Colorado Weddings Blog

Tell us about your Wedding!

We are looking for Colorado Weddings to feature in our 2010 magazine!  If you'd like to share your wedding day details with our readers, fill out the form located HERE.

Featured Wedding: Brannin & Omiah - Littleton, Colorado

Our day was wonderful…I am so happy we decided to do a winter courthouse wedding and a summer reception, it gave me the opportunity to plan in two seasons as well as reduce the stress and just plan a party!  I missed out on having a real wedding dress at our courthouse ceremony, so for the party, I got the wedding dress and veil, and just made a grand entrance down the staircase to my late grandparents’ song “Blue Moon.”  Another one of my favorites that the quartet played at special request was “Nessun Dorma” which is my mom’s favorite song from the opera “Turandot.”

THE CEREMONY:  12/31/08 - The Travis County Courthouse, Austin, Texas
I'm from Travis County and Col. William B. Travis, one the heroes of the Alamo, is Omiah's quadruple-great uncle so we decided that Travis County was the perfect place for our ceremony! 

THE RECEPTION:  5//22/09 - Manor House, Littleton, Colorado.  The Manor House was close to home, and just a fantastic venue with amazing views.  It also has a huge amount of history to it.

Photography by Shannon Baldwin

THE DETAILS

How long to plan wedding: 6 Months
Budget: $15,000
Number of Guests: 50

Difficulties in planning:  The caterer we had chosen came highly recommended and they kept rescheduling our tasting.  Finally the week before the reception we had our tasting, and the food was horrible!  I rushed to our favorite local {Rox Bar and Grill} restaurant and they took AMAZING care of us!

Biggest planning challenge:  My wedding dress was HUGE when it came in, and it was supposed to be custom fit.  The only thing more important than having the right dress is making sure it fits!

Special Touches:

-We displayed 4 Jumbo Calla Lilies to honor our deceased grandparents.

-In lieu of favors, our guests were treated to a golf game the next day at Deer Creek Golf Club.

-All of my girls had hot pink shirts that I made that were covered in sequence and rhinestones.  

-I wore pearls that my grandmother gave me before she died.

-I love scrapbooking, so rather than buying a guest sign-in book, I made a scrapbook that everyone signed in and wrote a little note to us!

Best Thing about the day: Seeing my husband for the first time at the bottom of the stairs and having my daughter straighten the back of my dress for me.

Memorable Moments: My husband and I toasted one another and then together, toasted our daughter.

What went wrong: It didn’t last long enough!  I could have stayed in that moment forever!

What would you do different: I would have ordered my dress sooner, because that was the biggest stress before the wedding.  I didn’t actually get the finished product until 3 days before the wedding.

Honeymoon Location: None yet! 

RECOMMENDED VENDORS

Photographer: Shannon Baldwin

Wedding Gown: The Little White Dress  Designer: Matthew Christopher
Bridesmaid dresses: I had my girls wear what they felt best in.  My mom wore a silk skirt and white top, my sister wore a burnt orange fabulous floor length and my best friend wore a knee length black dress.

Formalwear Rentals: Al’s Formal Wear
Rehearsal Dinner/Caterer: Rox Bar and Grill
Florist: The Little Flower Market 
Invitations: www.weddingpaperdivas.com
Limousine: Sunset Luxury Limousines  

Cake: Kristie’s Cakes {1 Key Lime Layer, 1 Almond Layer with Black Fondant and White Fondant Flowers}
Musicians: The Platte River Strings
Hair & Makeup: Carly Morris

Featured Wedding: Kristen & Steven - Durango, Colorado

Photography by James Cammack  

Ceremony Location: Purgatory at Durango Mountain Resort.  We met in Durango and wanted to get married on skis so Durango Mountain Resort made perfect sense.

THE DETAILS
Wedding Date: March 9, 2008
How long to plan wedding: 4 months
Budget: $5000
Number of Guests: 50
Wedding Theme: Skiing   

The Wedding Attire: Groom: Black ski pants and shell. Bride: Light cream ski pants and shell with bright blue feather boa.

