Marvelous Smoky Mountain Weddings

Few places on earth offer more perfect settings for your wedding than the misty mountains, secluded coves and picturesque river valleys of the Great Smoky Mountains.

The blue-smoke mountains of the Great Smokies National Park rise and fall between Tennessee and North Carolina, providing thousands of acres as a "natural chapel," as the locals like to say. Natural beauty is just one reason why the Smokies are outpaced only by Las Vegas as the country's most popular wedding destination.

Another reason to wed here? It's so easy! There's no waiting period, no blood tests required, no residency requirements. You can get your marriage license at the Sevier County Clerk's office and its branches anytime the office is open - no appointment is needed. Just prove your age and identity by a driver's license, birth certificate or state ID card, and you are ready to roll! Get married in a chapel, on a mountaintop, a cabin, anywhere your heart desires.

If you want to be married in one of the National Park's wonderful historic churches or pioneer cabins or other structure, you'll need to apply for a free permit that spells out some simple rules, such as no burning lamps or candles that could damage the old wooden structures. The National Park Service Ranger's office can even help you arrange for a minister.

No matter where you live in the country, this spot is an ideal central location for your out-of-town guests. And no need for the happy newlyweds to travel anywhere else to enjoy a fun-filled honeymoon!

Here are just a few of the locations to consider when maiking your wedding plans in the Smokies:

Cades Cove

One of the most peaceful and breathtaking sights in the entire mountain range is the area known as Cades Cove. There are several historic pioneer churches available for weddings in the Cove, and you'll need to file your wedding permit with the Cades Cove Center. You can contact the Park's Ranger Activities Division for an application in advance, at 423-436-1266.

The Cove itself, now accessible by a one-way unpaved loop road, is much the same as it was in the 1800s, teeming with wildlife and offering spectacular views of the towering mountains from the sprawling valley floor. Once a thick forest, Cades Cove was cleared by settler farmers whose descendents remained there in a quiet, peaceful existence until the Park was established in the 1930s. Park developers kept the Cove fairly intact, with log cabins, barns, churches, cemeteries and other period structures now available for your wedding!

Abrams Falls

The Great Smoky Mountains are rich with natural waterfalls. Take a hike to Abrams Falls and be married with the spectacular 20-foot falls rainbow as your wedding portrait backdrop.

To celebrate your wedding at the Falls, you'll enjoy a two-mile walk up ... and down ...and up ... and down the aisle, as the trail to the Falls leads you along mountain ridges that wander the way of Abrams Creek. But if yours is a spring wedding, Mother Nature will provide the floral display, as this part of the Smokies is covered in luscious rhododendrons and blazing azalea blooms all the way from the valley floor to the falls peak.

Start your wedding procession along the Cades Cove Loop Road. After about five miles, you'll cross Abrams Creek. Look to the right and you'll see a dirt lane that appears to lead into a field. That's your road! You'll soon see the wooden bridge and the signs to the trailhead, where there's parking.

Townsend

Long the sleepy little town on "the other side of the Smokies," Townsend, Tennessee - formerly known as Tuckaleechee Cove, home to the wondrous Tuckaleechee Caverns - has awakened to the world in recent years.

There are many wonderful mountain cabins and country get-aways in Townsend, but for a wedding, you have to consider the gorgeous 15 acres of the Valley View Lodge, with its rolling acres of formal, fragrant gardens and soft pathways through the grounds to the delightful little gazebo where you might exchange your vows.

You'll find everything you need for your wedding, reception and honeymoon at Valley View, which as its name implies offers spectacular views of both the piney mountain valley and the magnificent Smokies themselves on the horizon. Step across the Little River, and you're just moments away from the peaceful seclusion for which these environs are famous.

Some of the best food in and around the Park is to be found in Townsend. And let your wedding guests bring the kids - there's a large new professionally designed Play Land right on the property, along with several swimming pools, jacuzzis, spas and waterfalls.

Astonishingly affordable, 2005-2006 room rates, even in season, ran well under $100 a night for a deluxe room, and just over $100 for a deluxe king suite with two bedrooms and a fireplace. All rooms also offer refrigerators and microwaves.

Valley View Lodge is right on the Parkway, just a few miles after you exit the National Park, and is open year-round. For information, call toll-free, 1-800-292-4844, or locally at 865-448-2237.