Smoky Mountain Weddings

Read below for information on having your own Smoky Mountain Wedding…

Here Comes the Bride and All of Me represent the old and the new of wedding songs and the Smoky Mountain area represents one of the great places to have a memorable wedding. Not only do you have God’s most majestic chapel with the National Park, but you have dozens of options for indoor, outdoor and themed weddings. In addition there are hundreds of choices for accommodations and restaurants where you can have your rehearsal dinners or wedding feasts.

The first thing to decide is what kind of wedding you want – Church, Chapel, Outdoor, Cabin, Western, National Park, Themed or simply a Renewal of your Vows? The good news is that you can do any of these in the Smokies. Do you want a simple ceremony or an elaborate and extravagant affair? And what about the food, the drinks, the music, the pictures and video, the flowers, the decorations and the dozens of other decisions to make?

One of the advantages of planning a Smoky Mountain Wedding is that there is lots of help available. You can go to The Smoky Mountain Wedding Association or Smokey Mountain Wedding for help and guidance – their websites are: http://www.smokymountainweddingassociation.com and http://www.smokeymountainwedding.org/

Also many of the Hotels, Cabin Rental companies, and even Campgrounds offer wedding services, so if you have a favorite place to stay be sure and ask about their wedding services. Do the same at your favorite attraction. For example Waldens Creek Riding Stables offers Western Wedding ceremonies complete with cowboys. This might be a good option if the bride still needs to lasso her groom! The Elvis & Hollywood Legends Museum – recently reopened in Walden’s Landing – had ‘Elvis’ performing a renewal service for a couple and their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In Pigeon Forge ask about wedding in a boat – Titanic – in a hot air balloon – Wonders of Flight – in a helicopter – Scenic Helicopters – by a dragon – MagiQuest – in a bird sanctuary – Parrot Mountain!

Outdoor locations abound for those who want to get married in the woods, by a stream, on a lake or by a waterfall. If you want to get married in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park you will need a permit available from the Park Service.

Info is on their website at http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/index.htm

My wife and I were married in Newfound Gap on the platform where President Franklhttp://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/permits.htmin Roosevelt dedicated the National Park in 1940. We rented a limo to take our wedding party from Gatlinburg to the top of mountain, said our vows, took our pictures, and then rode back to Gatlinburg for the wedding party dinner. The wedding pictures from D&P Photography – http://dandpphotoservice.com/ – were spectacular with a clear blue sky and the mountains as a background. It was also fun having a couple of hundred park visitors break out into applause when I kissed my bride. That was an unexpected surprise!

Another advantage to a Smoky Mountain Wedding is the location itself. The Smoky Mountain area is one where families visit year after year, generation after generation, and you can start your own tradition with your wedding in the Smokies. If you plan to scope-out the Smokies as a possible wedding site you can get additional information from the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism, www.mypigeonforge.com/wedding/ , the Gatlinburg Department of Tourism, www.gatlinburg.com/weddings/ , or the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce, http://visitsevierville.com/MarriageLicense.aspx . At the Sevierville site you can also get information about marriage licenses from the Sevier County Courthouse.
For tourism information, accommodations information, coupons, maps and more, go to www.bestreadguidesmokymountains.com