Wedding Blog
Finding a location for our wedding reception was surprisingly straightforward. As I mentioned before, most of the couples choosing a mountain wedding are married in the summer. But seeing as we (OK, really more I) wanted a winter wedding, there’s no way we could have an outdoor wedding—at least not unless it consisted of all of us on skis, or all of us dressed up with a ton of blankets. So when we started thinking about the perfect reception location, a few places came to mind.
Hotels, while they can be so beautiful and rustic, always seem to require the majority of your guests to stay there, with a minimum of three to five nights stay. I didn’t want to demand our guests stay at a hotel that was going to cost them an arm and a leg. Not to mention almost all of the hotels in Vail have a sort of Bavarian theme, and if you’re not exactly into that it’s easy to feel like you’re in Disneyland. So I started to look outside the hotel options.
The town of Vail has a few buildings that are actually owned by the town and used as sort of community centers—they’re called Pavilions, and my brother was married on the lawn outside one of them. So we looked at a building called Donovan Pavilion—it’s a big log cabin with very high ceilings and beautiful mountain touches like antler chandeliers and huge outdoor fireplaces.
We thought about having our actual wedding here, but there just wasn’t enough space. If we did choose to have the ceremony here, we would’ve had to do a weird transition between the ceremony and reception. I just kept picturing our guests all dressed up setting their own table—really classy, huh? Tables would have been set in a frenzy, and we were just worried about the whole switch from ceremony to reception.
So, instead, we’ll be getting married at the gorgeous Vail Chapel right on the base of the mountain.
One of my favorite touches about this location is the high ceilings. I also love that during the winter, they line the roof with the twinkle Christmas lights that hang down. It’s very beautiful and should add even more romance to our night, and for us, romance=happy couple! 
And here’s the chapel where we’ll tie the knot!
So I might be the only bride who really didn’t have to think too hard about a location, since I’ve lived in this small town for so long, and I guess I really knew all of my options. I’m just glad that this decision was an easy one, because I know I have a lot more complicated decisions up ahead, like the guest list.
Anyone else just kind of know where you wanted your reception? Are you opting to have your ceremony and reception in the same location? How will you handle the transition?
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Share this post: My First No-Brainer!
Our reception site was also a no-brainer. We knew for awhile that it was the perfect spot for us. The staff will handle the transition - it is very common at our site to have the ceremony and reception there. Lucky for us the ceremony is on the deck and the reception inside so it makes the transition a bit eaiser!
We fell in love with the very first ceremony site we visited. We originally didn’t even envision a church wedding. But when we walked into our rustic church, we both knew it was the one!
What a beautiful venue and an adorable chapel, especially with the snow covered roofs.
Gorgeous! And you’re absolutely right - it’s so nice to really already know what you want. We had both the ceremony and reception at our country club, and never really considered anyplace else. The chef is marvelous, the event coordinator and clubhouse manager are fantastic, and we already knew all the staff really, really well - so they totally knocked themselves out to make our day as perfect as it could be. Plus our photographer and our band were both really familiar with the venue and the staff as well. Throughout the planning process, DH and I had regular “lunch meetings” at the club, laid all our stuff out on the table, and all the staff would come by to oooh and aaah over our latest choices.
Although you’re right - it has to be one of the advantages of living in a smaller town, where you already know everyone. I also never had any question about who would do the flowers, who would make the cake, who would provide the music, who would do the photography… And the best part was that all these “friendors” - still astonished me at the lengths they went to in order to make everything as perfect as possible. I already knew they were really, really good at what they do - and now I’m convinced that they are the best.
We got super lucky.. I think we visited only 3 places, when we found the one! We wanted an intimate, romantic, cozy wedding with our friends and family and found the most charming place to do it in! We are actually having the ceremony and the reception at the same venue, but venue used to be a house so there are a couple of rooms and multiple courtyards, so they flow everyone out to the front courtyard for cocktail hour…. which in the “winter month” of March they have tented w/ a clear tent and hundreds of twinkle lights. So while we’re all enjoying cocktail hour… they do the switch inside!!
We fell in love with it immediately. It was just us.
I was also glad to be able to make a quick decision here. We chose Lionscrest Manor in Lyons, CO and have never looked back. It was the only place we visited and I have been 110% impressed. I love your venue too! Very pretty!
Surprisingly, I had a similar experience. Although I’m from New Orleans, I knew the only place I wanted to get married was the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park from the moment my fiance suggested it. That’s where we got engaged, and it’s just such a beautiful place.
[...] gold candles, winter wedding, flowers (I can’t remember source, please tell me if it’s yours!), our reception site!, dress, damask runners, gold lamour, martini ice luge, mantilla veil, candle centerpiece (again, [...]
[...] our venue had pretty chairs, we could do something simple with tulle, like this unique idea on the right. [...]
[...] reception venue is a huge log cabin, and with the rustic feel of it all, we knew a s’mores bar would be perfect! [...]
One of my friends got married in October at Vail Chapel and Donovan Pavilion. The wedding was great and I thought that the best thing about DP is that the building it so beautiful it needed very little extra decoration!
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Miss Champagne, DC/Vail/Colorado
Age and Occupation: 26, Eye Doctor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Attorney
Engagement Date: March 13, 2006
Wedding Date: February 2009
Blogging Since: July 30, 2008
Venue: Small church ceremony with mountain-view log cabin reception
About Me: I'm a small town mountain girl with a city heart. Found my way to the east coast, and Mr. Champagne kept me here so we're planning a wedding from afar in my hometown Vail, Colorado. I'm secretly obsessed with reality TV, Wii games where I can shoot a gun, country music, and Caesar: Dog Whisperer. I also spend time pretending to golf, backseat driving, having one way conversations with our MinPin Maxwell, loving champagne, and wedding perfecting… I mean, planning. I use way too many repeated symbols and letters when I write, and I'll love Mr. Champagne endlessly…
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