO: Loveland Ski Area

What could be better than getting a free lift ticket as a reward for visiting Loveland’s slopes on Valentine’s Day? Every winter, the high altitude Colorado ski resort stages a mass wedding on the slopes (those who are already wed are welcome to renew their vows) and every couple arriving in wedding attire is entitled to a buy-one-get-one-free deal on lift passes.

What better way to start your married life together! After all, a family that skis together, stays together.

5. Ski Lift to Heaven

PHOTO: Gstaad

At Gstaad in Switzerland, the interiors of gondola cabins are converted into traditional Swiss chalets for the bridal party. Weddings can then take place on the mountain with magnificent views from the Rellerli Mountain Inn, which is one of the few licensed wedding venues in the region. Up to 300 guests can be accommodated at the Inn.

6. Stunning Tahoe

PHOTO: Quinn Photography/Northstar

Weddings are popular around Lake Tahoe with the option to do it ‘Nevada Style’. Vail, who operates three resorts in the region, has its very own weddings division—the Tahoe Wedding Collection—ready and willing to help plan the perfect day.

7. Marry On A Ski Lift

It is one thing to ride up to your wedding venue in a ski lift but how about actually getting married on one? Whether that’s a legal possibility varies from place to place, but one country where you can do it is the United Kingdom. CairnGorm Ski Area in Scotland can be accessed by a funicular railway and you have the option of being wed on it or at the mountain restaurant at the top station which boasts splendid views out across the Highlands. The only rule is that the lift must be stationary, not moving, at the time you’re married.