Paws Up Creekside camp
It may sound like a brand of dog food, but Paws Up is in fact an outrageously romantic Montana resort that seems to have been built with weddings in mind. The 37,000-acre ranch is home to over two dozen vacation homes; but even more intriguing are its “glamping” units (that’s glamour meets camping), stone, wood, and canvas structures organized in five posh and self-sufficient camps. Each of the small villages is the ideal place to host a wedding, as you and your gang have your own dining pavilion in which to make merry, as well as facilities like fire pits and lounge areas.
Each of the five camps has its own personality and allure: River Camp has a dedicated game room (if you’ve got lots of kiddos on your guest list, this is for you); Moonlight Camp has complimentary horse-drawn wagon rides for stargazing.
The newest camp, Cliffside, opens this summer, overlooking the Blackfoot River with jaw-dropping views and six safari-style bungalows the size of small apartments. Each is screened by pine trees, and while four of the tents are designed for families, two are designated “honeymoon tents,” with copper tubs at the foot of the king beds. A private chef and butler will take care of just about anything you can dream up, from organizing an honest-to-goodness cattle drive to prepping the evening’s s’mores. This is the kind of roughing it that even city folk can cotton to, what with air conditioning, electricity, and heated floors.
As for weddings, the resort has coordinated ceremonies in fields, on decks, by the river, and on a covered bridge; you can even arrive horseback, trotting through scenery stolen from a travel poster. There’s a planner on site, and pretty much the sky’s the limit, from a cowboy-style steak cookout to a chuck wagon rehearsal dinner to a black-tie dinner in the Bull Barn, a stunning loft-like space with local pine paneling and crystal chandeliers.
As you might expect, this kind of glamping costs a good bit more than pitching a tent and opening a can of beans. So choose your guest list wisely, and then prepare for a wilderness rendezvous you’ll cherish the rest of your lives.
An outdoor wedding feast at Paws Up
