Palisades Tahoe

00 out-of-town guests and 3 days of events and turn it into the best weekend of our lives! From the attentive guest experience for our friends and family staying on-site to curating a brand new Indian fusion menu for our mountaintop Sangeet, Mercedes and her team went above and beyond to make everything perfect. Our guests are still talking about how incredible our locations were (Sangeet at High Camp, Ceremony in front of Olympic Valley Lodge and Reception inside the lodge) and I still can't believe how lucky we were to find our dream venue. Every single person we worked with went out of their way to work with us and our families and did it with the most positive, professional and proactive mentality that made us feel so comfortable and excited. Choose Palisades and I guarantee you'll have the best possible guest experience and scenery for your big day!

id multiple FaceTime tours for us to be able to experience everything and make a decision. Matt and I are both very type A and didn’t hire a wedding planner, so we had a ton of detailed questions about the contract and other logistics for the venue. Our AMAZING venue coordinator Mercedes spent hours and hours with us on several Zoom calls answering all our questions leading up to the event. Mercedes and Palisades did a great job with clearly spelling out and communicating every detail to us. Mercedes even went above and beyond to let us ship (too many) boxes to her personal office since we were coming from out of town (sorry, Mercedes!). More importantly, she was even more wonderful the weekend of the wedding! She took the time to meet with us several times in person leading up to the event, and made sure everything ran SO smoothly! We arrived a week early and were able to do some really cool activities with some of our guests in and around Palisades! Our favorites were the Tahoe Via, Shirley canyon trail, Truckee river rafting, and going out to dinner and drinks in the village as more people started to arrive in town. I had a large wedding party, so I was worried about whether the 3-bedroom suite would be enough space for us. Even with 11 bridesmaids, moms, a few close friends, and our hair/makeup artists, it was no issue! It goes without saying that the photo opportunities at this venue were unreal. We did our first look in a field off of the road that leads into the Village area (~1 min drive). The tram and the ceremony location were stunning. The literal only downside was that it was windy at High Camp on our day, so my MOH had to remove my veil towards the beginning of the ceremony. I wouldn’t trade the views for any other scenario! Thankfully we didn’t have to use the weather backup location, but we did check it out and it also would have been stunning. For the reception, we chose the buffet with salmon and steak. I’m obviously a bit biased, but I legitimately thought it was the best wedding food I’ve ever had. I was most hesitant about booking this venue because of the non-traditional dance floor, but it ended up being perfect! For special dances (including a silly, choreographed wedding party routine - because I’m a dance teacher), we invited guests to gather around the dance floor to watch. Later in the nigh, the walls, proximity to the bar, and square footage made EVERYONE feel comfortable joining the dance floor and have so SO much fun! The dance floor was packed the entire night! After dinner, our photographers pulled us outside to walk behind High Camp to find another, somehow even dreamier spot for sunset photos. Throughout our stay, the entire Palisades staff made us feel so special and welcomed. We were planning to leave for our honeymoon in Yosemite after the wedding, but with the wildfires at the time, we ended up changing our plans last minute and staying in the Tahoe area. Palisades was SO accommodating and even moved things around so that we could continue staying in our room while paying a lower rate. All things considered, Palisades Tahoe gave us the perfect wedding experience. THANK YOU so much to Mercedes and everyone at Palisades Tahoe! ❤️❤️

amazing job of answering all my questions and setting appropriate expectations for the wedding day with backup plans should the weather not cooperate for High Camp. Eventually we transitioned over to Mercedes as our venue coordinator and we couldn’t be more thrilled about our experience working with her. She made everything as seamless as possible and was willing to accommodate some unique touches we requested (hanging our Michigan flag at high camp, serving our favorite coffee, etc.). Everyone raved about the food (we chose the buffet for timeline purposes and it turned out beautifully) and we couldn’t be happier with the service provided across the board—from the tram operators to the servers and bartenders. They were super accommodating for allergies as well (I’m gluten free and my sister is dairy free). We also booked our rehearsal dinner and welcome party at Base Camp and had a great experience. It was the perfect space for hosting that type of event! Overall, we had our dream wedding and that wouldn’t have been possible without this venue!!

