Northstar California

Our wedding at the Zephyr Lodge was above and beyond our wildest expectations of how wonderful of a day it would be! It was on our radar when we realized no matter how badly we wanted to have our wedding "in nature", mother nature doesn't always cooperate in the Sierras, so we scoped out the place in the winter time and the view was amazing. We initially thought it was too pricey, but once we crunched the numbers with other venues that are less inclusive, the cost was about the same- we ultimately chose Northstar so we could give our large East coast families the ability to all stay in houses together and close by. ( The *only* comment I have was the discounted lodging link/website was a little rough, it's wording didn't match the lodging descriptions on the Northstar website, and several guests had a hard time navigating/confidently booking the accommodation they wanted.) Brett was super responsive as an up front contact and handled the booking and logistics well, and Paula took it from there as our day-of contact and point of contact for planning. Paula was wonderful- she was responsive, followed up promptly with answers or documents, and if it wasn't for her, there are so many details I would have missed/not thought of, she really helped keep us on track. She also was right on point helping us meet the F&B minimum w/out going over. The day of was amazing- friends and family raved about the view, the fun gondola rides, and how pleasant the staff was- several guests brought kids unexpectedly, and Paula handled it with a smile (thank you Paula!) Staff brought my husband and I appetizers while we were taking pictures so we wouldn't miss out(or pass out!), the bartenders were friendly and engaging with our guests, everything went off without a hitch, and if there were any hitches, they handled it deftly. In summary: amazing venue for a ceremony with a spectacular view; the reception was a nonstop party and everyone of my 100ish guests felt taken care of personally; Paula is amazing, I hope if you choose Northstar you get to work with her; my husband and i could not have had a better day there!

Our wedding at the Zephyr Lodge was incredible. All of the Northstar staff were so helpful, especially the conference and event services manager. Having your big day on top of the mountain is special. Everyone takes a gondola or chairlift up the mountain for an unforgettable experience. The Lodge is beautiful and has a great flow for a wedding. We had roughly 200 people up there and it was perfect. Highly recommend.

We hosted our wedding at Northstar in September, and did the cocktail hour, dinner and dancing in the Tavern. It was a great and intimate location for ~80 guests. The chef and bar tender were very supportive of customized asks, and the execution was spot on for the day of, the wait staff was attentive and friendly. It was super convenient to have all of the wedding activities in one location, no shuttle buses, just a short walk from the ceremony to the dining room, a shorter waltz to the dance floor and an easy stumble through the village back to the room!

Zephyr Lodge brought our dream to life. The day was unreal, and the experiences and atmosphere that come with a venue like this are uniquely memorable. I am an event planner by profession. We looked at 20+ venues in the Bay Area and 5+ venues in Tahoe. We fell in love with Northstar from our first visit, despite it being covered in 10 feet of snow and populated by skiers and snowboarders. The most important thing to my husband and I was setting a mood, and this venue really enabled us to run with that. I will say that it is not for everyone. It is at a high altitude, and you have to take 2 ski lifts to get to Zephyr. We had some folks with mobility and oxygen challenges, so we had to put a bit of extra effort into it. The F&B minimum is a bit high, but the quality of food was superb. We had 2 tastings (one included with the venue fee) which included a 1:1 meeting with the coordinator (hi, Cara!) and the chef. That experience alone really set the bar high and put us at ease. While we didn't want the food to be terrible, food was kind of on the bottom of our list of priorities. We were pleasantly surprised to see how delicious, artful, and thoughtfully created everything was. The bar service was also excellent. The venue has a long list of trusted and reputable vendors to work with (we went with Love and Lupines for flowers, Jeff Jones band for music, Tin Roof Farmhouse for staging, and Kirsten Noelle Wiemer for photography). Rest assured that they are all top notch. The experience of the day was overwhelmingly joyful and beautiful. I wouldn't change a thing. Hearing guests talk about the venue with such awe made everything worth it. It was a wedding for the books! Highly recommend.

The Northstar Resort was the perfect location for our wedding. It’s apparent from the second you pull up to the property the location is extremely beautiful and relaxing. The rooms are great; there is the convenience of the village restaurants, bars, shops, small food/beverage store, activities, and stunning scenery regardless of the season. We loved that our guests were able to stay in the village and not have to worry about how they were getting to and from events. We had a Welcome party in the Village Overlook, our wedding the next night at Zephyr Lodge and after party at the Tavern. We received many compliments from our guests about their experiences at Northstar, the venues chosen, and how great the food was at all 3 events (mac and cheese balls, pizza cones, and the mini grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup were a huge hit at the end of the night)! I don’t think pictures can do Northstar justice. Once you ride the chair lifts to Zephyr Lodge at the top of the mountain and look out over the beautiful mountains you will fall in love, too! Another major plus is they assign an event coordinator to each wedding to help with details pertaining to the property, catering and vendor arrival and departure. Cara was our coordinator and she was amazing!! She was quick to respond to emails and phone calls, gave great recommendations, met with us every time we visited, and communicated with our vendors to make sure the weekend ran smoothly. The Northstar Resort speaks for itself in appearance, but Cara made the biggest impact on our experience at this location leading up to the wedding and throughout the wedding weekend.

