With a huge spate of big budget films and TV shows flooding the airways, fairy tales have taken pop culture by storm. TV shows like Once Upon a Time and Grimm have expanded on traditional fairy tale lore while Hollywood is having a heyday reimagining heroes and villains from Kristen Stewart in Snow White & The Huntsman to Angelina Jolie as Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis Maleficent. Call us traditionalists, but here at Fairmont we still think the best fairy tales close the credits with a magical wedding straight out of the storybooks. So even though Mother Goose and the Brothers Grimm never divulged exactly where Belle tossed her bouquet or Cinderella cut the cake, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has taken the time to imagine a few places where they’d feel right at home with Prince Charming – whether it’s a classic Grand Dame castle or modish fairy tale marvel.
Cinderella may have wanted to avoid the prying eyes of her evil stepsisters at the Prince’s Ball, but on her big day she’d definitely want to see and be seen. Luckily, three Fairmont properties are known for hosting high society soirées that would impress even the most dapper prince. In New York, The Plaza is famed for having hosted Truman Capote’s glamorous Black and White Ball, while The Savoy in London has welcomed British Royalty for special events, galas and regal occasions for decades. In Shanghai, the legendary Fairmont Peace Hotel founder Sir Victor Sassoon was known for his rollicking parties held in the hotel’s Peace Hall, which still shows off its famed sprung-timber dance floor.
Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is a castle fit for a princess, and Rapunzel would feel right at home in the hotel’s towering turrets (although, the hotel recommends her beau take the elevator to the top). In 400-year-old Québec City, the happy couple could spend days exploring the town’s European flavor, and if the prince felt so inclined he could easily scale the stone walls of this historic gated city.
After spending so much time in the woods with her loyal dwarves, Snow White would fit right in at the luxuriously rustic Fairmont Le Château Montebello, nestled in the charming woods of Québec. Made of 10,000 cedar logs, the resort is the world’s largest log cabin and would be quite the upgrade from her former cottage residence. Whether she preferred to stay in the green summer months or snow white winter, the catering team can prepare a lavish Québequois feast for her party – sans apples, of course.
For a glorious castle surrounded by loveable beasts, Belle couldn’t do any better than The Fairmont Banff Springs in the Canadian Rockies. Modeled after a Scottish Baronial Castle and set in a dramatic, wooded landscape filled with bears, deer and other friendly fauna, Beauty and her Beast would be absolutely content hibernating for a night or two in the Presidential Suite – complete with full library and designed for royalty, dignitaries and extra special occasions.
In the Hans Christian Andersen original, the Little Mermaid doesn’t manage to land her prince, but if she did, she could share her happy day with all of the merfolk at Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui, where the ultimate beach wedding awaits. Her arrival on a classic outrigger canoe would seamlessly take her from sea to land, while her prince would feel right at home in one of the resort’s luxurious villas. Swimming, snorkelling and more await the aquatic couple and their amphibious guests.
In her 1,001 nights Scheherazade couldn’t have imagined a more opulent palace for hero Aladdin and his princess than Fairmont Heliopolis & Towers in Cairo. This modern hotel boasts beautiful ballrooms with scattered LED lights that give the twinkling effect of a magic carpet ride under the stars for up to 2,000 guests. After the wedding, the happy couple could retire to a luxurious Heliopolis Suite, complete with butler service and amenities fit for a prince.
The Princess & the Pea tells the story of a very picky sleeper who needs everything to be just so. She would be right at home on Fairmont Gold floors, the brand’s exclusive hotel within a hotel offering – where Fairmont Gold managers make sure everything is just so, right down to the perfect bed and the perfect fairy tale wedding. As legend has it, one colleague was ordained so that he could perform an impromptu wedding in one of the brand’s exclusive Fairmont Gold lounges, making good on the promise to give every guest the royal treatment.
The Brothers Grimm would surely have wanted their Sleeping Beauty to lay her head at the luxurious Fairmont Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg, where opera siren Maria Callas used to frequent. Blessed with the gifts of beauty, wit and music, the Princess would have had much in common with the celebrated Callas, who often stayed at the 100-year-old hotel with her glamorous beau Aristotle Onassis. The Maria Callas Suite overlooks the inner Alster, and features photos, biographies and CDs of the singer that would delight any music lover.
The Miller’s Daughter turned Queen who outfoxed Rumpelstiltskin might have used all that gold made from straw on a palace as grand as The Fairmont Palliser in Calgary, whose lobby is adorned with a gilded gold ceiling and flanked by marble columns. The hotel’s landmark ballroom is complete with 15 sparkling crystal chandeliers and elegant gold accents, perfect for a gilded royal wedding.
Princes (or princesses) popping the question may be in need of a Fairy Godmother to help them find their charm, which is exactly the role played by the Proposal Coordinator at Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver. The Proposal Planner maps out the perfect path to the big question and ensures that suitors taking the “lover’s leap” will have a proposal destined for the storybooks. Of course at all Fairmonts expert concierges are available to make fairy tale dreams come true. With a wave of a wand, proposals can include anything from fireworks to an airplane banner in the sky. The only rules of engagement – bring the love and don’t forget the gem!
After turning into a handsome gentleman, the Frog Prince could upgrade his accommodations by marrying his princess in the exotic wetlands of Fairmont Mayakoba in Mexico’s Riviera Maya. The resort is sheltered by a tropical canopy of mangroves and the Caribbean Sea, and is filled with the prince’s old chums – frogs, turtles, lizards and all types of birds and mammals. The presidential suite, La Tortuga, is surrounded by the resort’s serene canals, serving as a fairytale location for any amphibious prince.
Maybe the only thing fairytale witches and evil stepmothers need are a partner in crime to pull off their dastardly deeds. Evil loves company, so notorious fairytale villainesses would surely be served by eloping at a secluded locale such as the beach at The Fairmont Royal Pavilion in Barbados, where they could plan out their schemes in peace and quiet. Of course, colourful rum cocktails and a nice ocean breeze might make them reconsider a life of crime entirely.
Future brides and grooms interested in more information on weddings at Fairmont can visit Fairmont Weddings online. For a look at real Fairmont weddings as well as tips, tricks and ideas from Fairmont’s wedding experts, visit the brand’s social media site Everyone’s An Original.