Thank you to Math's mom for giving me, what seems to be, the Bible of Colorado wedding venues. As we were driving back from Aurora to downtown, I was frantically calling places hoping that SOMEWHERE would be open. I was pretty discouraged after the first few places were closed, but I didn't give up. I figured if worse comes to worst we could just look at some hotels. Luckily, there were a few places that did answer.
1). The Lumber Baron Inn
Located at 38th and I-25 this historic mansion was built in the late-1800's by John Mouat who was, coincidentally called the Lumber Baron because he used this mansion to showcase his wares by doing each room in a different type of wood.
What it costs: $2499 for evening 6-11pm, $1299 for afternoon 11am-4pm + $150 for the ceremony.
Catering: Open
Bar: Liquor license so all liquor must be provided by company.
Perks: can rent out the bed and breakfast rooms, can do inside and/or outside weddings.
Pros: Neat and Historic. OMFG the bedrooms were sooooo quaint. Each one had a gigantic tub and quirky beds and it all was historic and fancy. Relatively cheap, open catering sounds nice b/c then you can find the cheapest. Super nice owner.
Cons: Slightly on the small side, a wedding of 250 would be pretty big. A little run-down looking in the common areas. Neighborhood isn't so great with big ugly strip mall right across the street. Far enough away from downtown/bars that it would be a pain to get there.
We don't think we'll go with this one because it is a bit out of the way and not quite to our tastes. Though I love the history of it all, I also think it would be a bit too small for our group (maybe). Also, we're not thrilled about an outdoor wedding. Though, I would like to just stay in the bed-and-breakfast part for one of our adorable anniversaries!
This is an Art Gallery at 7th and Santa Fe in the heart of the artsy-fartsy downtown area with tons of galleries and hole-in-the-wall but really good Mexican food.
What it Costs: $2500 for 8 hrs 4pm-11pm (incl setup/cleanup). + small back gallery for $250 more
Catering: 12 different ones to choose from with flexible prices for any budget.
Bar: buy own liquor and caterer will serve it (=cheaper).
Perks: DJ for $250, Art Registry (where you register for a piece of art and ppl donate to that piece to make it cheaper for u to buy).
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| A wedding ceremony in Artwork Network |
Cons: slightly smallish for 250 ppl seated, but good space for cocktail reception with fewer tables. (Which is what we wanted anyway). Parking isn't great. Maybe can't do A/V slideshow stuff.
We REAAAAAALLLLLY like this one! It's edgy but classy but not too formal, and it totally fits our style. (Well, Math's style really. I like to think of myself as a good party planner, able to work with a variety of themes. But it is an aesthetic that really entices me). And seriously, Art Registry? How cool is that?!
The Art Museum is located downtown at 14th and Broadway and is so neat looking! It's pretty close to a lot of stuff, in the thick of it all.
What it costs: $4000 for a HUGE room (~400 ppl seated w/ no dance floor) for 4 hrs.. + $1000 for ceremony in Sculpture Garden.
Catering: Kevin Taylor Catering (like, the same Kevin Taylor @ the Opera House, Kevin). ~$35/person.
Bar: Cash/open bar, venue provides liquor (=$$$$)
Pros: GORGEOUS!!!!! Classy, formal, swanky and cultural. Would be a great place to show off how cool Denver is, to my out-of-town-guests. The food is guaranteed to be amazing and I'm sure we'd all have a great time.
Cons: SPENSIVE!! Yeah, $5k just for venue rental is a leeeetttle bit too much for us. Throw in Kevin Taylor (even at a competitive-to-caterers rate) and, for 250 guests I've pretty much spent my entire wedding budget. Forget the dress or favors or photography (it's a good thing we have memories, right?). And we could probably go on our honeymoon to Glenwood Hot Springs.... Also probably a bit too formal for my non-floor-length dress.
So yeah, probably not going with this one unless I suddenly come upon a bunch of money and our tastes change dramatically. DAM, them!
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| Not the actual building, just a rendering. |
This was actually the first one I started researching, but the only one I haven't visited yet as the building is still under construction (see above). This guy's contemporary manifestation was the Colorado History Museum which was a really cute but maybe small-and-oldish building. Actually, Lily got married there in Oct of 2009 on the patio terrace w/ a view of Denver. Very purty. This was our first choice before we started looking more.
What it costs: $2500-$3500 depending on the room and if you're going to have your ceremony and reception in separate or diff rooms.
Catering: Continental "Divine" Catering with a flexible pricing scale. I did some rough numbers for this one and we could do $6500-$9000 for a buffet dinner for 250ppl or $2500-$4000 for appetizers/pasta station.
Bar: Any of the 2 options listed above.
Perks: Free membership to museum for 1 year, and they're throwing the terrace (pictured above w/ the railing) in for free.
Pros: Good price. All history-y (I can't call this one historic as they're building something brand-new!). The room we want is the 4th floor w/ a view of the Rocky Mtns. Room for kids, audio (at least) hookups, pretty (theoretically), right downtown next to the Art Museum.
Cons: Maybe still a bit formal. Western sun might kill our guests during the reception since we'll be in high summer. And I definitely can't have my guests, especially the out-of-towners, dropping dead on their Chicken Cacciatore. (Ok , I won't really have that at my dinner b/c I don't want chicken...or really meat at all...well maybe...more later). Building not built yet, may've lost our chance to see the space till October which is way too late to make a decision.
We were really into this place until we couldn't get in to see it last weekend. It still seems nice and we may still consider it, but we have to look at catering options for the Artwork Network place and maybe a few more places. But being the same price as the gallery, it might lose to that one.
The Curtis is, oddly enough, on Curtis and 14th st. It's really really in downtown, w/in walking distance to a lot of after party places.
So we haven't actually looked into this place yet, but the lady called me back yesterday. It's funky and looks neat but that's all I really know.
Now I'm going to shut up before this post gets ANY longer. You know you're rambling when Blogger freezes up trying to save your post b/c it's so huge!
Cheers, My Peeps. And if you have any other suggestions for downtown Denver, pls let me know!
Ooo, so much purrty! Those all look awesome, from the pics the Artwork Network looks way rad. If you go for an art gallery you should make them do a plum/chartreuse themed exhibit ;D
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