SPECIAL TOUCHES 
My father and my dog gave me away. 
My dog wore a blue boa, coordinating with mine. 
My sister officiated the ceremony and did a fantastic job.

What would you do different:
1.     We should have left a little more time between skiing and the start of the reception.  It was a beautiful day and we wanted to stay up on the mountain longer. 
2.     I also should of sent a save-the-date card for the people who were traveling in from the east coast.

Our Advice:  Don’t get bogged down in details. Make it easy and enjoy the day.  It is about you two, not everyone else.  Have fun.

Every time I look back at the hundreds of fantastic pictures from the whole event, I’m amazed at how much fun everyone had!  Thanks so much to James Cammack for capturing the energy and the joy of the day. 

Featured Wedding: Nicole & Andrew – New Castle, Colorado

Photography by Karen Skelly Photography

THE DETAILS
Wedding Date:  September 27, 2008
How long to plan the wedding: 4 months
Budget: $6,500.00
Number of Guests: 60
Wedding Theme: Pretty in Pink

Difficulties in planning: We were limited on time, planning a wedding in only 4 months so we  had to do all of the planning with people who were willing to work on such a short time period.

Biggest planning challenge: The biggest planning challenge was the wedding cake because many of the bakers in town would not work on such a short time period. The challenge came when my mother, sister and I decided to make the cake ourselves. We had never made a layered cake before and so we were challenged to learn how to make the cake and get it to the reception hall.

The Wedding Attire: Semi-Casual
The Flowers: Calla Lilies
The Menu: Chicken & Prime Rib
The Favors: Boxes of M&Ms with “Andrew & Nicole”
The Cake: Homemade three layer cake with white beading on all levels and a single Calla Lily on the top.

Memorable Moments:
Dressing my daughter in her dress and putting her makeup on.

I borrowed my mom’s first wedding ring for my “something borrowed.”

At the ceremony my husband gave my daughter (Alexis) a special necklace that symbolized the start of our family and that she was his daughter as well.

The best man (my father-in-law) gave his speech and he started it out with “My fellow Americans” the entire reception party was laughing so hard I think that they missed the rest of the speech.

What would you do different: Wish we would have hired a baker to make the cake.

Our Advice:  Give yourself plenty of time to plan. If you do it last minute then make sure that you buy a wedding planning book so that you can keep track of what you have done and what you still need. I had one and it was a savior when I could not remember what I had done.

Featured Wedding: Laura & Byron - Durango, Colorado

Photography by James Cammack

THE DETAILS
Wedding Date:  June 14, 2008
How long to plan the wedding:  1 year
Number of Guests:  100

Wedding Theme:  Fancy picnic.

The Wedding Attire:  Bride: classic strapless wedding dress.  Bridesmaids: black dresses of their choice.  Groom and Groomsmen: tuxes.

The Décor:  Ivory linens for the tables.  Mason jars with tea lights and ribbons for the centerpieces.

The Flowers:  Each bridesmaid had different bouquets.  My maid of honor had green roses.  One had pink peonies, and the other had purple irises.  Their groomsman matched with boutonniere.  My husband had a white rose boutonniere.  My flower girl had a basket of flower petals.

The Menu:  Texas BBQ - beef brisket, cheesy potatoes, salad and rolls.

The Cake: Top layer was German chocolate followed by a layer of chocolate cake with raspberries and ganache and then a layer of carrot cake.

Special Touches:  We had a live bluegrass band perform our ceremony music. 

Best things about the day:  Everything!  Watching people play horseshoes, croquet and bocce ball in their tuxes and dresses.

What went wrong:  We forgot to hand bubbles to people to blow when we walked up the aisle after the ceremony.  Found them in the shed when we were cleaning up.

What would you do different:  Have a longer reception.  I couldn’t believe how fast the day went by.

Our Advice:  Make it your day.  Don’t sweat the small stuff, it’ll all come together.

