The Perfect Adventure Wedding Weekend Itinerary

Tis the season to get engaged! This is one of our favorite times of the year when many couples put a ring on it and start their wedding planning journeys. It’s such a joyous and exciting time, a reminder that love always wins.

To those couples who are newly engaged, congratulations! We hope you’ll take the time to soak up the moment and celebrate with your new fiancé, family, and friends. Pop that bubbly and crank up the music! When you’re ready to begin planning your wedding, not only is our team at Big Day Celebrations here to help you every step of the way, but we’re also here to inspire you and make the process fun!

That’s why we always encourage our couples to think outside the box and consider more unconventional and unique wedding ideas, like having an adventure wedding weekend! No matter your guest count, if you’re local to Montana or making it a destination wedding, an adventure wedding in Montana is a true experience!

One of our couples, Kristen and Charlie, had a full adventure wedding weekend just like this. In this post, we’ll take you through each day of their itinerary. We’ll show you this as the perfect example of what your adventure wedding weekend can look like.

Without further ado, let’s dive in!

Day 1: Explore Glacier National Park

Gone are the days of single day wedding celebrations! More and more, couples like Kristen and Charlie are embracing the idea of a full adventure wedding weekend. The main benefit of this is time. You’ll have more quality time to spend with your loved ones. This is especially important if everyone is traveling to Montana for a destination adventure wedding. At no point in the weekend will you feel rushed or time crunched because you have the luxury of spreading the festivities out over 2 or even 3 days.

On day 1 of Kristen and Charlie’s adventure wedding weekend, they took their crew to Glacier National Park for a day of exploration and fun!

Glacier is a “can’t miss” activity if you’re traveling to Montana for any reason because of its jaw-dropping landscapes. This makes it the perfect place to kick off your adventure wedding weekend! Kristen, Charlie, and their wedding party hiked throughout Glacier, taking in the scenery, snapping pictures with their photographer, and spotting all kinds of wildlife, from rams to bears to moose!

11/10 times, we will always recommend doing an adventure session in Glacier if you’re getting married here! Usually, this involves you and your new spouse wearing your wedding attire and capturing portraits throughout the park either before or after the wedding. However, it doesn’t have to be this way! Kristen and Charlie opted to have their photographer join them on their adventure day and snap candid shots and portraits in their hiking attire along the way. Not only did they get incredible images of the two of them, but they also got epic pictures with their wedding party.

This couple even took everyone on a boat ride on Lake McDonald that day! Adding an extra element of fun to their adventure wedding weekend, this boat ride was an excellent way to further immerse themselves in the park and experience all that Glacier has to offer.

Night 2: Rehearsal & Rehearsal Dinner

That evening, the wedding rehearsal took place at the wedding venue, Paddle Ridge. This was followed by the rehearsal dinner at Grouse Mountain Lodge. Our team conducted the rehearsal, ensuring everyone felt comfortable and confident with where to walk and stand for the ceremony. We also answered any and all questions about the day-of. We made it so that the next day, everyone could simply relax and enjoy the festivities.

Day 2: Adventure Wedding Day!

Day 2 of this adventure wedding weekend was wedding day! For their adventure wedding, Kristen and Charlie curated a color palette that included sage green, ivory, and gold.

Wedding Ceremony

At the ceremony site, we set a trio of triangular wooden arches made to look like mountains. A lush floral spray accented the center arch, and the forest trees and mountain range made up the backdrop. Our favorite part though was the ski shot board that Kristen and Charlie would use for their unity ceremony. This was a wooden ski with 2 shot glasses built into it that we seamlessly and elegantly propped up against the ceremony arch, so that nobody could see it until it was time to use it. Genius!

When the processional began at this adventure wedding, Charlie came down the aisle in a light tan suit followed by the couple’s beloved dog wearing a little bow tie. When the first notes of “With or Without You” by 2 Cellos hit the air, Kristen floated down the steps and aisle. She wore a white wedding gown with floral appliques and held a classic bridal bouquet made up of white roses and anemones. Charlie teared up as he saw his bride for the first time!

