Emereld Bay Ceremony Question

MaryM17

Hi. We knew for sure we would be having a destinantion wedding and Tahoe came up. It's of our favorite places in CA/NV and after going there last summer I thought it would just make such a great place for a small summertime wedding. We are planning a wedding for maybe 15 people. The smaller the better for us. We looked at many Lake Tahoe links and figure if we do the wedding there we would do something like:
Ceremony- Emereld Bay
Cake and coffee- ????
Reception- Just a nice lunch or dinner near Emereld Bay.

Ideally I would want wanted our guests to have had a slice of cake immediately after the ceremony since we would have a photographer there, be in a beautiful location, and to avoid the cake cutting charge at whatever restaurant we go to (as well as our guests already getting dessert there).

As some of you may know though, there doesn't seem to be a way to get chairs up to Emereld Bay so the cake eating might be difficult. Is there maybe a pretty park walking distance from it where there are benches or something where we could get some pictures of all us taken while eating wedding cake? We really only planned to have the ceremony photographed and just have family and friends take pictures at the dinner (limited budget).

Thanks

Nicole Renee Miller

Emerald Bay is gorgeous, but there are a few things you should know. Parking: There is only a very small parking area and it's very difficult to find a space unless you arrive early in the morning, especially on the weekend. I also don't see any way to get chairs up there. However, there are 2 other state parks near by. Just north of Emerald Bay is D.L. Bliss S.P. I've actually never been there so I don't know what they have or what the parking situation is like. Just a little further north is Sugar Pine Point S.P. This is a beautiful park, they have benches and tables, and I've never had a problem finding a parking space there (even on a Saturday in July). I've photographed several wedding there and it's a great place for pictures. If you choose to go that route you could find a restaurant near Sunnyside/Homewood/Tahoe City to have your reception. One more warning--traffic along the west shore in the summer can be horribly slow. It's literally taken me a few hours to get from the south shore to the north. It's worst on the weekends and in the afternoon when everyone's heading back from the beach. I hope that helps!

Happy planning,

Nicole

Nicole Miller Photography

MaryM17

Hi Nicole. Thank you for your tips. We would most likely rent a mini bus or limo and arrange for everyone to drive to a meeting point and then go together. Is it possible to bring cake and punch to Emereld Bay or is that just not really possible?

Do you have any restaurant suggestions? We would like something rustic and romantic with a lot of vegetarian offerings. No need to get a private room.

We were hoping to have a ceremony just before sunset so that we could get some great pictures in. We are open to a weekday wedding, but it would have to be in the summer again.

Nicole Renee Miller

You're welcome Mary! As far as bringing a cake, it really depends on where you want to go. If you want to go all the way down to the beach I would say no, it's a fairly steep 2+ mile hike. If you just want a view of the bay (like from Eagle Falls) that's a short easy hike so I'd say it's do-able. Restaurants that I like or have heard good things about are: West Shore Cafe, Sunnyside, Chambers Landing, Bridgetender, Chrisy Hill, Evergreen, Wolfdale's, and Firesign Cafe. (All are either on the west shore or in Tahoe City). 

Best wishes,

Nicole

Jaime E.

Hi Mary,

If you would like to get married at Emerald Bay, I would suggest "mile marker 53", it's a pretty common place for ceremonies and is easily accessible from the road. The parking is very limited and the traffic can be bad in the summer. The spot is also first come first serve so you might have to wait for another wedding party to finish up before you're able to start your ceremony. It's a very pretty spot though and overlooks the entire Bay. If you're using an officient that is from Tahoe I'm sure they will be familiar with the spot and how to make it work logistically for both the ceremony and cake. 

If you're looking for a restaurant on the South Shore, I would recommend Evans, Riva Grill, Scusa's, Cafe Fiore (might be a bit small) or Nepheles. If you're interested in continuing up to the West or North Shore, I would go with Nicole's suggestions. 

Jaime

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