Horse Friendly Wedding Venues
Not all wedding venues welcome 4000lbs of horses walking around on perfectly manicured lawns, but some (and those are our favourite venues) LOVE horses as much as we do and welcome us with open arms. We understand that when it comes to carriage rides, that the horses can leave scuff marks on pavement from their shoes, they require a lot of space, and they will do “their duty” when nature calls. Some people have allergies and there may be policies in place at private clubs, resorts and vineyards that simply don’t allow us on the grounds. We don’t mind, honestly, because those venues are not what we call “horse friendly”.
We always do a site visit ahead of time to ensure venues are suitable for our horses, safe for the guests, and large enough to accommodate our vehicles. What’s most suitable in a wedding venue is a large outdoor space, such as a farm, cidery, or ranch location. It should have amble parking for our truck, trailer, and carriage. Ideally, the venue will also have shade for our horses (big ol’ trees are great!), in a private area tucked away from the celebrations of the wedding. Even more ideal, is if the venue has a corral available and a lean-to or barn that we can tie the horses and allow them to rest and relax. We look to avoid steep terrain, narrow walkways or locations close to highways. As well behaved as our horses are, they are still animals and we want them to remain as calm possible, and happy to do their job.
We have put together a list of venues that we can confirm are “horse friendly”. We have either attended weddings with the horses or we have already done a site visit and we are happy to say the venues are on our approved list! Most locations are in the North Okanagan, where Horse Drawn Okanagan horses call home:
Armstrong/Spallumcheen
Farmstrong Cidery
Blue Grass Farm Country Events and Accommodations
Ridgeview Ranch Weddings and Events
Barn 4404
Salmon Arm
Lumby
Summerland
Of course we are open to attending private wedding locations as well. We’d love to meet in person to see if the location is suitable but also to talk about your wedding and come up with a plan to giving you the most memorable horse experience ever!