A few days ago I posted a question regarding the fact that my fiancé and I are looking to have our small destination wedding with about 20 people. We had originally thought we wanted to do this in October but after thinking about the date we have decided to move it to the early part of January. We want our wedding anniversary to fall on the day that we celebrate starting to date. We want to have our wedding somewhere which has snow, mountains, is romantic, relaxed, fun, is not overly crowded, and has a small town/village feel. Our guests will be coming in for a day or two and we will be staying to honeymoon in the area.
After exploring different areas where we could have our ceremony, it appears that the Whistler-Pemberton-Squamish area might be what we are looking for.
How easy or hard is it to get to these areas from Vancouver in the middle of January? Realistically, what is the weather like in these areas in January? How cold does it truly get? I am guessing that there is snow in Pemberton and Squamish, is this right? Which one of these would be a good idea or is there another place within a couple of hours from Vancouver that would be better? I would love to hear any advise or suggestions?
Thanks for you help,
Pauline
Whistler-Pemberton-Squamish area in January
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In Squamish itself there *may* be snow-however I can't in good conscience recommend Squamish as a vacation destination-not yet anyway.
While the area has a bright future at present it still has a gritty feel that's not at all conducive to romance or celebration.It's a mill/logging town that's trying to reinvent itself as a vacation destination but lacks that certain feel of ease and gentility that attracts visitors and keeps them coming back.
I haven't visited Pemberton lately so I can't comment and of course a wedding celebration in Whistler would be brutally expensive.
Squamish is an easy one hour drive north of Vancouver-I'm there regularly through the fall season.
Rossland in the Kootenays has what you're after but it's a long drive in winter through the mountains, figure 8-10 hours from Vancouver.
Pemberton is REALLY gritty, I think. No gentility there that I could see.
I think fossilhiker is looking for a fairytale kind of setting. I know that Lake Louise is full of tourists then, but it would kind of fit the bill in the other ways. Not too far a drive from Calgary. But it could be very, very cold. Or maybe Jasper, at Jasper Park Lodge? Could be v. cold there too, but not as busy as LL. Longer to drive to, though, in this case from Edmonton.
Whistler, I think, would be the best to fit the requirements. Likely not cold, beautiful setting and lots to do, but could be foggy and damp with not much snow. And pricey.
Sun Peaks, near Kamloops, might work - it's a resort along the lines of Whistler, smaller, but a longer drive from Vancouver than Whistler.
When I think of Squamish, I think 'mill town.'
Some of the resorts near Kelowna might be more to your and your checkbook's liking during that time of year. The area is about a 5 hour drive in winter from Vancouver or a short plane ride from Vancouver. If you stayed in Kelowna you might check and see if a winery is available.
Ditto to everything posted here. We spent our honeymoon on Anderson Lake, near Pemberton, ten years ago. We returned to the area two years ago and were disappointed at how far downhill (at least from a tourist's point of view) it had gone. I couldn't in all conscience recommend it for a wedding, and I'm not sure in any case that the infrastructure to support a wedding is available there.
AMCanadian's suggestion of the resorts near Kelowna is good. You can easily fly between Vancouver and Kelowna. Another idea is the town of Nelson, in the Kootenays, though it's a good long drive from Vancouver even in the most clement weather. The nearest airports to Nelson are probably Castlegar and Cranbrook (can other posters confirm that? Thanks.)
Yes Castlegar is the closest airport to Nelson it's about a half hour drive between the two as I remember it.
Of all the choices mentioned here Nelson is the closest to fossilhiker's ideal locale.
Compact, scenic, friendly with great food and a variety of accommodation as well as winter to spare Nelson is a gem of a town.
http://www.city.nelson.bc.ca/
http://www.discovernelson.com/htdocs/index.htm