French Alps
French Alps
Couture Slopes
& Parisian Allure
The ultimate fusion of world-class skiing and Parisian sophistication -- where the French Art de Vivre reaches its most extreme and most glamorous high-altitude expression.
Courchevel 1850 -- at 1,850 metres in the Tarentaise valley, Savoie -- is the most exclusive ski resort in the world by virtually every measure: the highest concentration of Palace-distinction hotels per square kilometre, the most Michelin-starred restaurants in any mountain resort, and a private Altiport (elevation 2,008m) that handles more private jet movements per season than any other mountain airport in Europe. Part of the Trois Vallees ski area -- with 600 km of marked pistes, the largest linked ski area in the world. Megeve -- 30 km away in the Haute-Savoie, at 1,113 metres -- was invented from scratch in the 1920s by the Rothschild family as the French aristocratic answer to the Swiss St. Moritz, and has maintained its particular atmosphere of discreet, Old Money elegance -- cobblestone streets, horse-drawn sleighs, jazz bars, and the finest private chalets in the Alps -- for over 100 years. For the couple who demands the prestige of the French Art de Vivre at altitude.
"The snowy landscape becomes
a private runway at 1850 metres."
Four Reasons the French Alps Are the World's Most Glamorous Mountain Destination
The Rothschild Vision
In the early 1920s, Baroness Noemi de Rothschild -- frustrated that Swiss St. Moritz was full of Germans and Swiss, and seeking a more exclusively French aristocratic mountain retreat -- commissioned the architect Henry Jacques Le Same to design an entirely new resort in the Haute-Savoie, in a village of 700 farmers called Megeve. She built the Hotel Mont d'Arbois (1921) on its own private mountain, imported the finest Parisian craftsmen to construct chalets of extraordinary quality, and invited the French Old Money elite to spend their winters there. Over 100 years later, the Rothschild family still owns the Mont d'Arbois estate -- now the Four Seasons Hotel Megeve -- and the village has never lost the particular atmosphere of discreet aristocratic elegance that the Baroness originally imposed upon it.
The Playground of Royalty
Courchevel 1850 is the winter sanctuary of the global elite at its most concentrated and most private. The village has hosted Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales (who spent multiple winter holidays there before and after their wedding), the Beckham family, and pop royalty including Beyonce and Jay-Z, who spent New Year 2014 in a private chalet there. The Russian oligarch presence that characterised Courchevel in the 2000s and 2010s has been replaced by Middle Eastern royal families, American tech billionaires, and the French industrial and fashion elite -- all attracted by the combination of absolute privacy (the village has no through-road), White Glove service, and the specific social prestige that no amount of money can simply purchase.
Gastronomic Peak
Courchevel holds the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants in any mountain resort in the world -- with currently 7 starred restaurants within the resort, including the three-Michelin-starred Le 1947 at Cheval Blanc (one of only a handful of three-starred mountain restaurants on earth) and the Michelin-starred kitchens of Les Airelles, Aman Le Melezin, and the Chabichou. The gastronomic culture of Courchevel is not an amenity added to a ski resort: it is a fundamental part of the resort's identity, and the apr-s-ski dinner is treated with the same seriousness and the same level of production that a Parisian three-star restaurant brings to every service.
Cinematic Soul
Charade (1963) -- directed by Stanley Donen, starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, shot largely in Paris but opening with the famous ski resort sequences that established the French Alpine aesthetic as the cinema's most glamorous winter setting -- cemented the French Alps' status as a temple of style and sophistication that has never been seriously challenged. More recently, the French Alps have served as the setting for luxury brand campaigns from Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Dior, and for the contemporary reality of the French elite's winter life that has made platforms like Instagram's most-followed luxury accounts largely French Alpine in their visual language. The specific aesthetic of a lantern-lit Savoyard street at night, in fresh snow, is one of the most globally replicated images of aspirational living.
Venues & Ceremony Options
Courchevel -- Palace Distinction
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Les Airelles
An Austro-Hungarian fairy-tale castle on the Courchevel slopes -- a Palace-distinction property whose opulent interiors draw inspiration from the Habsburg imperial court, with hand-painted ceilings, antique furniture, and a legendary service culture that represents the most theatrical and most historically layered luxury experience in the French Alps. The most majestic and most architecturally extraordinary setting for Grand-Scale Productions in Courchevel.
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Cheval Blanc Courchevel
Owned by LVMH (the world's largest luxury group, whose portfolio includes Louis Vuitton, Dior, Givenchy, and Moet Hennessy) -- a Palace-distinction hotel representing the absolute pinnacle of modern luxury and contemporary art curation in the Alps. Home to the three-Michelin-starred Le 1947 restaurant. Its sleek, ultra-curated aesthetic makes it the ideal backdrop for a high-fashion, contemporary wedding that wants LVMH's particular brand of artistic precision as its visual language.
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Aman Le Melezin
A sanctuary of Alpine minimalism and wellness in the heart of Courchevel 1850 -- the only Aman resort in France, and the most quietly luxurious property in the village. Its philosophy of Silent Luxury -- fewer guests, more space, no ostentatious display, impeccable service that anticipates rather than reacts -- makes it ideal for intimate, soulful celebrations that want the highest possible level of privacy and personal attention.