This ceremony was an honor to witness! Filled with laughter, happy tears, and even a shot for good luck, it struck the ideal balance of sentimentality, romance, and fun. It’s no wonder that by the time Kristen and Charlie said “I do” and sealed it with a kiss, cheers and rose petals filled the air.

Cocktail Hour

As the guests broke for cocktail hour, the newlyweds and their wedding party hopped on a cute red trolley and headed over to Glacier National Park for adventure wedding photos. Engaged couples, save this idea as a pro tip for your big day! Selecting a venue so close to Glacier is ideal, whether you want to capture photos there before, during, or after the wedding.  

Kristen and Charlie got to take full advantage of their venue’s proximity to Glacier by taking their adventure wedding photos at Apgar Village. They were able to capture so many amazing photos in the hour allotted for cocktails, making full use of their adventure wedding day!

And of course, our team reserved them appetizers to enjoy as soon as they got back! Before the reception began, they indulged in apps like bison meatballs, shrimp avocado cucumber bites, and chicken skewers. Yum!

Wedding Reception

Every detail of the newlyweds’ adventure wedding reception was thoughtful and elegant. We set their tables with wooden lanterns and hurricane candles, bud vases, sage goblets, and hammered copper chargers. The head table was similarly decorated, but had fluffy and lush floral arrangements running down its length. This couple also planned for special touches, like the mini huckleberry jam jars and personalized Moscow Mule cups that they gifted their guests as favors. What could be more perfect than these for a Montana adventure wedding?

Their wedding cake was a 2-tier white cake with mountain detailing on the exterior. Topped with a metallic cake topper and fresh floral, it was a beautiful focal point of the dessert display. To up the ante even further, Kristen and Charlie had a full cookie table, representative of their Pittsburgh roots! Dating back to the Great Depression, this Pennsylvanian tradition came about because wedding cake was very expensive during times of hardship. As an alternative, a couple’s family and friends would all bake various cookies with family recipes in lieu of a cake to serve at the celebration. To honor this beloved tradition, a table filled with a vast variety of cookies was laid out at Kristen and Charlie’s reception for everyone to enjoy.  

As seasoned wedding planners, we get to be a part of a lot of parties, but this reception was on the next level! This was such a fun crowd and the fun just kept going all night long, especially when we passed out light cowboy hats and glow sticks! Everyone had a great time celebrating this special couple and it showed!

Optional Day 3: Farewell Festivities

Your adventure wedding weekend itinerary could conclude with the end of your reception and that would be more than enough fun to go around. However, you may also consider adding an optional day 3 to your wedding weekend! The morning after the wedding, you could host a brunch for your immediate families and wedding party or have a laidback spa day together. Perhaps you use day 3 to go on another adventure session in Glacier in your full wedding attire.

The possibilities are truly endless for your adventure wedding weekend! No matter what you have in mind, our team at Big Day Celebrations can help bring your dreams into reality. We’re here to help you dream, plan, and execute the celebration you’ve always longed for!

A Word from Katie:

Kristen and Charlie, oh my goodness you two were so sweet and fun to work with! Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your adventure wedding celebration. I just loved seeing how much fun you had and how happy the weekend was. I wish you both all the love and joy in the world forevermore!

-Katie

Vendor Team:

Venue // Paddle Ridge

Planner // Big Day Celebrations

Photographer // Live More Weddings

DJ // Sidecar Audio

Floral // Pure Happiness Wedding Flowers

Rentals // Empress Tents & Events

Caterer // The Kopper Kitchen

Cake & Desserts // Bakes & Cakes by Brie

Hair & Makeup // Rocky Mountain Beauty – Melanie Hobus

Transportation // Montana Trolley Co.

Bridesmaids Dresses // David’s Bridal

Invitations // Zazzle

Let’s Plan Your Adventure Wedding Weekend!

Big Day Celebrations offers full-service wedding planning, coordination & design services, and micro-wedding packages, so no matter how you envision your wedding, we will make it happen and have a whole lot of fun along the way!

Ready to get started? Drop me a note below and let’s do this!