In the Reno-Tahoe area, you also will find hotels and chapels open daily, such as the Courtyard Wedding Chapel at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks and the independent Arch of Reno Wedding Chapel in Reno. Weddings at Lake Tahoe can be spectacular, with mountains and the lake as your backdrop. You can wed on the beach, on a boat, in a balloon or on a mountaintop. The Wedding Chapel at Harveys is elegantly decorated and has 18-foot-tall windows with views of snowcapped peaks. Other resorts with full wedding services are Hyatt Regency, MontBleu and Zephyr Cove Resort. If Western is more your style, you can exchange vows in Virginia City and take a wagon ride to a B&B for your wedding night. You can be pronounced husband and wife at state, city and county parks or at any one of 17 county courthouses around the state—then spend your honeymoon on a hiking, biking, fishing, camping or climbing trip. You can even get married at Burning Man, the counterculture festival held at the end of August in the Black Rock Desert north of Reno. Nevada does not require a blood test or waiting period. You can purchase a wedding license at marriage bureaus located around the state. In Reno and Las Vegas, you can obtain a license seven days a week until midnight or you can complete an online application and take it with you to the marriage bureau. Nevada’s destinations are perfect venues for bachelor and bachelorette parties and engagements, as well. Spas With all of the excitement to be found in Nevada’s wild mountains, exhilarating ski slopes, action-packed casinos and resorts and irresistible shops, we thought that you could use some time to relax before setting out on your next Silver State excursion. You should have no trouble rejuvenating your adventure-weary body at any of the spas that dot every corner of the state from the hyperactive Las Vegas Strip to serene Lake Tahoe pine forests.
Las Vegas is a city that seems incapable of mediocrity, and no place is this more true than in its world-class spas. The two-story, 69,000-squarefoot Canyon Ranch SpaClub at the Venetian is the city’s largest. In addition to all the normal spa offerings, Canyon Ranch has a wellness center that offers physical therapy, acupuncture, and a nutritionist. The Zen-influenced Spa & Salon Bellagio employs Eastern massage techniques, such as their signature Bellagio Stone Massage, to bring hotel guests near Nirvana. For a tropical getaway on the Strip, Spa Mandalay’s beach ambiance makes visitors forget they are in a desert and their aloe body wrap is just the cure for sun-parched skin.
Even vacations can be tiring so go ahead and take a break. We think you’ve earned it. If your mind and body have to escape the Strip to get away from it all, the Ritz-Carlton Spa at Lake Las Vegas and its special massages and treatments are a refreshing change of pace with an excellent view of the Las Vegas lights in the valley below. On the opposite edge of the city, at the foot of Red Rock Canyon, The Spa at Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa is an ultra-hip, modern establishment. Bright red walls pop against stark white and black furniture and sheer curtains contrast well with the natural beauty of the canyon. Although Las Vegas rules relaxation, the rest of the state has plenty to offer travelers looking to unwind. The Tuscan-inspired spa at Siena Hotel Spa Casino, on the Truckee River in the heart of downtown Reno, is a peaceful getaway. The Peppermill Resort Spa Casino is putting the finishing touches on its new, world-class three-story European spa set for completion in fall 2008. The spa will include marble steam and sauna rooms and a quiet sun deck overlooking the pool. Onsen Spa at Lake Tahoe’s Mont Bleu Resort Casino and Spa is a serene escape nestled in majestic pines on the south shore of the most breathtaking alpine lake in the world. For a luxurious pampering on Lake Tahoe’s north shore, visit Stillwater at Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort & Spa.
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