Rehearsal Dinner Location:  The Strater Hotel

Honeymoon Location:  British Colombia

RECOMMENDED VENDORS

Photographer:  James Cammack

DJ:  Aiko Aiko Sound

Florist: April’s Garden

Tent & Party Rentals:  Durango Party Rental

Rented Tuxes:  Dare to Dress

Featured Wedding: Lori & Travis - Durango, Colorado

photos by Andy's Photography

THE DETAILS
Wedding Date:  September 27, 2008
How long to plan wedding: 9 months
Number of Guests: 65
Wedding Location: Ridgewood Event Center at Blue Lake Ranch - Durango, Colorado

Wedding Theme: Fall.

Biggest planning challenge: Keeping everything that I wanted under my budget.

The Décor: Burgundy accents inspired by Fall.

The Flowers: Bacarra Roses, Burgundy Lilies, Dark Burgundy Calla Lilies.

The Menu: Chicken Martini with artichoke hearts and capers in a wine sauce.

The Cake:  Three tiered white cake with raspberry filling.

The Favors: Personalized gift boxes with pistachios, dried cranberries, and white chocolate chips.

Memorable Moment: Knowing that when we were saying our vows that every word was from our hearts.

What would you do different: Have more time to plan.

Our Advice: Remember it's your day and in the end it should be how you want it.

Honeymoon Location: St Croix, U.S Virgin Islands

RECOMMENDED VENDORS

DJ/Musicians: Aiko Aiko Sound

Caterer: Norton’s Catering

Cake: Cake Café

Florist: Wildwoods Fine Flowers

Formalwear Rentals: Dare To Dress

Featured Wedding: Laura & David - Durango, Colorado

Laura & David Simcik
Married May 31, 2008
Durango, Colorado

I will always remember all the dancing! Our families and friends flew in from all over the country and even from Paris. When they all arrived in Durango, they were ready for a great time. It was fantastic to have so many of the people we love with us, celebrating and just having fun!

IlluminArts Photography

Wedding Theme: I incorporated elements of nature with our wish tree (which served as our guest book), programs, coat check tags, cake topper and decorations.

Difficulties in planning: Fifteen months to plan gave me plenty of time to plan around any difficulties that popped up. Everything really fell into place easily.

Read on + view photo gallery....

Featured Wedding: Alana & Charles - Durango, Colorado

Alana Rose Guglielmo & Charles Hearn of NY, NY
Married September 6, 2008 - Durango, Colorado

I am an event designer in NYC.  My wedding was by far the hardest wedding to design because I have seen it all and love so many different styles, but I am really happy with what we chose.

Ceremony Location:   Andrews Lake, Durango Colorado.  The lake is our favorite place to snowshoe but we had never seen it without snow until our wedding day.

Reception Location:  The Sow’s Ear at Silverpick Lodge - Durango, Colorado.

Photos by Candace Cross

THE DETAILS
How long to plan the wedding:  6 months
Number of Guests:  100
Wedding Theme: Organic, our colors were shades of green and brown.

The Wedding Attire:  Simple and hip (not traditional).  I bought a Demitrios gown at Macy’s in NYC.  It was the first one I tried on.  The bridesmaid dresses were Victoria’s Secret 7-in-1 dress.  It was great because one of my bridesmaids was 6 months pregnant so it allowed each girl to wear the dress whichever way it looked best on their figure.  They all really liked them and will probably wear them again and the price was unbeatable.
The groomsmen wore chocolate brown linen suits with a light green button up shirt.  Charles wore a darker green volcom tie and all the guys had matching chocolate brown van slip-ons.

The Décor:  Clean, sheik, sleek and modern with a Colorado lodge feel.

The Flowers:  Mono chromatic and mono botanical, although we had a variety of blooms.  Each vase and bouquet was a cluster of only one type of flower.

The Menu:  Filet of beef tenderloin or salmon, a mango basil sorbet and wedding cake.

The Favors:  A basil starter kit.  A small terracotta pot, soil and seeds along with our favorite recipe in a small sustainable kit.  Inside each box, Charles drew a unique illustration thanking our guests. 

The Cake:  It was very unique and special.  We custom designed stencils of things that represented us, snowboards, surfboards, wine bottles, airplanes, bikes, etc.  The stencils were cutout of white fondant and put on a white fondant cake.  It was stunning.

