the wedding of philip black & chris massey
july 2, 2017 | Sun Valley, Idaho, USA
Dear Friends and Family,
Welcome to The Potato State!
We are absolutely thrilled that you’ve come to join us and be part of our wedding day in beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho. This is a special place to us and we hope that you discover all of its beauty and charm over the long weekend.
We can’t wait to see you all at the events we’ve got planned and there are lots of great ways to explore the area.
Enjoy the Welcome Pack and check out our Top Tips/Map [download pdf]!
Thank you for being here with us. We look forward to celebrating with you!
Love,
Chris and Philip.
GIFTS (Are we registered?)
Our Donations-Instead-of-Gifts Policy
We are very lucky to have lived in stable countries and societies where same-sex couples are afforded respect and nearly equal rights under the law. Although we are flattered that you might consider offering us a gift of any sort, we are in far lesser need than many other people around the world who live in fear of persecution, personal violence and systemic prejudice. Please consider making a donation to one of the following organisations instead of buying us a gift.
Thank you for your thoughtfulness and love,
Philip + Chris
• Astraea Foundation for Justice
The Astraea Foundation grew out of the American 1960s feminist movement, and saw empowering women in economically disadvantaged areas globally as a key to sustainable international aid. They now focus more broadly on US and international LGBTQI issues in homophobic and globally hard-to-reach areas through grant-making to local activists, media training, and collaboration with nonprofit organisations on the ground.
• Human Rights Watch (LGBT Rights)
Human Rights Watch is an international reporting organisation whose researchers develop and publish reports for submission to governments and ministers worldwide in efforts to change local and international policy, public understanding, and increase awareness. Their LGBT reports expose abuses based on sexual orientation and gender identity worldwide, including systemic bullying in Japanese high schools, Russian government efforts to silence the LGBT community, and the recent Chechnya pogroms.
For donations in USD click here, for donations from outside of the US click here.
To ensure that your donation is earmarked for the HRW LGBT program, please email lgbt@hrw.org.
• OutRight International
OutRight International works directly with smaller, international nonprofit organisations in areas where being gay is not only illegal, but extremely dangerous. They maintain a strong presence at the United Nations and work to affect international policy through government lobbying and networking.
• Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders
MSF is an international medical aid organisation that provides emergency aid to people affected by natural or man-made disasters.
THE ITINERARY
Friday 30 June, 7pm
Covers for Lovers @ Whiskey Jacques
Karaoke & Canapés! Bring your romance game, work the room, and drop some smooth lines on the hotties. Smouldering eyes, rock ballads and toothpick hors d’oeuvres never felt so good! The mike is hot, live and up for grabs, so get ready, warm up that singing voice and prepare some dedications (and dares!).
Where: Whiskey Jacques, 251 North Main Street in Ketchum
Transport: Generally walkable (25-30 min/1.3 mi/2 km) since it’s in downtown Ketchum, but there are Mountain Ride buses (Blue Route) from SV Lodge that can get you near.
Saturday 1 July, 5 - 9pm
Family BBQ @ Trail Creek Cabin, Sun Valley Resort
Music! Drinks! Barbecue! It all kicks off at 5pm at Trail Creek Cabin. Channel your inner Ernest Hemingway (one of his favourite spots) with some cocktails, dancing and great views of Bald Mountain. Generously hosted by John & Eileen Black and Scott Massey.
Where: Trail Creek Cabin, map (two miles north on Trail Creek Road from Sun Valley Lodge)
Transport: Outbound shuttles leave from Sun Valley Lodge (Baldy View Bus Loop), Limelight Hotel (Ketchum) and the YMCA Ketchum every 15 min from 4:45-5:30pm.
Return shuttles will depart Trail Creek Cabin from 9pm onwards.
(Please note that this is an outdoor event and evenings in the mountains can get chilly, so consider bringing a light jacket or wrap.)
And the Pub Crawl!
Take over the town with Andrea Shaw & Richard Massey on a pub crawl you won’t remember (but wish you did!), hitting Ketchum’s highs and lows. More details to reveal when the time comes!
Sunday 2 July, Please arrive at 6pm for a 6:30pm ceremony
The Wedding of the Century @ Chez Candy & Bart
In the immortal words of Michael Sy, “I never thought I’d see this day.” Believe it or not, Chris and Philip are getting married! Bright colours, good cheer and big appetite required.
Where: 110 Wall Street, Gimlet (5 miles south of Ketchum on 75); valet parking available
Transport: Outbound shuttles will collect guests at 5:30pm and near 6pm from Sun Valley Lodge (Baldy View Bus Loop), Limelight Hotel (Ketchum) and the YMCA Ketchum.
Return shuttles will depart 110 Wall Street at 9:30pm, 10:30pm, 12am, 1am and 2am.
Monday 3 July, 11am
The Family Recovery Brunch @ Dollar Mountain Lodge
Join us at Dollar Mountain Lodge, hosted by our favourite aunt, Joss Tenille. This is a good ol’ fashion country cook up to help with the weekend recovery.