e, and Palisades worked with us through the entire process to make everything great. Even though they had some turnover on their team over the past 2 years, they were always very responsive and kept us up to date with any of their team changes. It was really nice knowing they do not book multiple weddings on the same day even though they have multiple venues. Though there were other weddings or events on other days of the weekend, the team was so amazing and made us feel like we were the only ones. The bar pricing was very reasonable for the quality, the food was amazing (we’ve heard from many attendees that it’s the best wedding food they’ve ever had), and their service staff and team were so friendly and helpful. Special shout-out to Mercedes and Caitlin for giving us such an amazing day we’ll never forget.

s AMAZING, our guests raved about it which you don't hear much at weddings. It was so great to have everything done for us, we didn't have to worry about any set up or bartenders, etc. They even have a great list of local vendors that know the venue best so our hired help all worked like a well oiled machine.

dding and we only received a response once we texted the next day to follow up. The wedding coordinator was extremely combatant. It was a hellish week of waiting and stressful conversations where they never appeared on "our team." We were also locked out of our rooms on wedding day, causing a delay. Forget trying to do a bride & groom cocktail there. Even if you're paying for the most expensive tier of alcohol, anything they deem "specialty cocktail" will run you another $15 per drink on top of the hourly rate you are already paying. The contract certainly did not clearly state that. We felt like we were given the bait and switch on the weather and the possibility of a venue change for a summer wedding. Facts were poorly misrepresented and we would never have booked this venue had we known. It's really a shame as we were so excited to get married there. I found the whole ordeal so frustrating that I'm taking time out of my honeymoon to leave this review. Book High Camp at your own risk and know that a venue change is likely.

ds we would be fine to have it up there. In the weeks leading up to our wedding (once they had our money) Mercedes completely changed the narrative about the weather. She very rudely told us it was likely that we would need to move everything to the backup venue at the bottom of the mountain. The day before the wedding we spoke to an employee who told us that they haven’t had enough staff to operate High Camp recently, and that’s why they’ve been leaning into the weather excuse. We asked if this was the case and of course, they said it wasn’t, but still continued to pressure us to move the wedding to back up venue. It rained for 20 minutes on our wedding day. We begged and pleaded with them to let the rain pass, as the forecast said it would. The end result, we got married on beautiful, calm, sunny day….at the back up venue. The icing on the cake was when they mistakenly deactivated our hotel key cards an hour before the wedding. I wish we got married anywhere but here. I hope this review prevents others from falling victim to another Palisades Tahoe bait and switch.

put our minds at ease. The bartenders and waitstaff were incredible, service was amazing. My sister-in-law stepped away from cocktail hour to breastfeed her son and one of them saw her and brought her a tray of the appetizers! The views of course are gorgeous and our guests loved the tram ride and scenery! Would absolutely recommend!

things about this place!

rising behind you was gorgeous and it was easy for guests to get around given close proximity from ceremony to reception. Squaw was very good to work with. We were given a Facilities Planner, Mercedes, who provided excellent service and such a big help - especially since I didn't have a hired wedding planner. Overall we felt that Squaw was a really great "one stop shop" since your contract covers food and beverage, the space, tables, chairs, linens, etc. You have options to customize if you want - but you can keep it simple and go with what they've got! The food Squaw provided was impressive and exceeded expectations. We had their pastry chef make us a small cutting cake and individual desserts and they were so yummy. The Tahoe shaped sugar cookies were just perfect. Thank you Squaw for a making our dream wedding come true!

t of out of town guests coming and we wanted a venue that could provide not only lodging accommodations, but also had fun things for guests to do who were staying multiple nights. On top of it, Squaw's staff is so great to work with. Our planner, Caitlin, was beyond amazing in helping us make our wedding day perfect. The chef and baker met our expectations on everything (we seriously had so many compliments on the food from our guests!), and their serving staff was professional and kind. If you want a beautiful Tahoe area wedding, tour Squaw. You won't regret it.