Special Touches:
1.  We had a close friend from NYC marry us.  Neither of us are religious, so we let him decide what to say, as long as he kept it short and sweet.  He read ‘Oh the Places you’ll Go’ by Dr. Seuss.  It had our guests giggling and crying - it was so cute!

2.  My mom purchased peal earrings for myself and my girls on a recent trip to China and I wore a pearl necklace from a good friend as my ‘something borrowed’.

Our Advice: Take a deep breath, be willing to compromise, and enjoy every minute of it, because it comes and goes really quickly.


Rehearsal Dinner Location:  We had our rehearsal dinner at the Silverpick Lodge.  We brought our own kegs and had a huge bonfire.  We barbed whole chickens, ribs and made yummy sweet potato pies.  It was nice because we were able to be on our own schedule.  We kept the fire going until 2am, soaked in the hot tubs and made s’mores.

RECOMMENDED VENDORS

Consultant:  My mom (ha ha) seriously, she was my Durango connection that met with vendors, tasted the food, ordered rentals and made all the important decisions.

Caterer:  The Sow’s Ear.  We knew that we were in good hands when we chose the Sow’s Ear.  The food is fantastic and in 8 years of going there, I have never had a bad meal.  The staff is really great too and all our guests loved the food.

Guest Lodging:  All our guests stayed with us at the Silverpick Lodge for two nights.  It was great as we were all able to spend time together.  The rooms were great and it was really intimate.  We want to rent it out again for our anniversary!

Tent & Party Rentals:  We rented napkins, a few linens and 100 champagne flutes from Durango Party Rental.  They were extremely helpful.

Featured Wedding: Josephine & Charles - Ridgway, Colorado

Josephine & Charles Scoville
Married July 19, 2008 - Ridgway, Colorado

We wanted our family from the Midwest to really experience the beauty of the outdoors in a mountainous area in the summer with the wildflowers in bloom … since most of our guests traveled a long way to get here, we made a whole weekend of it with the Rehearsal Dinner a day earlier than traditional (Thursday) so that we could have a BBQ on Friday for all of the people already in town. It was a great way for family and friends from both sides to really get to meet each other and have time to enjoy the area. The whole weekend was amazing – I wish I could do it all again!

Photo by Red Scarf Shots

THE DETAILS
How long to plan the wedding: 7 ½ months
Budget: $10,000 but turned into $17,500
Number of Guests: 188

Ceremony Location: Private Ranch - Ridgway, Colorado
Reception Location: Ouray County 4-H Event Center - Ridgway, Colorado

Difficulties in planning: The logistics of the ceremony were difficult because you needed a high clearance vehicle to get all the way in and then had to walk a ways to the actual site. Charlie and I even had to build a bridge over the irrigation ditch for the guests to use to reach the site.

Wedding Theme: Pink and orange … lots of wildflower colors and summery dresses.

The Wedding Attire: 6 bridesmaids – 3 in fuchsia and 3 in tangelo (bright orange) summer dresses. 6 groomsmen in full tuxes with fuchsia ties and tangelo vests.

The Décor: Fuchsia table toppers with glass bowl centerpieces filled with fuchsia, orange, and yellow Gerber daisies, some tulle with clear Christmas lights.

The Flowers: Pink and orange bouquets with bits of purple, yellow, and green… assorted flowers, no roses.

Read on ... view photo gallery

Featured Wedding: Dalene & Nick - Durango, Colorado

Dalene & Nick Pope   
Married July 5, 2008 – Durango, Colorado

THE DETAILS
How long to plan the wedding: 11 months
Budget: $25,000
Number of Guests: 200

Wedding Location: Dante’s at Durango Mountain Resort.  We love the Mountains and love to ski, it has been a huge part of our relationship and the view from Dante’s is absolutely breath-taking. It is such a peaceful and amazing spot to say your vows.

Difficulties in planning: Our parents not being able to see the location until the beginning of June unless they wanted to ski to it!

Wedding Theme: Mountain romance.

The Décor: Candles, hydrangeas and romantic quotes.

Read on + view photo gallery...