Where: Dollar Moutain Lodge, 82 Elkhorn Road, 208.622.2245
Transport: Walk from the Sun Valley Lodge (15-20 min) or Ketchum (30+ min); Mountain Ride Blue Route buses; ride your bike; parking available.
Tuesday 4 July: The Fourth of July!
We don’t have anything planned, but following tradition, we might head to the rodeo! The city of Hailey and Sawtooth Rangers host an annual rodeo every July 4th weekend (over several days, including July 4). The 2017 details are not yet out (as of Nov 2016), but it’s something that’s good for groups, families, and at least some hot dogs and beer. Keep it in mind!
ABOUT SUN VALLEY
Sun Valley ski resort was founded in the 1930s as a winter destination and resort developed by W. Averell Harriman, chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad. Since then, Sun Valley has had a close affiliation with Hollywood actors (Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Arnold Schwarzenegger), writers (Ernest Hemingway) and media executives (Paul Allen).
When one says "Sun Valley, Idaho," they mean Sun Valley the resort, Baldy the large ski mountain, and the town of Ketchum. The Sun Valley Resort is a huge property that doesn't feel like a resort campus, but is in fact made up of two hotels (The Sun Valley Lodge and The Sun Valley Inn), a shopping village, and several neighborhoods of condominiums.
GETTING TO SUN VALLEY
You have a few options:
• Flying into Sun Valley airport, located in Hailey, Idaho
• Flying into Boise airport, and driving or taking a bus to Sun Valley (2 hours)
• Driving to Sun Valley from another destination as part of a road trip (hours determined by your itinerary)
FLYING TO SUN VALLEY
The Sun Valley and Ketchum area is serviced by Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey, Idaho. The following airlines and routes can get you there:
• Delta/Northwest via Salt lake City, Utah
• United via San Francisco and Denver, Colorado
• Alaska Airlines via Seattle, Washington and Los Angeles
FLYING TO BOISE
Flying to Boise is a great option.
Plenty of airlines service Boise airport: American, Allegiant, Alaska, United, and Southwest to name a few.
From Boise airport you can rent a car and drive the two hours to Sun Valley, or take the Sun Valley Express bus shuttle service, right to the Sun Valley Lodge.
ROADTRIP
You can also drive into or out of Sun Valley as part of a longer itinerary, but check your routing plan on google.com/maps. Driving Seattle-Sun Valley could take 10 hours, and San Francisco-Sun Valley could take 12 hours.
ACCOMODATION
The town of Ketchum has a few different neighborhoods, mostly because they’ve been developed as condominium groups. On a map, the closer you are to the Ketchum grid area, the closer you are to the center of town for amenities and local bus connections. Other local towns are Hailey and Bellevue, but they are driving distance from the main Sun Valley and Ketchum areas.
Sun Valley Resort—Your best option!
The best and easiest location to stay is Sun Valley Resort. It is centrally located to our event venues, with a range of lodging options that cater for all budgets. We do recommend everyone stay at the resort so as to be close to each other.
Additionally, the resort itself offers heaps of activities such as hiking, golf, bicycling (loads of bike paths around SV and Ketchum area), swimming pool/s, tennis courts, ice-skating, and child minding. Stuff like fishing, white-water rafting and more distant hikes are easy to organize. The centre of Sun Valley Resort is also a 12 minute stroll to Ketchum, five minutes by car, and served by local bus (the main bus route is from Ketchum centre and the ski mountains to Sun Valley Lodge).
We have also secured a discounted rate for guests at the Sun Valley Resort —see below!
Sun Valley Resort: Their website is great and will provide you all the details you need. Three lodging types are listed here:
Sun Valley Lodge
This is the upscale resort that has been recently refurbished. Think Westin Hotel (5 star). Spacious rooms, white linens, enormous spa, exclusive Sun Valley Lodge pool. But comes with an accompanying price tag. If your budget allows, stay here!
Sun Valley Inn
This feels like an unrenovated Ritz Carlton. Rooms are large, roomy but not updated. Laura Ashley most likely had something to do with the it. Absolutely lovely, but somewhat dated (1980s leftover). However this comes in at US$100-$150 cheaper per night than the Lodge. Great option.
Sun Valley Condos
There are deluxe and non-deluxe condos managed by Sun Valley Resort. Endless configurations are available from 2-10+ bedrooms right across the resort. Deluxe condos have recently been refurbished and look lovely. The other condos are roomy but also decorated in the 80s and are located around the property, still offering access to all amenities that the resort has to offer. The condos are excellent for families with kids who want low fuss.
In terms of making your bookings, there are two ways to do so:
1. Use an online hotel booking aggregator (LastMinute.com; Agoda). This may offer even deals better than the discounted hotel rates that we negotiated (about 8% off). Our sales agent even recommended you look here first!
