We like Newport’s mansion museums as much as the next voyeur, but we also like a wedding location that doesn’t flinch when the ring bearer wanders into a flower bed. The Chanler at Cliff Walk (www.thechanler.com), a mansion-turned-boarding-school-turned-orphanage-turned-hotel, combines the elegance of an 1873 French empire estate with the genuine hospitality of a seaside resort. The gardens are glorious, pathways make perfect entrances, and the house drink–a French Pear Martini–has gotten more than a few marriages off to a spirited start.
