After fours years of dating, The Boy proposed to me on Christmas Eve. (At least, I think he did. He got down on one knee and pulled a ring box out of his pocket, and it all gets kind of blurry after that. He assures me that in the midst of all the squealing and crying I said yes, and I believe him.)
Now that the excitement of being newly engaged is starting to fade, the reality of planning a wedding is coming to the forefront. So much to do, so much to pick, so much to decide. I do have several friends who have been married in the past few years, and I will certainly be drawing on their collective experience, but I’d like as many suggestions and referrals for local services as I can get.
To give you some idea…we’re thinking either an autumn or spring wedding - either this October (I think this is too soon) or next March, possibly pushing out as late as next October. It will be a smallish but lavish wedding (~100 guests, possibly fewer) with a slightly Victorian flavor. This is the dress with which I’ve fallen in love. The Boy is looking at either a morning coat or frock coat style tux. It will be a formal evening wedding, held indoors. Neither of us has any religion to speak of (I’m a lapsed Lutheran, he’s a born and bred atheist) - we’re open to the prospect of getting married in a church, but few will have us with our collective lack of religion.
So…any recommendations/un-recommendations for Denver/Boulder/Front Range wedding vendors? I’m looking for everything - ceremony/reception site, officiant, photographer, florist, caterer, dress shop, tux shop, baker, the whole shebang.
Wow! That dress is georgeous!!! Bobotheoptimist is a reverend and can marry you. We are in Colorado, as for a church?? Not much help here. You could have an outdoor one or find a reception hall where you can do the ceremony and reception in the same place. Sorry I’m no help.
Kairos, shoot me an email (it’s in my profile). I have a recommendation for a great photographer. He did mine, several friends, has even flown out of state to a family member’s wedding, and he’s very, very reasonable.
As far as cake vendors, I cannot endorse Das Meyer enough. My family has known Dennis for many many years, and his cakes are fantastic. They even make you an extra cake, at your first anniversary, so you don’t have to eat bad cake out of the freezer.
I’ve seen nice weddings in such diverse places as an Elks lodge and Flagstaff mountain. Outdoor weddings almost guarantee bad weather, but unforgettable weddings.
I’ll email you some info about the people I know, if you’d like.
Since we just got engaged last week, we’re still in the googledy stage but the reality of several weddings we have to plan around is kind of starting to hit. Some friends of ours are getting married Labor Day weekend at a lodge/resort type place outside of Woodland Park and we’re in the wedding, so that’s one place I know of (and the bride of that couple has done a ton of research on outdoor sites and has offered to share it with me). You said you want indoor, though, so that wouldn’t be much help.
I don’t know if we’re doing this thing in Colorado or California, so as for vendors I can’t really help. But there’s a great site I’ve been reading for a while called Indiebride.com - the message boards, called Kvetch, have been great help to my friend and I so far. There’s even a section on vendors and threads are listed by state/city, so you can check into some of the ones for Colorado/Denver.
The prospect of an outdoor wedding scares the crap out of me for that exact reason. I’m going to be psychotic enough as it is…I don’t need to be worrying about the weather on top of everything else.
And, by all means, fell free to e-mail with with suggestions. I appreciate it!
And as Necros’ wife, I have a few more suggestions…
We had pictures taken before our wedding by the photographer that Necros mentions at the Brown Palace, which was very cool because of the Victorian look.
We were married by a current Denver County Judge, Judge Alfred Harrell, who was great and would recite any type of marriage ceremony you wanted. He does charge a fee for his services, but is a real fun and nice guy. I can send you his email address if you’re interested.
We had both our wedding and reception at the Space Gallery off Santa Fe, but I don’t think that really goes with your Victorian theme. It did allow us to bring in our own caterer and alcohol though.
If you want an art gallery that may fit better with your theme as it’s in an old church, I’d suggest to look at Foothills Art Center in Golden. It was on my list of places to look at for our wedding but once I saw the Space Gallery I didn’t look any further.
After looking at several dress shops, I found d’Anelli’s Bridal Salon (off Wadsworth and Alameda) to have the best selection and service. I’m not sure they carry the dress you’re looking at though.
The DCPA rents elegant spaces for weddings. Email me (screenname at gmail) for who to contact and rough pricing. Most of the suburban Performing Arts Centers will, too.
If you really want a church wedding without the religion, you might see if The Little Brown Church (Littleton? Maybe Unincorporated Arapahoe County – look in the phone book for the Little Brown Church under weddings) is still available. Fish & Game (maybe Parks & Rec) owned it, so even rabid atheists were welcome. Lovely grounds, too, if you want to do the Outdoor Reception thing.
The Butterfly Pavilion rented out for weddings a few years ago, but I’ve heard that they were going to discontinue the service.
There is a gorgeous restaurant on the way to Evergreen that will hold a huge private party, but I have no idea of the name – drive to Evergreen, look for the big white elevated building with screened porches surrounding it, pull over, if they aren’t open, ask the clerk in the liquor store next door.
Based on my friends’ marital history, these are all beautiful, “lucky” venues. If you believe in luck, avoid the Arvada ELKS lodge. If you don’t, avoid it anyway – the place is fugly, overheated, bad parking, and had tiny, dirty chambers (aka “bathrooms”) for the bridal party to get dressed. Nice people, horrible building.
How about the Byers-Evans house on Bannock, administered by the Colorado Historical Society? Or one of their other houses/museums? You might call the Iliff School of (really liberal) Theology and see if they might send an amenable being of the cloth your way. Boonzaijer’s in Colorado Springs is my choice for cakes, but that may be too out of the way. Then again, if you get interested in moving the party further south, check out the Cliff House in Manitou Springs.