My husband and I were married at Northstar on September 25th surrounded by a small group of our closest family and friends. From the views up at Zephyr Ridge, to the intimacy of the tented reception at Overlook Pavilion, to the amazing food by Executive Chef Chad Shrewsbury, we cannot possibly pick a favorite aspect to our perfect day. Our group was small at 35 people, but the setup was arranged to make it feel like we owned the space rather than feeling empty and cavernous. They were very accommodating in allowing our dog, Tuck, to be a part of our day and didn't mind a tired pup napping on the outdoor sofa while we ate dinner. Our rehearsal dinner the night before was at Tavern 6330'. The food was great, the service was great, and the price was just right.

We got married at Zephyr Lodge at the top of the mountain. The staff, the location, everything was wonderful! There were no surprises and Northstar is a great location because there is so much to do right there in the village. Highly recommend!

We chose Zephyr Lodge up at Northstar for our wedding. Not only was it spectacularly beautiful, but I cannot say enough about Mercie Galvin (the coordinator we were set up with) and the entire Northstar team. Mercie was so responsive and helpful throughout the entire process, doing everything she could to accommodate our requests and make our day as perfect as possible. On the wedding day itself, she was so calm and did so much to make sure things went smoothly. When our rehearsal turned into a hail storm and the lift shut down trapping half of us up at the lodge, and the other half unable to make it up, she had the bar open for us to keep us happy and then came to our rehearsal dinner to go through a run through. On the wedding day when the florist didn't show up until 30 minutes before the ceremony, and it rained up until 1 minutes before the ceremony was to start, she made sure to get me as much information as I needed, but ensured she did not stress me out. All the other things that she did, I can't even express my gratitude and praise!

Northstar was amazing. Just the beauty of the venue itself speaks volumes but add the food, drinks, lodging, and a wedding professional all for a very reasonable sum makes Northstar one of the best choices I made in planning my wedding. I worked with Sharon and I couldn't have asked for a more helpful person in every way. She is excellent. I would choose Northstar again in a heartbeat.

Northstar is the perfect place for a wedding. The quality is superb and the convenience is amazing. The option to have family and friends stay at the same location as the ceremony and reception is wonderful, and there is nothing more beautiful than the pine tree backdrop at the Overlook wedding site. In addition, and probably more unique than many other locations, the Northstar team of caterers, hotel services, and in-village business owners is experienced, kind, and extremely hard-working. Northstar also provides an coordinator on site that will quickly become the greatest resource you never knew you would need. If I could go back and get married again next Saturday, I would. And, whenever possible, we will return to relive the day and share the place with everyone we can.

While the venue is beautiful, I have some concerns. I had a small wedding (30 guests) and it was held at Martis Valley Grille. The ceremony was held at "Dustin's Grove" near the Grille. This is a small grassy area next to the parking lot on a golf course, so golfers will be driving and golfing behind you. Fortunately later in the afternoon/evening it is not as frequent. Most of the golfers were very nice about a wedding being held there, but some were extremely rude. Some concerns about service: 1) The children were given meals they did not order (staff tried to give the vegetarian children chicken fingers instead of grilled cheese, and appeared upset that the kids didn't want them), 2) The children weren't actually fed until the adults were finished eating (if you're parents you know how problematic this is), 3) They forgot to order the arch for the ceremony (to their credit they substituted an upgraded arch and didn't charge me extra), 4) We never saw the advertised golf cart that we were supposed to be able to use for transportation and/or pictures, 5) The meal was supposed to come with a table of brownies/cookies which I never saw (a couple guests said they may have seen it), 6) The condos are really hit and miss - some are fairly nice while others feel like 1-star motel rooms, they put me and the bridal party in a horrible room which was not acceptable since that was where we were going to be doing the getting ready pictures the next day (they upgraded us after my maid of honor complained). While the coordinator and other staff were nice to work with prior to the wedding, it seemed a little disjointed.

Both families were able to stay in houses in the resort for the entire week. The Northstar Property Association has a great family area with pool playground sauna etc. There are several areas to hold a ceremony. We used the Overlook Pavilion which was at the top of the hill. The view was ideal and we had the place to ourselves.