National park to charge for Smokies weddings

GATLINBURG, Tenn. -- Citing a fivefold increase in weddings inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the past half decade, the National Park Service is charging for permits for them.

"We are not making money, we are just recouping our costs," park spokeswoman Nancy Gray said of the plan intended to give Smokies' managers greater control over the 600 or so weddings held annually in the country's most-visited national park.

Couples must pay a $50 nonrefundable fee for weddings in the park straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina border.

That applies to standard ceremonies, Gray said. More elaborate ceremonies that call for rangers to be present for traffic control or other services require an additional $150 use permit.

Businesses that want to use the park as a location for weddings as part of packages they sell must buy a commercial use authorization. The same applies to commercial companies that transport people to wedding locations, wedding photographers and other such services. Those applications will cost $200 plus $10 dollars each month of the 24-month authorization.

One of the aims is to comply with National Park Service policy and congressional direction to recover costs associated with special park use activities, said Smokies Superintendent Dale Ditmanson.

Another is to manage the events so they interfere less with regular park activities and make the best use of park resources.