Golf Resorts
Lush fairways, fairy-tale ballrooms, and everything you need for a wedding staycation.
Golfers aren’t the only ones with a soft spot for emerald courses surrounded by jaw-dropping mountain panoramas. Brides and grooms appreciate dedicated wedding planners, dramatic venues, and sprawling honeymoon suites. Guests create a complete vacation without hopping in a car thanks to restaurants, tennis courts, pools, a spa, kids’ activities, and at least 18 championship holes right on site. Your planner can coordinate a welcome tournament or group play after the send-off brunch.
Exchange sunset vows on the green next to a sparkling lake or waterfall. Move from Champagne on a terrace overlooking the grounds into a ballroom that glistens with chandeliers and your custom lighting scheme. Dinner and dancing in an elegant setting filled with loved ones round out this night of a lifetime.
PHOTO BY STEVEN WAYNE PHOTOGRAPHY
Championship golf meets winning venues at …Desert Willow Golf Resort, overlooking the sprawling course.
Keeping it green: Classic Club, Desert Falls Country Club, Desert Willow Golf Resort, Escena Golf Club, Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa, Indian Canyons Golf Resort, Indian Wells Golf Resort, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, La Quinta Resort & Club, Miramonte Indian Wells Resort & Spa, Mission Hills Country Club, Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa, Renaissance Indian Wells Resort & Spa, The Westin Mission Hills Golf Resort & Spa, Woodhaven Country Club.
PHOTO BY STEVEN WAYNE PHOTOGRAPHY
La Quinta Resort & Club, with grand stairways and grander doors.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL SEGAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Midcentury Cool
You listen to vinyl. You wear vintage. You were born in the wrong decade.
While February’s Modernism Week draws design and architecture buffs from around the globe, any time is the right time to wed in an architecturally significant venue. Take your pick from one of history’s finest. Each perfects the indoor-outdoor flow, from swanky glass-walled living rooms to poolside martinis. Plan your soundtrack, attire, and mod set of wheels for cruising around town accordingly.
Time travel to the 1950s and ’60s: The Amado, Arthur Elrod Escape, Caliente Tropics, Casa Verona, Del Marcos Hotel, Desert Hills Hotel, Desert Riviera Hotel, Frederick Loewe Estate, Gene Autry Residence at Parker Palm Springs, The Lautner Compound, L’Horizon Resort & Spa, The Monkey Tree Hotel, Orbit In and the Hideaway, Palm Springs Rendezvous, Ruby Montana’s Coral Sands, Skylark Hotel, Twin Palms Frank Sinatra Estate.
PHOTO BY ASHLEY LAPRADE/PRIVATE RENTAL AT PARK IMPERIAL SOUTH
Party Central
No one’s ducking out early tonight. High-energy hotels make a dancer out of everyone.
For those who believe a wedding is the best excuse to throw an unforgettable bash, you’ve found your match. Laced with just enough urban edge and a serious pool scene, these social hotels take the party to the next level with plenty of eye candy and uncommon amenities, such as lobby billiards and in-room record players. Each has at least one restaurant and a cocktail lounge which means everyone will know where to find you.
And the beat goes on till the break of dawn: Ace Hotel & Swim Club (right), Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs, Riviera Palm Springs, The Saguaro Palm Springs, V Palm Springs.
PHOTO BY KATIE MCGIHON
Classic Glamour
If bold and beautiful are your
big-day must-haves.
Just because you’re not planning to wear a tiara doesn’t mean you can’t feel like a princess. The ultimate destination for statement weddings will ensure you do. Atop a bluff at The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage, you’ll see the whole valley and it will bow to your storybook affair on the terrace or lawn. Or, envelop your celebration in exclusivity by reserving one of the area’s most beautiful private homes for a weekend of luxurious seclusion.
Your grand entrance is a given: Bougainvillea Estate, Casa de los Arcos, Casa de Monte Vista, Cielo Estate, Colony 29, Desert Ridge Estate, Dinah Shore Estate, Empire Polo Club, Henry Mancini Estate, La Chureya Estate, The Pond Estate, The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage, The Solomon Estate, Villa Carmelita.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL SEGAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Cielo Estate in Palm Springs.
PHOTO BY JIM KELLY
Le Chureya estate in Palm Springs.
PHOTO BY BETSI EWING STUDIO
Villa Carmelita in Palm Springs.
Boutique Hotels
The designer details of these intimate hideaways may be decoration enough.
A-listers who haven’t gotten around to buying their own Palm Springs estate often check into these retreats. While settings range from hip and picturesque to private and serene, all know how to cater to a couple’s wishes. Often, that starts with a mountain-view outdoor courtyard. Some offer a spa, restaurant, or cocktail lounge — or all of the above. Stick around for the honeymoon; you’ll be too comfortable to leave.
