Gatlinburg Weddings, Simple, Romantic, Inexpensive.

After you have made the decision to get married, picked the date, and then picked the area (hopefully the Smoky Mountain area), the next big decision is: Cabin or Chapel. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. With any luck this article will help you narrow your choices down.

A Chapel will be nicely decorated, and there are many to choose from to suit your personal tastes. In addition, if you are planing to have more than just a few guests, a Chapel will have adequate parking, be relatively easy for your guests to find, and will probably have facilities for a small reception afterwards. One of the big advantages of a chapel service is that you don't have to worry about the minister finding you. There are several down-sides to a Chapel wedding. The first one is cost. A chapel wedding will cost a bit more than a cabin wedding. Most start around $300.00 and go up from there (although, now you may have a nice candlelight wedding at Creekside Cove Chapel for as little as $220), with many couples easily spending several thousand dollars – just for the wedding. The other major down-side is time. You are very restricted with the time you have access to the chapel. Once the ceremony is finished there is very limited time to take pictures or visit with your guests. Most likely, if you are scheduled to get married at 3:00 PM, somebody will be waiting on your heels to use the chapel at 4:00 PM.

With a cabin wedding you can have the decorations and the service as simple or as formal as you wish. There is no dress code, no rules – it is your wedding, done your way. You can stand on the deck, in front of the fireplace, in the woods nearby, or up in the loft (if the cabin has one). Once you have found your cabin and gotten your license, you don’t need to go anywhere, the Minister comes to you. If you want to decorate, light a bunch of candles, put out flowers, or simply light a nice fire, it is up to you. If you have guests you can always have a simple reception for them afterwards right there in your cabin. The big up-sides to a cabin wedding are cost and time. You can take your time to prepare yourself and the cost is much less than a typical chapel wedding, with service prices starting as low as $90.00. (A typical service with pictures, video and music will run only $200.00 with Smoky Mountain Cabin Weddings.) It is very easy to plan a simple reception (Kroger on Wears Valley Rd. in Pigeon Forge can do meat and cheese trays, wedding cakes and even flowers). You usually will end up spending for your wedding and honeymoon much less than you would spend for the wedding alone at a chapel. The best advantage of a cabin wedding is the intimacy. You are not in a line of people waiting to get married. It is your wedding at your place, with whomever you choose in attendance. One of the big down-sides of a cabin wedding is space. Usually at a cabin parking space is a premium. If you plan to have a more formal service with several guests a chapel is always a better choice than a cabin.

Whichever you pick the main thing is that you will have a meaningful wedding service performed in the place of your choosing, marrying the person of your dreams…what could possibly be better than that?

Jodie was ordained in 1994 and started her wedding ministry soon after, going from cabin to cabin to marry couples. Her favorite part of her job is interacing with the many brides and keeping them on an "even keel" and calm. When you call Smoky Mountain Cabin Weddings it will often be Jodie that you talk to, so feel free to avail yourself of her years of experience with thousands of couples.

Which is Better for You?