ur lives (which makes for some pretty amazing pictures), some great food, and a day we will never forget.

ays made herself available and was extremely responsive. She even worked with my mother-in-law directly for the welcome party we planned for the night before at Plaza Bar. We had our ceremony off-site but our reception was at High Camp. What a dream! Our guests loved riding the gondola and the views at the top are absolutely breathtaking. The service staff from the bartenders to the chefs were top notch. Everyone complimented the food and the service throughout the night and as the bride I felt very comfortable that everything was taken care of. If you want a unique wedding venue that mixes Tahoe charm with classic elegance, this is your place. Thank you, Mercedes and team!!

ible without Mercedes. She’s an unbelievable person to have on your side on your wedding day. When other vendors backed out of their responsibilities or fell short, Mercedes stepped in and handled it always going above and beyond for us. Every wedding has little hiccups along the way but honestly none of it mattered because Mercedes is the most amazing problem solver. Most importantly, she’s FUN as f*ck! There are a lot of emotions happening on your wedding day, and Mercedes always kept us laughing. She was the one person reminding us to eat, bringing us appetizers and drinks, and making sure we took care of ourselves that day. I couldn’t recommend this venue more. The setting is beyond stunning, and the entire staff is so sweet and helpful. Your guests will definitely be impressed with your wedding and I’m sure you’ll want to keep Mercedes as a friend forever like we do.🖤

oothly. The catering is amazing as well, we had plated dinners and it was all so good. Squaw has a special place in our hearts since we spend most of our winters skiing there and now it will be the place we tied the knot. Squaw is so easy to work with and on the day of our wedding, the staff made sure that everything was taken care of. Everyone had the best time and raved about the venue. We filled the room with Christmas trees and it looked so beautiful. I don't have a single complaint about having our wedding at Squaw Valley.

bar tenders was incredibly professional, kind and attentive. The venue is beautiful and the food is so good! We would highly recommend having your wedding here!

plate of appetizers for us knowing that we would be too busy saying hello and socializing with our family and friends. Thank you, Mercedes!

, and really great at her job. The snow capped mountaintops were a perfect backdrop for our ceremony and OVL was spacious enough to hold 174 of our nearest and dearest friends and family, yet cozy enough to provide an intimate atmosphere complete with market lights.

s. The ceremony spot is amazing with views of the mountain. The only drawback is the food can be a bit pricey as you have to use their catering. It's worth it though, because the food was fabulous!

Olympic Village Lodget. We chose the Olympic Village Lodge in the end because the size of the room allowed us to do some really fun stuff, like adding couches and a lounge area next to the over-sized fireplace and having a photobooth with lots of props and fun stuff. Working with Jessie, the wedding coordinator for the village, was a truly pleasure. She was so helpful every step of the way. Since we live in Washington DC we had to rely on Jessie a lot especially for vendor recommendations and just general knowledge of the area. I cannot thank her enough for all her help! The Village was perfect for our guests (who traveled from all over the world) because everything they needed was just steps away; no need to travel any further. From skiing to shopping to restaurants / bars... everything is just right there. And it was so nice to have everyone in the Village. The accommodations were great too. Most of our family and friends stayed in condos in the Village.. They loved the convenience of having a full kitchen and lovely facilities and being right in the Village. One big thing we wanted was for everyone (skiers and non-skiers alike) to have the opportunity to experience Squaw from High Camp. Since we didn't do our reception at High Camp we opted to do an Apres Ski at high camp the day after the wedding. It was perfect. We had spiked hot cocoa, cocktails, hot pretzel and other snacks and just enjoyed the views. The hot tubs were open, everyone just hung out and enjoyed the lovely spring weather after a fun day of skiing. We provided tram tickets for those who weren't already on the mountain skiing. It was just a great way to spend the afternoon. Jessie coordinated all the details of the Apres Ski and I can say it was definitely a great way to end the perfect wedding weekend!