We have begun the wedding planning process and are taking our first trip to Lake Tahoe to see if we can find anything we like there! We've been researching potential venues there and have reached out to a few wedding planners in the area as you have to have one in order to book many of the private estate options. I've included below each venue we are looking at and what we thought after touring them in person.
We had high hopes for this one based off the photos we saw. It looked exactly like what we thought we wanted. A beautiful grassy area right on the lake, the ceremony and reception at the same place and a hotel for everyone to stay and hang out at during the weekend. What we realized when we arrived was that only some of the rooms were lakefront, majority were in a tower across the street connected to a casino. The town of Incline wasn't very walkable and the beach was small and very crowded. It was mid July so I'm sure that's a popular time to visit but overall it wasn't the right fit for us.
The second venue we looked at was in a private neighborhood on the East Shore, Glenbrook. In this neighborhood there is a private club where they allow members and their friends to have weddings. My friends Dad lives there and was nice enough to show us around. It was beautiful and had almost everything we were looking for except for places to stay nearby.
Edgewood was the third place we looked at. This resort was gorgeous. We stopped here for lunch and gave ourselves a tour around the property. While we really liked this hotel and venue, we weren't crazy about the area surrounding which was full of high rises and casinos. The Edgewood was also on the higher end of prices for the wedding as well as hotel rooms.
We absolutely loved this venue! This was exactly the type of venue and the vibe we were going for. Valhalla is an old shingled cabin on a grassy field right in front of the lake. It was built in 1924 and features hardwood floors, an amazing stone fire place and French doors that open onto a big wrap around porch. We loved the idea of having everyone outside by the water for the ceremony and then moving back towards the house for the reception underneath the market lights and surrounded by trees but still with the beautiful view of Lake Tahoe behind us. This would have been perfect if it weren't for the fact that the closest place we'd want to stay was over a 40 min drive north.
The fifth venue we looked at was located within a state park, Sugar Point Park. This was like a 10 minute walk along the lake to actually get to the venue. It was beautiful but all I could think about was all the women having to walk it in heels. Once we arrived, the beach in front was really crowded and the grass area where the ceremony & reception would be held was patchy and dead. We however loved the inside of the mansion, unfortunatley that is not an available for a wedding.
Ultimately we didn't find a venue that felt right for us. The one I really wanted to look at that is in our favorite part of Tahoe, West Shore Cafe, was unfortunately closed for renovations. While we think Lake Tahoe is gorgeous we are now back to square one in our search for a venue.
