The wedding business is booming on Kimberley’s ski hill.
The wedding business is extremely competitive, but RCR is reporting that wedding business was up 60 per cent from the previous year.
With a plethora of facilities, including the Kimberley Conference and Athlete Training Centre, as well as a new wedding tent in the Resort Plaza, the Trickle Creek Lodge, Montana’s Restaurant, there are options for every wedding.
One of the most popular, especially with the hot summer of 2014, is holding the ceremony under the historic T-Bar at the top of Northstar Mountain.
“With some of the best lodging options, special events and plaza as well as mountain top beauty, the word is out that this is one of the best places for your special day,” said Matt Mosteller, Senior VP Marketing & Resort Experience at Resorts of the Canadian Rockies. “The variety of dining and the best new conference facilities make hosting very easy to do here. The wedding parties love the world class golf as a special activity as well.”
Grant Sharom from the Kimberley Conference Centre agrees that business is good.
“We had a very good summer with weddings,” he said. “Occasionally, couples choose to do the entire ceremony and reception inside, but they do often opt for the mountain top ceremony and the reception inside at the conference centre. The venue makes a great backup in case of bad weather, not that that was much of a problem this year. But in the case of bad weather, we can set up for a wedding in one hour.”
A good portion of these couples are from Calgary, but Sharom says most have a local link.
“These couples have been here before, whether they have a condo or someone grew up in the area. But they are brining their friends and families with them and it’s quite an economic benefit.
“And it’s a great place for a wedding. We are surrounded by hotels so you don’t have to worry about driving after the reception. Once you are here, it’s a lot cheaper than getting married in the city. There are great photo opportunities, it’s a spectacular destination.”
The added bonus is small town convenience.
“One couple told me that in Calgary, you have to call every individual involved. Here it’s one phone call and we organize it all. One groom forgot to get the sound equipment from Ray’s Music. I know where Ray lives so I went and got it. The small town advantage.”
You can learn more about weddings in Kimberley at meetkimberley.ca and skikimberley.com.