I've always wanted to get married at Tom Ham's Lighthouse on Harbor Island. The venue comes with chiviari chairs!
The other place was The Prado in Balboa Park. I've had many good meals at the Prado. Balboa Park is also such a great backdrop for a wedding.
Then we found Kona Kai resort on Shelter Island. It was large enough to fit 500 for a sit down dinner reception.
I then thought about how difficult it would be to do everything from Denver, especially a wedding for 500+. I started considering Denver. The pros? I would be able to get a competitive quote with Denver's top caterers. I know which bakeries make yummy cake and which ones do not. I would be able to do a lot of the decorations ahead of time and not worry about shipping it.
We spent several weekends looking at wedding venues. I wanted to avoid a hotel wedding. Hotels are great but I wanted something more unique. We found unique and we found large but we couldn't find unique and large together.
The DAC has this gorgeous rooftop.
We spent several weekends looking at wedding venues. I wanted to avoid a hotel wedding. Hotels are great but I wanted something more unique. We found unique and we found large but we couldn't find unique and large together.
We thought we found the place when I came across the Denver Athletic Club but when we met with the events director, it wasn't large enough.
The DAC has this gorgeous rooftop.
So in Denver we looked at:
- Noah's Event Center: The main room only held 250 but the entire place held 600. We thought about doing a smaller ceremony and dinner and then a larger reception. The catering for the food station reception was actually more than a sit down dinner. We really liked Noah's. We thought all the rooms were great and the DIY lighting, sound system, and lower to you ceiling grids were awesome. This was our top choice in Colorado.
- Stonebrook Manor: They specialize in weddings but it was a bad sign with Jerami asked if he was coming to pick out a casket as we drove up. It was nice but just not our style. The gardens were really pretty. In the end we didn't like how restrictive they were with food and beverage. If I wanted those restrictions, I would just book the Westin Tabor Center (at least the Westin was more in line with our style.)
- Lionsgate: The place held 370 if we used the patio as additional seating. The place was beautiful but the room looked smaller than the room at Noah's.
- El Jebel Temple: This building has potential but it's just very dated. It needs a little TLC to make it very grand.
- The Pines at Genesee was beautiful. It was very Colorado with the Pine trees but we didn't like the fact that in order to accomodate 500, we would have to seat everyone in five different rooms on two different levels.
- Exdo Events Center: We were considering Exdo because it had a nice urban night club vibe but in the end, the feedback about the area made us change our mind.
We also considered but did not visit:
- The Sewall Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts but I didn't like the fact that they now restrict the catering to Epicurean. They used to have a longer list of approved caterers.
- The Denver Art Museum was too small.
- The Denver Botanic Gardens was also too small.
- The Denver Nature & Science Museum. We like the museum but we didn't like the fact that we were restricted to their in house catering. The food is not bad but we used to do our annual work event there and I wanted to separate work from wedding.
- The History Colorado Center's atrium holds 400 and was a choice but it is still under construction and they just announced their exclusive catering partnership with Continental Divide. Nothing against Continental Divide but I have other caterers in mind.
- The Wings Over the Rockies Museum. We live next to the Wings museum and Jerami loves the idea of getting married with old planes surrounding us but the events person was just not very responsive to us. I know they are doing a lot of renovations but she should still check her emails and respond to them.
- Sherman Street Event Center was the old location for the El Jebel Shriners and the two buildings look very similar. The pricing at Sherman Street was a little expensive for what you were getting.
I then convinced Jerami to get married in Vegas. Vegas would mean less stress for me. Most venues had nice all inclusive packages. My family and friends love Vegas. There's just something for everyone to do. Vegas is also relatively cheap to get to (those from California can drive) and hotel rooms can range from $30 to $$$$$ and many of my family and friends get comped rooms and meals in Vegas. Who doens't love Vegas?
As of now, we do not have a venue but I think we're getting closer.
- Noah's Event Center: The main room only held 250 but the entire place held 600. We thought about doing a smaller ceremony and dinner and then a larger reception. The catering for the food station reception was actually more than a sit down dinner. We really liked Noah's. We thought all the rooms were great and the DIY lighting, sound system, and lower to you ceiling grids were awesome. This was our top choice in Colorado.
- Stonebrook Manor: They specialize in weddings but it was a bad sign with Jerami asked if he was coming to pick out a casket as we drove up. It was nice but just not our style. The gardens were really pretty. In the end we didn't like how restrictive they were with food and beverage. If I wanted those restrictions, I would just book the Westin Tabor Center (at least the Westin was more in line with our style.)
- Lionsgate: The place held 370 if we used the patio as additional seating. The place was beautiful but the room looked smaller than the room at Noah's.
- El Jebel Temple: This building has potential but it's just very dated. It needs a little TLC to make it very grand.
- The Pines at Genesee was beautiful. It was very Colorado with the Pine trees but we didn't like the fact that in order to accomodate 500, we would have to seat everyone in five different rooms on two different levels.
- Exdo Events Center: We were considering Exdo because it had a nice urban night club vibe but in the end, the feedback about the area made us change our mind.
We also considered but did not visit:
- The Sewall Ballroom at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts but I didn't like the fact that they now restrict the catering to Epicurean. They used to have a longer list of approved caterers.
- The Denver Art Museum was too small.
- The Denver Botanic Gardens was also too small.
- The Denver Nature & Science Museum. We like the museum but we didn't like the fact that we were restricted to their in house catering. The food is not bad but we used to do our annual work event there and I wanted to separate work from wedding.
- The History Colorado Center's atrium holds 400 and was a choice but it is still under construction and they just announced their exclusive catering partnership with Continental Divide. Nothing against Continental Divide but I have other caterers in mind.
- The Wings Over the Rockies Museum. We live next to the Wings museum and Jerami loves the idea of getting married with old planes surrounding us but the events person was just not very responsive to us. I know they are doing a lot of renovations but she should still check her emails and respond to them.
- Sherman Street Event Center was the old location for the El Jebel Shriners and the two buildings look very similar. The pricing at Sherman Street was a little expensive for what you were getting.
I then convinced Jerami to get married in Vegas. Vegas would mean less stress for me. Most venues had nice all inclusive packages. My family and friends love Vegas. There's just something for everyone to do. Vegas is also relatively cheap to get to (those from California can drive) and hotel rooms can range from $30 to $$$$$ and many of my family and friends get comped rooms and meals in Vegas. Who doens't love Vegas?
As of now, we do not have a venue but I think we're getting closer.
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