2. Call Sun Valley Resort Reservations: see note below from our contact, Therese in July, 2016:
“I have created a block called the Massey-Black Wedding in our system and all the discounted rates I quoted you are entered in. All your guests need to do is call our Reservations at +1.800.786.8259 to make their reservations individually. Our staff will ask for a credit card to guarantee first nights room, resort fee (6%) and tax (12%) to hold their rooms. The block rate is good for 3 days before and 3 days after your wedding date. They may cancel up to 30 days with a $20 processing fee. Within 30 days, they forfeit their full deposit. If they want to see the room types, best they go to https://www.sunvalley.com/lodging#/ for more detailed descriptions. Our website is very comprehensive and since it is focused on summer right now instead of winter, it’s a good time to direct your people there to see what activities, etc. are going to be available to them next summer and perhaps encourage them to get their reservations in.”
Outside of Sun Valley Resort
Staying in a condominium, house or hotel outside of Sun Valley Resort is a fine idea, and there are plenty of holiday rental/accommodation websites.
Small hotels and lodges:
• Limelight Hotel
• Knob Hill Inn
• Kentwood Lodge
• Tamarack Lodge
• Tyrolean Lodge
vrbo.com Vacation Rentals By Owners – the original airbnb.
airbnb.com Lists properties usually managed by owners, some professionally managed by agencies.
sunvalleyrentals.co Properties managed by local estate agents Coldwell Banker
tripadvisor.com Plenty of reviews and rates for local hotels, motels, B&Bs
GETTING AROUND THE SUN VALLEY AREA
GENERAL INFO
See this link from the Sun Valley Resort website - Getting Here & Around.
CAR RENTALS
We recommend you rent a car for your weekend in Sun Valley/Ketchum. Although Ketchum town and the Sun Valley Resort are only one mile apart, a walkable distance, other destinations (if they are not directly in Ketchum) will be driving distance.
BIKES
There are plenty of places to rent bikes for local riding, and that can get you most places.
LOCAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT
The Mountain Rides buses drive round trips between Ketchum, Sun Valley Resort, Elkhorn, Dollar Mountain and Bald Mountain.
AIRPORT
Sun Valley Resort has shuttles to/from Sun Valley Airport. I’m not sure if you can take them as a non-resort rider, so try the SV Resort Bell Service at +1.208.622.2122 first, or be prepared to find your own transportation.
TAXI
Taxis in the Wood River Valley (Sun Valley/Ketchum area) are extortionate and unreliable. That said, the following companies accept reservations for arriving and departing passengers at events and the airport, and can be used for local rides: Wood River Taxi, Sun Valley Limo and Taxi, A1 Taxi and Transportation.
THINGS TO DO
There are plenty of things to do in the Sun Valley area, starting with hiking, bike riding, mountain biking, golf, tennis, ice-skating, horseback riding, river rafting, fishing, river floats, mountain climbing, and swimming. You can find outfitters for half-day, one-day or multi-day trips.
Check out visitsunvalley.com to get started!
In the meantime, here are plenty of things to keep you busy:
River rafting day trips
• The River Company 800-398-0346
• Middle Fork River Tours 800-445-9738
• White Cloud Rafting Adventures 208-774-7238
• Sawtooth Adventure Company 866-774-4644 (Kayaking too)
• Far and Away Adventures (3-6 DAY TRIPS) 208-726-8888
• White Otter OUtdoor Adventures 208-788-5005
Fly fishing trips and guides
• SilverCreek Outfitters 800-732-5697
• Ketchum on the Fly 208-726-7572
• Lost River Outfitters 208-726-1706
• Sturtevants Mountain Outfitters 208-726-4501
• White Cloud Outfitters 208-879-4574
Kayaking
• Backwoods Mountain Sports 208-726-8818
• Sawtooth Adventure Company 208-774-4644
• White Otter Outdoor Adventures 208-788-5005
Golf
• Sun Valley Resort (2 courses) 208-622-2251
• Elkhorn Golf Course 208-622-3309
• Bigwood Golf Course 208-726-4024
Horseback rides and packing
• Pioneer Outfitters 208-774-3737
• Mystic Saddle Ranch/Sawtooth Wilderness Pack Trips 888-722-5432
• Horse Trail Rides at Redfish Lake Corrals (no website) 208-774-3311
• Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch 208-774-3544
Hiking
There are plenty of public-access hiking trails around the area. Or contact a company for more guided options.
• Sun Valley Trekking 208-788-1966(trails and remote backcountry w/ guides and naturalists for wildflowers, birds etc)
• Ketchum on the Fly 208-726-7572(nature hikes, birdwatching, family/group adventures)
• Sawtooth Mountain Guides 208-774-3324
• Sawtooth Botanical Garden 208-726-9358
Rockclimbing
• Sawtooth Mountain Guides 208-774-3324
Paragliding
• Fly Sun Valley 208-726-3332
Mountain bike trips
• White Otter Outdoor Adventures 208-788-5005
Planning a roadtrip?
Some places to stop in Idaho (book now, they get busy in the summer):
• Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch 208-774-3544 (in Stanley, Idaho)
• White Cloud Outfitters 208-879-4574 (in Challis, Idaho)
• Red Fish Lake Lodge 208-774-3536