If a resort wedding that offers onsite accommodations, mountaintop views, and both indoor and outdoor celebration sites is your idea of a perfect event, a Sugarbush wedding might be for you! Sugarbush has continued to be a popular wedding venue among my couples, and for good reason. The location of the resort, its available activities, ceremony sites, and customer reviews all are a great reason to envision your big day on the property. Keep reading to learn if a Sugarbush wedding may be a great fit for you!
A Sugarbush Wedding: The Location
Sugarbush Resort is set in Vermont’s Mad River Valley – a collection of small towns in Central Vermont just southwest of the state’s capital of Montpelier. The central location makes the wedding venue ideal for guests, couples, and vendors alike. The resort is almost exactly an hour from Burlington International Airport (BTV), meaning that out of town guests are able to fly in and have a fairly simple commute to the event. For in-state attendees, the resort’s central location means that most guests likely won’t need to traverse neither the length nor width of the entire state (Vermont is small, but there’s not always a timely route to get from one place to another!). Last, a central location means that Vermont vendors are likely willing to travel to the venue to serve their clients on their wedding day. This gives you more entertainment choices, florists, designers, pastry chefs, etc to choose from!
A Sugarbush Wedding: The Ceremony
If there’s one feature that attracts people to Vermont more than anything else, it’s our mountains. The stunning Green Mountain Range traverses the state on a north-south route. Sugarbush Resort is located on stunning Mount Ellen – which also plays host to one of Sugarbush’s most requested ceremony sites. Couples have the option to ride a private chairlift up the mountain and make it official at elevation.
Other outdoor ceremony sites on the property include the outdoor courtyard, complete with fire pits and bar service, the Gate House lawn which sits at the base of the chairlift and adjacent to the courtyard, or in the Clay Brook courtyard adjacent to the hotel. Indoor options include Rumble’s Bistro which offers an intimate, restaurant-style space, or the Gatehouse Lodge which is a large event space and malleable to many designs!
A Sugarbush Wedding: The Reception
No matter the size of your Sugarbush wedding, there’s a space at Sugarbush Resort for your celebration. After you make it officially official, there are both indoor and outdoor options for gatherings. The outdoor courtyard, Castlerock Pub, and Rumbles offers celebration spaces. For one large space that can do it all, look to the Gatehouse Lodge, which can host dinners, cocktail hours, and large dance parties.
A Sugarbush Wedding: The Details
Wedding Size
The resort is a great option to host your Sugarbush wedding, regardless of your event size. Sugarbush plays host to everything from intimate elopements to weddings of 250. Smaller venues on site, such as Rambles Bistro and the Castlerock Pub are great spaces for intimate gatherings. While the mountaintop ceremony site, and the Gatehouse Lodge can accommodate large crowds ready to celebrate you!
Wedding Season
Dreaming of a crisp autumn afternoon to celebrate with your partner? Or looking for a breezy summertime ceremony? Whatever your vision may be, Sugarbush is a great wedding option in each season. The resort is open year-round for weddings, but it should be noted they may have some site limitations in the winter due to their many visitors looking to ski and snowboard!
Wedding Accommodations
One of the biggest perks to hosting a Sugarbush wedding is that you, your wedding party (if you’re having one), family, and guests can all stay on site! There are small condos available, as well as rooms and suites in the Claybrook hotel. This provides plenty of spaces not only for lodging, but also for getting ready on your wedding day!
Sugarbush Wedding Team
While Sugarbush resort is happy to host private wedding planners and coordinators, the venue does have a team focused solely on weddings. The wedding team can help field questions about ceremony sites and timelines and there will be a representative present on your big day. Venue coordinators are NOT full time, private wedding planners solely working with one couple, however.
For more info about Sugarbush or planning your own Vermont wedding, check out my Ultimate Guide to Your Vermont Wedding! Looking to see a real Sugarbush wedding? Check out this real wedding gallery for inspo.