Megeve -- Old Money Heritage
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Four Seasons Hotel Megeve
On the private Mont d'Arbois estate originally developed by Baroness Noemi de Rothschild in 1921 -- the historic origin point of Megeve as a resort -- this represents the Rothschild legacy in its most contemporary form: a masterpiece of modern-alpine design with the sophisticated family-heritage atmosphere of a property that has been in the same extraordinary ownership for over 100 years. The most historically resonant and most architecturally refined luxury hotel in Megeve.
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Les Fermes de Marie
A cluster of 17th and 18th-century historic alpine farmhouses (fermes) transported stone by stone from their original locations in the Savoie and reconstructed on the slopes of Megeve -- a unique heritage property of extraordinary authenticity and warmth, where the exposed beams, stone fireplaces, and hand-forged ironwork of centuries-old Savoyard craftsmanship create an atmosphere of Country-Chic perfection. The ideal setting for a multi-day, heritage-led wedding retreat of genuine Alpine soul.
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Private Megeve Chalets
Through our long-standing relationships with the most exclusive property managers in Megeve, we access privately owned multi-million dollar chalets -- some dating from the Rothschild era, others built recently to the highest possible standard of Alpine design -- for the most genuinely private wedding experiences in the French Alps. Properties that have never appeared in a rental catalogue and never will: discretion, exclusivity, and absolute quality as a single, indivisible standard.
Elopements & Intimate Vows
Altiport Private Vows
The most cinematically extraordinary elopement arrival in the Alps: a private ceremony immediately following landing at the Courchevel Altiport (2,008m) -- the world's shortest commercial runway at 537 metres, with a 18.5% gradient, perched on the side of a mountain above the resort. Used exclusively for private jets and helicopters, it handles more private aviation movements per season than any other mountain airport in Europe. Your ceremony begins the moment the aircraft door opens, with the entire Trois Vallees spread below.
Chalet Fireplace Rites
A symbolic ceremony in the absolute intimacy of a private Alpine chalet -- the most personal and most genuinely private wedding experience the French Alps can offer: a log fire, hand-stitched cashmere throws, the scent of larch wood and fresh snow, and the Savoyard mountains framed in floor-to-ceiling windows. An aesthetic of Cashmere and Firelight: total warmth, total privacy, total beauty. No audience, no production, no compromise -- just the two of you and the mountains.
Snow-Dune Picnic
A symbolic ceremony on a remote, untouched snow ridge above the Trois Vallees -- accessible only by snowcat from Courchevel 1850 -- followed by a bespoke champagne and gastronomic setup designed and executed by one of Courchevel's Michelin-starred chef teams. The most dramatic editorial visual available in the French Alps: two people, a table for two set in perfect silence on fresh powder snow, with 600 km of ski runs falling away in every direction and the entire arc of the French and Italian Alps on the horizon.
French Alpine Excellence.
Parisian Precision.
Masterful Logistics
We manage arrivals via Geneva Airport (GVA) -- 160 km from Courchevel, 120 km from Megeve, with direct connections from all major international hubs -- or Lyon Saint-Exupery Airport (LYS), 185 km from Courchevel. By private helicopter: Geneva to Courchevel in 35 minutes, Geneva to Megeve in 20 minutes. By private jet directly to the Courchevel Altiport (2,008m): the most exclusive and most cinematically dramatic arrival in the Alps. Luxury 4x4 transfers for larger guest parties through the spectacular alpine landscape of the Tarentaise and Haute-Savoie valleys.
The Savoyard Curation
From private apres-ski soirees in the legendary hidden lounges of Courchevel 1850 -- the Jazz Club at Les Airelles, the private bars of Aman Le Melezin -- to vertical tastings of rare French vintages: the great Burgundy Premiers and Grands Crus of the Cote d'Or, paired with the extraordinary Savoie wines produced in the valley below (Roussette de Savoie, Mondeuse d'Arbin, and the rare Chignin-Bergeron white wine produced from Roussanne grapes on the slopes above Chambery). Custom-made bespoke fragrance favours created in collaboration with Parisian parfumeurs using Savoyard mountain flowers.
The Paris-Alps Connection
We offer unique expertise in designing multi-day wedding experiences that connect the high-fashion ateliers of Paris with the slopes of the French Alps -- a journey from the city of light to the white peaks that takes 6 hours by TGV from Paris Gare de Lyon to Moutiers (gateway to Courchevel) or Sallanches (gateway to Megeve). The Paris fitting at the couturier; the train journey through France; the helicopter ascent from the valley to the resort; the ceremony on the slopes at 1850 metres. A complete French luxury experience, from the 8th arrondissement to the summit.
The Slopes Are Your Runway.
Your Story Begins Now.
Michelin stars, Rothschild elegance, Palace hotels, and 600 km of the finest skiing in the world -- the French Alps will give your wedding the Art de Vivre it deserves.
Start Planning in the French Alps