Wedding at Mountaintop Mansion, Gatlinburg, Tennessee (2012)

We have traveled to Gatlinburg, Tennessee several times and absolutely love it! It is the ideal vacation destination for so many types of travel.

Family Vacations, romantic getaways, large group trips…and it is the perfect place for a mountaintop wedding!

A little backstory first.

Brent and I met in October 2010. Before you even ask, I’ll tell you…we met online. Seriously, I’m not sure how anyone meets their life partner these days without going online!

Our connection was instant (at least from my side of the table at Applebees. You can ask Brent if he agrees!). We had both been married before and each had our share of online dating disasters. But we knew we had found something special in each other.

Fast forward to June 2012.

Back at the Brownsburg Applebees at “our table”, Brent asked me to marry him. And without hesitation, I said yes!

We decided on a small wedding in Gatlinburg that December and invited our close family. But we were so excited to start our married life together that we secretly eloped on July 7th along the picturesque Indianapolis Canal!

Our families were a bit shocked at our spontaneity, to say the least. But we assured them the cabin wedding was still on, it would just technically be a vow renewal!

With 28 family members all set to share in our marital bliss, we managed to find lodging that accommodated our large crew.

Mountaintop Mansion at Gatlinburg Falls Resort was the perfect choice! Breathtaking views of Mount Le Conte, 2 hot tubs, 9 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, 3 balconies, a home theater room, jukebox, pool table, ginormous kitchen.

I could go on…this cabin had EVERYTHING!!

It was the ideal size to hang out with the entire family, yet still find some privacy when needed.

Mountaintop Mansion is literally at the top of the mountain, so it was a good thing we brought our Subaru Outback as the four-wheel drive was a necessity. Some of our family members had to get over their fear of heights just to make it to the top of the mountain! Once they made it, they all agreed it was so worth it!

Gatlinburg Falls Resort has numerous cabins to fit any size group (we have stayed in several!) and amenities galore.

Quick pause for some budget saving tips: Gatlinburg Falls Resort gives you 10% off future cabin rentals and if your cabin isn’t rented the day you are scheduled to leave, they will offer you an insanely low rate to stay another night. We took advantage of this on two different trips because we just were not ready to leave! (Check with the resort to confirm these deals are still being offered)

We literally could have stayed in the cabin the entire weekend and been happy and entertained. But Gatlinburg has so much to offer that we all agreed we needed to check out the sites while we were there.

Some of our favorite Gatlinburg activities (from this trip and others we have taken) include:

• Wine tasting
• Moonshine tasting
• Hiking up to Rainbow falls
• Playing Hillbilly putt putt
• Being amazed at the Magic Shop
• Riding the Gatlinburg Sky Lift up the mountain or riding a mountain coaster
• Getting breakfast at the Donut Friar
• Visiting the Christ in the Smokies Museum & Gardens
• And more wine tasting!

After some fun in town, it was time to head back to Mountaintop Mansion for the wedding…I mean vow renewal.

Since the legal wedding had already taken place, we didn’t have to worry about getting an out of state wedding license or hiring a member of the clergy. Instead, my brother performed the ceremony, with my carefully crafted script.

The ceremony took place in the 3rd floor bar/game room and was heartfelt, emotional, and intimate. Everything we dreamed it would be.

After the ceremony, it was time for an Italian feast, catered by Johnny Carinos. And of course dessert…specialty cakes from Smoky Mountain Cakes and a chocolate fountain, because who doesn’t love a chocolate fountain!

Then the real party began back in the bar/game room as we played song after song from the jukebox, danced, and celebrated wedded bliss and our amazing family.

We even brought everyone into the movie theater room for our first dance to Kenny Chesney’s “You Had Me From Hello” and a video montage created by my brother.

No need to hire a photographer as it seemed every family member had their camera out to capture all the special moments, and we ended up with pictures from every angle!

While the weekend was filled with family togetherness, Brent and I still managed to find some “alone time” to reflect on our magical wedding weekend.  And being the budget-savvy wife I am, I took the insanely discounted offer to stay an extra night.

Brent and I enjoyed having the entire 9 bedroom mansion all to ourselves for one final night.

For my budget-conscious followers who are curious…our entire mountain top wedding weekend cost less than $5000. This included the cost of the cabin rental for our whole family for 3 nights. While that was quite a bit more than our $150 elopement, we felt it was very reasonable considering what some weddings cost these days.

After more than 6 years of marriage, we still look back on the entire wedding weekend in the mountains with our families and feel it was simply priceless.

Our 10 year wedding anniversary is coming up in a few years…and we just might consider recreating some mountaintop memories!

Wherever the road takes you, make it a joyous journey!
Traveling Tanya

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