Everyone will remember your wedding at Unicoi State Park & Lodge.

Are you considering a wedding that’s more natural, breezy and lots of fun for all your guests? With 1000+ acres of state park lands and waters, and minutes from Alpine Helen, Unicoi State Park & Lodge is a top destination for North Georgia Mountain weddings.

What is a Destination Wedding?
According to Brides Magazine, a destination wedding is a ceremony and reception that’s held someplace other than where the future spouses will live, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s in some far-flung locale.

We’re a new, blended family with a young son. It was important to show him, and our friends and family, that this wedding was a symbol of fun adventures to come in our future together.

Our Atlanta-based family and friends received invitations last winter inviting them to our summer wedding ceremony and reception at Unicoi State Park & Lodge. Our gathering of 50 guests had an awesome time at our destination wedding last month. With the lush greening of summer all around us, the photos are amazing to behold, but much more are our memories!

Mountain Motif Venues

This North Georgia State Park has nine outdoor and indoor venues to help establish the wedding of your dreams. For outdoor venues, choose:

• The open space of Smith Creek Field, bordered by a winding stream and mature hardwoods, is suitable for 300+ guests.
• The more-intimate settings of Serenity Meadow or Smith Creek Overlook gives guests views of the lower Blue Ridge Mountains.

Indoor spaces include:

• Masters Hall, with 24-foot-high ceilings and sparkling chandeliers;
• The Fireside Room, featuring a cozy, two-sided, wood-burning stone fireplace; and
• The Beach House, a rustic-modern lakeside retreat overlooking Unicoi Lake.

Catering is Fabulous
Unicoi State Park and Lodge is the exclusive caterer for all events and that saved me a lot of time and energy! My main decision was: buffet or plated dinner? We chose a buffet so that people could mix and match what they preferred. We had many compliments about how awesome the food was! Of course, can you imagine deciding between baked lemon-herb chicken, BBQ or fried chicken, brined pork loin with apple chutney, blackened trout with roasted corn and black bean relish, braised beef short ribs with red wine reduction … those are only some of the entrée options. Imagine the choices for appetizers, salads, side dishes, and desserts. The menus are updated often. Click here to get an idea of what’s being served this season.

Wild Fun Together
We introduced some our friends to zip lining for the first time! At Unicoi State Park & Lodge, you can zip right through the forest and over Lake Unicoi – one of several zip lines. Make group reservations in advance to secure your spots.

If you want to watch friendly competition unfold, just gather for archery! The 3D Archery Range at Unicoi provides shade and unlimited opportunities for you to get familiar with the bow and arrow and your own sense of precision.

Check out all the adventures: Screaming Eagle Aerial Adventures (zip line), kayaking, guided nature hike, fly fishing class, paddleboarding, axe throwing, archery & gun range. Book Online or call 706-878-2201.

Beyond the park, guests love to explore the historic and artistic Village of Sautee-Nacoochee, North Georgia’s local wineries, seasonal festivals in Alpine Helen (Oktoberfest is next), and antique and art galleries.

We also enjoyed drinks and dining at the Lodge’s Smith Creek Tavern.

No matter where we played or relaxed, one of my favorite pastimes at Unicoi is to enjoy the firepits outside of the lodge. They are communal and invite people to sit and share stories. My mind wanders to all the new experiences our guests discovered while also being there to celebrate our new blended family.

Thank you, Unicoi staff, for making this a destination wedding weekend we will always remember!

• Tamra B.