Best Wedding Venues
in Western Colorado

Planning a Wedding in western Colorado?

Western Colorado is vast, wild and beautiful. And as you can probably imagine, there are approximately two million venues to choose from in this part of the state. In this directory, we’ll take a look at the best wedding venues in western Colorado.

P.S. Don’t forget to take a look at our list of the best Colorado wedding vendors as well!

Aspen

Planning a Wedding in Aspen

Ah, Aspen. “Where the beer flows like wine.” Little-known fact about the movie Dumb and Dumber: it wasn’t actually filmed in Aspen, due to production budget, I’m assuming. The scenes in town were actually shot in Breckenridge and Park City, Utah. The skiing scenes were shot at Copper Mountain (near Breck) and the hotel Harry and Lloyd stay in is actually the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. But back to weddings! There are so many unique Aspen wedding venues, it’s tough to know exactly where to start your search. We’ve listed our favorites below to help get you started.

Aspen is the most expensive place in all of Colorado, but it’s also one of the most beautiful. If you have the budget for it, you won’t regret hosting your wedding here. Our favorite time of year for an Aspen wedding is the fall (more specifically, late September to mid-October) when the seas of aspen trees surrounding the picturesque town turn a vibrant shade of yellow. It’s a wedding photographer’s dream. Also, there are a ton of unique wedding venues to choose from in Aspen, from rustic mountaintops to chic downtown restaurants.

And how could we forget about the skiing? Aspen is home to four incredible ski resorts. One of them (Aspen Mountain) can be accessed via the gondola in the middle of the downtown area, which is super cool and convenient. Even when we aren’t skiing, we love taking our couples up this gondola for some incredible mountain wedding photos. The views up top are absolutely breathtaking.

Plus, there are a ton of cool restaurants, bars, shops, art galleries, an old movie theater and an amazing museum that will keep your wedding guests entertained all weekend long.

Another cool thing about Aspen is that it’s one of the few cities in the U.S. that is run on 100% renewable energy. So if you’re an avid environmentalist, you won’t regret spending your money here.

Aspen Wedding Venues

Aspen Meadows Resort

In a world of increasingly homogeneous architecture, Aspen Meadows Resort is a striking outlier. The hotel was inspired by the Bauhaus movement of the early 20th century in Germany, and it provides a really cool and different look for any Aspen wedding. Whenever we venture to Aspen, we try to stay at Aspen Meadows Resort, whether we’re shooting there or not. And the best part is that it’s surprisingly affordable considering the location.

Check out Andy & Mate’s fall wedding at Aspen Meadows Resort to see more!


Pine Creek Cookhouse

The Pine Creek Cookhouse is a log cabin-style restaurant located about 10 miles south of Aspen, just past an old ghost town called Ashcroft. The best thing about this Aspen wedding venue is the natural beauty surrounding the restaurant. A hiking path winds its way through the valley along Pine Creek and affords breathtaking views of Star Peak and Taylor Peak to the south. If you’re going to have a Pine Creek Cookhouse wedding, be prepared for the urge to frolic through the wildflowers singing at the top of your lungs, “The hills are alive with the sound of music!”

Check out Marissa and Abe’s summer wedding at Pine Creek Cookhouse to see more!


St. Regis Aspen

A 5-star hotel in downtown Aspen, the St. Regis offers all of the amenities you could possibly ever hope for in an Aspen wedding venue. If you’re hoping for an upscale mountain wedding with more than a couple hundred guests, the St. Regis is for you.

Check out Sindhu and John’s beautiful spring wedding at the St. Regis Aspen to see more!

Durango

Planning a Wedding in Durango

Note: We don’t make it down to the Durango area too often, but from our limited experience, it’s one of the coolest places we’ve had the pleasure of shooting a wedding. As we continue to venture back that way and discover more unique Durango wedding venues, we’ll be sure to update this list!

