Zephyr Cove Resort/Lake Tahoe Cruises

Our wedding was scheduled for great weather, beach ceremony and reception on Tahoe paradise. Snow came in out of no where and staff moved all of our décor, flowers and DJ to another boat that was more stable, the chaos was there, but Zephor Cove came through magically. Food was terrific, coordination great help, just an overall great time.

My husband and I both had our hearts set on a wedding at Lake Tahoe. As we started to research different venues we discovered that the cost could get very high very easily, especially if we wanted a beach ceremony. We found that Zephyr Cove Resort was very flexible with our budget and since we had been there before we knew the location would work well with the casual style we were going for. They had a wide variety of catering options to choose from at various price points, so it was easy to work within our budget. We ultimately decided to do a Sunday brunch wedding at their shoreline location. The price was right and it was the perfect casual style we wanted. I initially worked with Danielle, the event coordinator at the time. We communicated almost exclusively over email which made it easier to plan everything from a distance (we live in Arizona). With the vendor list they provided, it was easy to research and hire local vendors that had worked with the resort before. A few months before the wedding they hired the new wedding coordinator, Melissa. There were a few mix ups here and there, but considering she came on during their busiest season I think they handled the transition very well. Both Danielle and Melissa were always very nice and willing to help me in any way. The location is just beautiful and they did an amazing job making sure the ceremony and reception areas were spotless. It is a public beach park area so there were a few curious bystanders (and kayakers) snooping around, but it still felt like we had our own private space. The food was delicious! There was plenty of it and a nice variety to accommodate different tastes and preferences. Many of our guests commented on how good the food was. Now I did deduct one star, so there were a few things that could have been better. A big issue for our guests was the bathrooms. We had an 11am ceremony so the bathrooms started out very clean but by the afternoon the beach goers had trashed them. Not exactly the resort's fault, but I think they could benefit from having someone stock and tidy up the restrooms more often, especially when a wedding is taking place. The other issue I had was some confusion over the final bill. They had told me in the beginning that the vendors (except the photographer) would be paid through them. So they would get in touch with the vendors I had chosen and include everything all in one bill which would be much more convenient than paying them each individually. When it came time to finalize payments, however, they had left out a few of the vendors. So I had to contact each one directly, find out what I owed them and work out how to pay them, which is not so easy when you're 800 miles away. They were all very easy going and understanding, so it all worked out in the end. Overall, I would recommend Zephyr Cove Resort to any couple (budget big or small) that is looking for a fun, beautiful, outdoor wedding that gives you the best of the Lake Tahoe lifestyle and scenery.

Beach Site: All in all this was a good experience. I wanted to have everything you can imagine having a beautiful and elegant wedding but outside on the beach. I wanted to dance, wear high heels, have beautiful lighting, formal attire, lots of details, etc. I would say unless you are having a very casual wedding then my suggestion is to get a wedding planner! Danielle is wonderful but she could only be in so many places at once. We did have a thunderstorm the day of our wedding but on the upside it cleared the beach. Prior to the rain the beach was packed with people. However, once the sun shone brightly and our ceremony went on... my program fans were never put out for guests. I spent hours making these. Not a huge deal but disappointing. A lot of the table decorations blew over with wind but luckily they were all put back in place before guests were seated. The majoy turn off for me was the 10pm curfew. Due to the thunderstorm we got started 40 minutes late meaning our wedding began at 5:40pm and ended at 10:00pm. It felt rushed at times. I would have loved to stay and enjoy what turned into a beautiful evening (actually amazing weather) until at least 11pm. Highlights were the FOOD (awesome), view and sunset! Improvements or thumbs down are the 10:00pm curfew and possible weather complications! Dinner CRUISE: A big F! My in-laws treated our families and wedding party to a rehearsal dinner cruise. A rather expensive choice but we felt so many people traveled to our wedding that we wanted to show our gratitude and do something special. A cruise on the lake seemed like the perfect choice. We arranged this with the same coordinators that we did for the wedding. The Friday before the wedding we met our guests at the dock. We chose the Tahoe Queen over MS Dixie because it offered appetizers, privt room etc. Alcohol was separate, we bought ea. person a $10 drink ticket (expensive drink!) especially at more than $60 a person for dinner plus an addtl $10/ drink & party of 40 ppl! Anyways, there were complications from the start. We didnt have tickets at the box office. The crew took it upon themself to hand out the personalized drink stirrers I made instead!(Umm, what?) I did not make admission tickets, they were drink stirrers! I was very annoyed. I told the crew that they were not intended for that at all. They apologized and said they would hand them back out (after every person touched them and handled them and the crew touched them?) this was unsanitary in my opinion & gross. They corrected the problem by handing out addtl drink tickets to our group but my drink stirrers were ruined. I made a custom DVD for my husband as a surprise that they were supposed to show when we got on the boat. It was in the middle of the DVD...so my husband didnt get to watch it and I wasnt given a heads up that it was already playing. We were also told we would get a private room for our large party since we were paying over $5000 for this dinner but there were random people everywhere and our guests thought that strangers were eating our food. It was totally chaotic. It ended up that they admitted that they made a MISTAKE the reservations were wrong. They told us that a private room wasn't available on the Tahoe Queen, that we were told the wrong info. I will never patronize this boat again. When my parents inquired politely to the lead on the boat he said loudly in front of our guests "How can we make any money giving you a private room?" It was so rude

Was a wonderful day. 50/50 on the weather since the ceremony was outdoors but mother nature smiled on us. Need to be aware that it is a public beach so while the resort blocks it off for the ceremony, the beach is fair game after. The tent and reception area sit back so you do not have full view of beach. Boat traffic. We had one honk in the middle of our vows but we thought it was funny! All in all, the food was delicious, and the staff was very intune with our needs.

My husband and I got married at Zephyr Cove resort primarily because they accepted pets and we were bringing our dogs and wanted to include them in the wedding. I had a fantastic wedding planner, Ashley, who were my eyes and ears through the whole process. That helped so much since I was in Ohio and never had even seen the place. Everyone was so helpful and it was wonderful that we could stay on site, use jet skis, plan a cruise and get married all at the same place! It was a great experience.