Chic as they come: Arrive Palm Springs, Avalon Hotel and Bungalows, Colt’s Lodge, La Serena Villas, Los Arboles Hotel, Parker Palm Springs , Sparrows Lodge, Triada Palm Springs.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL SEGAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Regency Courtyard at the Avalon Hotel
and Bungalows in Palm Springs.
PHOTO BY MI BELLE PHOTOGRAPHY/BOUQUET BY ARTISAN FLORAL DÉCOR
Aerial view from the lobby of the Parker Palm Springs.
Rustic and Real
Free spirits feel at home in these rugged locales with untamed natural beauty.
Big sky above, mountain vistas on every side, and acreage to spare appeal to those who like to feel a connection to the natural world when making a major commitment. Get that grounded feeling at a luxurious ranch right in town or flee to the outskirts of the High Desert and ride off into the night on horseback. Care for a twirl on a starlit dance floor or a seat around an open fire to snack on s’mores? Gatherings here are sweet and familial.
Skip the high heels and suit: Boulder House, Crazy Horse Ranch, Genuine Draft Horse Ranch, Joshua Tree National Park, Le Haut Désert Aerie, Makerville, Pappy & Harriet’s, The Ranch House at The Lautner Compound, Smoke Tree Ranch, The Ruin Venue, Tumbleweed Sanctuary, Huell Howser’s The Wheelhouse.
PHOTO BY BRANCH AND COLE/DESIGNED BY THE WALK DOWN THE AISLE
The Ruin Venue near Joshua Tree wraps nature’s arms around you.
Local Landmarks
Out of the history books come some of our most romantic retreats.
Each wedding is part of a larger love story when hosted at a timeless hideaway. The Spanish architecture and serene ambiance of Old Palm Springs live on at a quaint collection of small hotels that date back to the 1920s and ’30s. With quiet pathways for wandering off and getting lost together, fountains, flowers, and courtyards, the locations have wooed and wowed for decades, from first kiss to “Happy anniversary.” Tranquil and enchanting, these venues make gracious hosts.
Charmed, I’m sure: Casa Cody, Colony Palms Hotel, Ingleside Inn, The Junipero, Korakia Pensione, O’Donnell House, Sand Acre Estate, Spencer’s Restaurant, Villa Royale Inn, The Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn.
PHOTO BY MICHAEL SEGAL PHOTOGRAPHY/DESIGNED BY THE WALK DOWN THE AISLE
Colony Palms Hotel is known for courtyard weddings and poolside receptions.
PHOTO BY DEBORAH TRACEY PHOTOGRAPHY/BOUQUET BY ARTISAN FLORAL EVENT DECOR
A bride and groom enjoy the beauty of nature at Moorten Botanical Garden.
Natural Wonders
Love blooms at these lush, fresh-air escapes.
The splendor of the great outdoors meets the privacy of your own backyard at these magical, multifaceted properties. Let the desert reveal its softer side, dotted with lakes, lagoons, waterfalls, fountains, and multiple pools. Manicured gardens, native surroundings, and open-air wedding aisles are a canvas for your impeccable taste and signature style.
Garden parties, desert style: The Chateau Lake La Quinta, Corona Yacht Club, Cree Estate, Jackalope Ranch, Moorten Botanical Garden, The Park at The Lautner Compound, Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve.
PHOTO BY JIM AND KELLY
Two grooms at Moorten Botanical Garden. left: A father-daughter dance at Jackalope Ranch.
PHOTO BY MATTHEW DAVID STUDIO
A father-daughter dance at Jackalope Ranch.
Unexpected Spaces
An original couple, an eclectic venue, an offbeat celebration.
Nontraditional is almost a new norm. These uncommon backdrops offer a welcome element of surprise without going off the deep end. Add your own creative ideas to the photogenic environs, from live creatures to contemporary art. Take over a museum by night, express yourselves in a white tented photo studio, join the animals at the zoo, or whisk your guests up the scenic mountainside in the world’s largest rotating tram car — because love is in the air.
Have it your way: The Living Desert Zoo & Gardens, Living Free Animal Sanctuary, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, Palm Springs Air Museum, Palm Springs Art Museum, Salvation Mountain, Snapshot Palm Springs.
PHOTO BY CHRIS MILLER/IMAGINEIMAGERY.COM
Red roses en masse by My Little Flower Shop decorate the Palm Springs Art Museum with its grand sweeping stairways and open floor plan.
PHOTO BY MATTHEW DAVID STUDIO
A bride and groom escape to Leonard Knight’s Salvation Mountain for a truly spiritual and vivid venue.