Nestled in the heart of the San Juan Mountain Range in the southwestern corner of Colorado, Durango is WAY off of the beaten path. If you’re trying to whittle your wedding guest list down a bit, choosing Durango as your wedding destination will be a huge step in the right direction, purely due to its remoteness. It’s about a six-hour drive from Denver. It’s an absolutely beautiful trip, but one that isn’t for the faint of heart. Heading south from Montrose on Hwy. 550 (also known as the Million Dollar Hwy.), through Ouray and Silverton, you traverse some of the most gut-wrenching switchbacks Colorado has to offer. It’s both exhilarating or frightening, depending on your disposition. If you fall into the latter camp, you can always take Hwy. 285 through Buena Vista and Salida – also a very cool drive, but a little less intense.

Once you’re in Durango, you’ll find an abundance of unspoiled nature and outdoor activities. It’s a great area for hiking, mountain biking, fishing and just about any other outdoor sport you could hope to partake in. Plus, it’s super close to Purgatory Resort, which is one of Colorado’s most iconic ski resorts. The best part is, there aren’t typically a ton of tourists at Purgatory, due to its remoteness.

Durango is an absolutely beautiful part of the world to host a wedding and there’s basically zero light pollution, making it the perfect location for wedding photos under the stars.

Durango Wedding Venues

Purgatory Resort

Purgatory is a ski resort situated just north of Durango in the San Juan Mountain Range. It’s a long drive from Denver, but it’s well-worth the journey if you’re in the market for a Durango wedding. In fact, its remoteness is what makes it so magical. There’s a feeling of isolation that provides a really cool vibe for the weddings here. Also, it’s so far from any sort of light pollution that’s it’s the perfect location to capture photos of the stars!

Check out Jamie and Eric’s Purgatory Resort wedding to see more!

Glenwood Springs

Planning a Wedding in Glenwood Springs

Note: We don’t make it out to Glenwood to shoot weddings too often, but we’ve listed our favorite venue thus far below. As we venture out to the western slope in the future and discover more unique Glenwood Springs wedding venues, we’ll be sure to update this list!

Glenwood Springs is kind of like the crossroads of Colorado. Well, I suppose that would be Denver, but Glenwood lies at the intersection of I-70 and Hwy 82, which takes you down to Aspen, approximately 40 miles to the south. If you’re looking at getting married in this part of Colorado, you could go for broke and plan an Aspen wedding, but if you’re wedding planning on a budget, Glenwood Springs is a great (and more affordable) alternative option.

It’s worth it to take trip out to Glenwood Springs for the drive alone because the stretch of I-70 that passes through Glenwood Canyon is an absolutely mind-boggling feat of engineering. Every time we drive through, we make sure to stop at one of the many rest areas to read the plaques describing how they pulled it off (yeah, we’re nerdy like that).

There are also a bunch of natural hot springs in Glenwood Springs. The most famous one is aptly named “Glenwood Hot Springs,” but there are a few others scattered throughout town as well. There’s also a really cool little downtown area that’s filled with restaurants, breweries, coffee shops and everything else you’d expect from a cozy mountain town.

Pro-tip: If you like sour beer, check out Casey Brewing & Blending, just south of downtown Glenwood. The taproom is appointment-only (it’s that good) and you can reserve a time slot to come in and enjoy a delicious bottle while overlooking the Roaring Fork River.

Glenwood Springs is a bit of a trek from Denver, but it’s also a very unique and naturally-beautiful destination to host your wedding. I only wish we got to photograph there more often!

Glenwood Springs Wedding Venues

White Owl Ranch is about as far off of the beaten path as you can get for your wedding. About a 30-minute drive from Glenwood Springs, the venue is isolated and rustic, and perfect for couples looking to get away from everything at an have an idyllic Colorado ranch wedding. Plus, the owners, Sylvia and Matt are wonderful people and blast to hang out with.

Check out Natasha and Doug’s White Owl Ranch wedding to see more!