Montana Destination Weddings
This is the thing we love about destination weddings: not only have you gathered all of the people you know and love to celebrate with you, but you are also all on vacation. We’ve noticed that destination weddings, for this very reason, have a certain special air about them. Guests are in carefree holiday mode. And even if you are not planning a destination wedding per se, you will likely have guests traveling in from out of town who are themselves making a destination of the blessed affair! So in order to keep everyone entertained and well-taken-care-of, consider planning an itinerary of activities for your wedding weekend.
- A perfect Montana destination wedding activity: whitewater rafting!
A group whitewater rafting trip, for example, is a fantastic opportunity for your guests to see Glacier National Park’s gorgeous natural surroundings AND for you to spend more than just a few moments at the reception with all your friends and family.
It’s also incredibly festive (and much less complicated) to have your destination wedding guests stay close to the wedding location, all of your activities and each other. That way, you won’t be bogged down transporting everyone to and from each of your events, and everyone will feel like part of the party. Our classic Glacier Park-style chalets are ideal lodging for your wedding guests: they are near the ceremony and reception meadows, our main office where guests check in for whitewater rafting and other activities, and our historic caboose where delicious food, drinks and treats are served. The Park entrance and village of West Glacier are less than five minutes away, so your guests can also freely explore the surrounding area on their own time (read: while you are taking a nap or getting your nails done!).
- Montana Destination Wedding Lodging (c) Latasha Haynes Photography
Lodging in the Glacier National Park area does book up quickly and in advance, so be sure to reserve enough space ahead of time to make things easiest on you and your guests. If you’d like a hand putting together a totally dazzling Montana destination wedding itinerary, let us know! We love planning other people’s vacations. And between your gorgeous wedding, the charming lodging, the stunning mountain views, the exciting whitewater rafting, the endless trails in Glacier National Park, and the countless other things to do in the area from golf to local whiskey tasting, your guests will be talking about your supremely fun wedding weekend for the rest of time. We promise.
Find more information on activities at glacierparkraft.com and on lodging at greatnorthernresort.com. We offer group discounts on our river trips!
Pinterest for Weddings: a brilliant planning tool.
A pile of wedding magazines, a pair of scissors, a roll of tape, pens, paper and a thick, slightly disheveled three-ring binder overflowing with miscellaneous clippings: these are the things that come to mind when I think about planning my 2009 wedding. I carefully collected my favorite ideas for favors, centerpieces and invitations, organized them categorically on sheets of three-hole-punched paper, and lugged the entire binder — which, by the end, was barely holding together — with me everywhere I went.
Basically, I would’ve given anything for such a genius invention as the now immensely popular virtual pinboard, Pinterest.
If you are one of the 17.8 million US users to visit the site in February, you already know what I mean. The Huffington Post reported today that, among other amazing stats, Pinterest is the fastest growing social network ever. This, of course, does not surprise us: we love this brilliantly designed virtual space for gathering great ideas, gorgeous images and all the things that make us happy. And it is a dream tool for planning a wedding.
Our pinboard for garden-inspired weddings.
If you have not yet jumped on the Pinterest train, you can get started here. If you need an invitation, simply contact us– we’d be happy to send you one. Once you’re there, make sure to 
!
Here are a few of our best tips for using Pinterest to plan your wedding:
- Follow users whose style you admire (we particularly love Jen at Green Wedding Shoes, Joy Cho, Wedding Chicks, Glitter Guide and Amy Osaba, to name a few!). Keep in mind that you can follow all of a user’s boards, or you can select specific boards to follow.
- Organize your pins thematically. When it comes time to make a decision on table settings, it will be easier if all of your table setting ideas are on their own board, rather on a generic ‘Wedding’ board along with your lighting and save-the-date ideas.
- Share your boards with your vendors. Your wedding planner, florist or photographer may come across something that you need to see, so if you have a collaborative pinboard, you and your vendor can easily and efficiently swap ideas.
- Self-edit as you go. Pin everything that strikes your fancy; you can always return to a pin that you are no longer in love with and delete it.
- Install the ‘Pin It’ button to your browser’s bookmark bar so that, as you’re strolling around cyberspace, you can easily pin inspiring images to any one of your boards. See something on Style Me Pretty that you have to have? Pin it! Find the exact pink that you were trying to describe to your florist in an Anthropologie blouse? Pin it!
Our pinboard for a rustic mountain wedding in Montana.
Happy pinning!
A Valentine from Glacier Park Weddings & Events.
Today we are feeling rather nostalgic for elementary school days when we would cut out paper hearts with dull scissors and write valentines to our classmates that said things like “You’re super cool” and “I’m glad we’re friends.” So we thought we’d send out a big virtual paper heart to all of you, with a slightly more grown-up message:
WE ADORE & SO APPRECIATE YOU!
If you are thinking you might want to send us a valentine, perhaps you would like to show us some love on Facebook? Perhaps you would like to share us with all of your many friends in cyberspace and suggest that they like us too? We would just love that.
Hand-lettered Love
In preparation for Valentine’s Day and all the love-letter writing that goes along with it, we have been eyeing these gorgeous hand-lettered fonts: a beautiful way to pen a note to the love of your life AND to announce to the world that you’re getting married in Montana!
Left to Right: Carolyna Pro Black, Paperfinger, InkWells, Trial By Cupcakes
Wedding Cake Inspiration for National Chocolate Cake Day!
When we found out that today is National Chocolate Cake Day, we immediately went to our reserves of wedding inspiration and began daydreaming about delicious wedding cakes. After a few mouth-watering hours, we assembled these whimsical, woodsy and romantic dessert ideas for an outdoor wedding. Chocolate or not, these beauties have so many sweet touches: a homemade heart-shaped topper, smart stripes, hand-painted roses, a little celebratory banner, decorative cupcake liners… Makes us wish we could put together a giant dessert table with one of each!
Whimsical, woodsy and romantic dessert ideas for an outdoor Montana wedding!
When planning an outdoor wedding, your baker will be able to advise you on optimal frosting and decorating options. When deciding where your cake will be placed, think about the time of day and angle of the sun, and make sure your cake will have plenty of shade. Ask your baker to deliver your cake as close to your start time as possible so that it won’t be hanging out al fresco for too long!
Clockwise from top left: Heart-topped cake from Sweet & Saucy Shop on Once Wed, Pink flower-adorned cake by Cake Sisters on Style Me Pretty, Smart striped cake from Sweet & Saucy Shop on Grey Likes Weddings, Sleek little cake from Maggie Austin Cake, Rustic garden cake from Style Me Pretty, Ruffled cake by Cake Sisters on Style Me Pretty, Cupcakes from Pinterest, White flowering wedding cake from Perfect Endings on Style Me Pretty, Banner-topped cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes on Style Me Pretty, Painted cake from Amelie’s House
A spectacular setting for a Montana wedding. 
