A Quick and Easy Guide to Colorado Weddings

Colorado offers an extremely high quality of life. The combination of appealing weather, scenic views, and the state's famous attitude to wellness attracts all types of people. It’s a very active state, not your typical bustle but rather high levels of outdoorsy back-to-nature activity. In most states, winter is a season to hibernate or slow down. Not in Colorado, everything comes to life when snow starts to fall, and the snow-covered mountains are breathtakingly gorgeous. The list of activities you can do in Colorado is a long and fun one.

This state offers everything that dream weddings are made from. Four distinct and pretty seasons, snow-capped rocky peaks, hot springs and mountain lakes. Colorado has a vast array of gorgeous scenery to complement your wedding wishes.

Mountain View Ranch by Wedgewood Weddings

Why Get Married in Colorado?

Whether you're a native, happy transplant from another state (or country), or married into a Colorado family, Colorado is the perfect state for a local or destination wedding. Our Colorado wedding venues cater to individual styles and make it easy for you to design an intimate gathering that reflects your personality while treating your guests to a fun and memorable experience.

Barn wedding venues in Colorado are perennially popular, but so are urban occasions and grand ballroom celebrations! Choose the Centennial state for an outdoor wedding with rustic touches or an upscale reception space that features dramatic mountainscapes, city skyline or river views. Colorado wedding venues cover all the bases so you can create a unique event!

From big cities to rural areas, the gorgeous natural environment offers a variety of opportunities for unique first-look photos. Whether choosing an outdoor wedding venue or an upscale indoor location, Colorado couples overwhelmingly opted for a formal or semi-formal event.

Black Forest by Wedgewood Weddings

Colorado Wedding Prices 

According to Value Penguin, last year the average cost to get married in Colorado was a little over $31 000. Keep in mind that this average includes some of the state’s most lavish destinations like Vale and Aspen.

At Wedgewood Weddings, we have a variety of Colorado locations reaching from the south of Colorado in Colorado Springs all the way to Fort Collins in the North. We also offer four different wedding packages that allow you to up- or down-grade every element to fit your budget. Our average Colorado wedding package was $13,551 last year. 

Colorado Wedding Venues You Need To Tour

• Ken Caryl Vista in Littleton, Colorado
  The sun shines differently in the gardens of Ken Caryl Vista as it floods through the branches of the pines and softly lands with a magical glow. This wedding venue sits at the base of the Rocky Mountains, offering an elegant yet casual feel. You should add it to your venue tour list. 

• Mountain View Ranch in Pine, Colorado
  If you're looking for a 360-degree view of mountains with a dash of century-old pines, whispering creeks, and a lake worthy of a toe-dip, then this wedding venue is for you.

• Ashley Ridge in Littleton, Colorado
  It doesn't get better than distant mountain views, waterfalls, sunlit courtyards, and the magical ballroom at this wedding venue in Littleton. The photo ops are almost as powerfully designed as the venue itself.

• Black Forest in Colorado Springs, Colorado
  A lush, woodsy getaway still in the buzz of the city, surrounded by spruce trees, picturesque backdrops, crystal chandeliers, and a ballroom - this wedding venue has it all. You should come check it out.

• Boulder Creek in Boulder, Colorado
  If you've said 'Yes!' and you're looking for something extra special, this Colorado wedding venue is definitely worth the free tour. It is a luxurious mountain retreat that offers a mystical fast-running creek and towering pine trees that make for a rustic yet elegant atmosphere. It's worth noting the venue is only minutes from Downtown Boulder.

• Brittany Hill in Thornton, Colorado
  Here, the Denver skyline gives a metro feel while also providing a stunning view of the Rocky Mountains all from a castle-like hilltop setting. This venue will make you feel like royalty while not demanding you spend a fortune.

• Tapestry House in Laporte, Colorado: This is what you can achieve if you take towering pines, gorgeous flows, lilac bushes, and modern amenities and put them all into a manor with a gable roof, decorative trim, and add dashes of whimsical coloring. We've created a historic wedding venue that feels like it’s right out of one of your favorite storybooks.

Pre-Wedding Necessities

It can be so easy to get ahead of yourselves and move straight to planning the honeymoon and ordering the cake! So, it's helpful to get these simple pre-wedding necessities out of the way early in order to move on to the fun stuff! It's always smart to check each state's wedding laws and requirements when planning a destination wedding. In order to obtain a Colorado marriage license, a couple must follow these requirements:

• Both of you should try to appear in person to apply and sign the marriage application.
• If one of you cannot attend, the person applying must bring the absentee application along with identification for the absent party. The absentee application form must be notarized in advance.
• Pay $30 Cash for Marriage License Fee.
• Identification for Proof of Age: Such as a Driver’s License issued in the United States, Passport, Military ID, or State-issued ID Card.
• Social Security Number: If either of you don't have a social security number, you must sign an affidavit provided by the County Clerk’s office when applying for the license.
• Your place of Birth (City and State) must be listed on the application form.
• Parents’ Names and Current Addresses must be listed on the application form.

***

Five Fun Facts About Colorado

Still considering the mountains and plains of Colorado? Make sure to check out these fun options whether you've been a lifetime resident, or just visiting!

1. Colorado is the only state in history to turn down the Olympics
2. Denver’s Colfax Avenue is the longest continuous street in America
3. Denver has the fifth-highest number of breweries of all states in America
4. The biggest gold and silver nuggets ever discovered were found in Colorado
5. Ski Joring is a thing in Colorado. This is skiing while being pulled by a horse!

5 Colorado-Specific Things That Will Make You Fall Deeper In Love

• Ski Joring: Explained earlier but worth saying a second time. Horse and riders race along while pulling a skier who’s holding onto a rope. The skier jumps and spears rings along a course. This is one thing you must watch and most likely convince your partner to try first.
• Canyons of the Ancients: Get yourself ready for the astonishing views of ancient Pueblo structures and artifacts that haven’t been preserved intentionally but by neglect. This is a self-preserved outdoor museum to more than 6,000 archaeological sites. This canyon is on 176,000 acres and contains native cultures, ruins of homes, reservoirs, shrines, farms, and entire villages to explore. The ruins were abandoned sometime in the mid-1100s.
• Dinos and Dunes in the Colorado Desert: around $3,000 for 6 days and 5 nights. If you're traveling into town for a wedding and doubling it as a vacation, this is a surefire bragging right type of event to add to your list. You’ll head into the Colorado desert and dig into the prehistoric past that hides in the canyons, mountains, deserts, and dunes. The trip includes a fossil dig, hot springs, giant dunes, and dinosaur adventures.
• Little Thompson Observatory: $28 per person. Stargaze through an Apollo 11 telescope. The observatory offers cosmic lemonade, moon pies, and space trivia competitions with amazing prizes. Estes Park Memorial Observatory also offers fun astronomy. Stargaze at the Gateway to the Rockies.
• The Alleys of RiNo: $25 per person to tour the best graffiti, murals, and street art in the city. Atlas Obscura and the Scenic Suitcase guides you through the RiNo alleyways, where you can see art by caseykawaguchu, inkiegraffiti, Hollis + Lana and more.

***

Colorado is a health-forward city full of so many different kinds of activities. Planning a wedding in Colorado is an adventure waiting to happen. There are so many outdoor adventures to be had pre or post-wedding celebrations it seems a no-brainer to head out this way for your marriage and other worthy memory-making events.

***