How much does a Colorado mountain wedding cost?

You are engaged! Congratulations! Being engaged is truly a once in a lifetime experience, so take the time to really enjoy it before you launch into 24/7 wedding planning. When the time comes to start thinking about planning your wedding, picking a date, choosing your venue, and dialing in that Pinterest wedding board, you must HAVE your wedding budget in order before you make decisions. Weddings can get expensive and you and your fiance need to discuss, and agree on, how much you want to invest in your wedding BEFORE you start planning. This process is less overwhelming than it sounds, and we recommend tackling this by reading our blog on 5 easy steps for building your wedding budget.

We live in Colorado and are so lucky to get to plan amazing Colorado mountain weddings. Often times couples come to us already having booked their dream mountain venue, which is awesome. However, when we start diving into their budget, we quickly find out that they are “venue poor”, meaning they spent more money on their venue than what their overall budget allows for. If you read our blog on steps for building a wedding budget, you know that your venue, catering and bar should be no more than 44% of your overall budget. If you have a $80,000 total budget, then your venue, catering and bar should be no more than $35,000 including tax and service charge. If you spend $50,000 then you will either have to increase your budget or compromise on the number of flowers you have, getting the photo booth, etc. . . You see where we are going with this, right? Set your budget first so you know what you can invest in each vendor before you book them. This way you don’t fall in love with a venue or vendor that will make you go over budget.

One of the most common questions we get is “how much does it cost to have a mountain wedding in Colorado?” This is a bit of a loaded question as different mountain areas of Colorado have very different price points. Aspen is going to be significantly more expensive than Winter Park or Breckenridge. It also depends greatly on the couple’s individual style and preferences, including food and floral choices, bar packages, band or DJ, and overall level of customization. For instance a couple planning a DIY wedding at a casual mountain venue with BBQ catering, DJ, and 50 guests is going to be far less expensive than a top of the mountain wedding with a full-service planner, full-service catering, hanging professional floral installations, 9 piece band, and 150 guests. Something else to keep in mind is that with inflation, the cost of almost everything has gone up in the wedding industry. Rightfully so, as costs of good and services are up across every industry. Therefore, the friend who got married pre-2020 and only paid $1,500 for her DJ or $10,000 on food and bar is not reflective of the pricing that you will see headed into your 2023 and 2024 wedding planning.

With all of that in mind, we have put together a sample wedding budget for 150 guests based on what we are seeing for 2023 in moderate priced Colorado mountain communities. The numbers included in the sample budget are averages only as some weddings we plan have higher budgets and some come in lower, based on personal preferences. This sample budget is intended to give you a realistic idea of what it costs to host a 150 person wedding in a Colorado mountain community, but your budget will vary based on where you host your wedding, what vendors you prioritize, the decor your choose, whether you are having a tented wedding or using a traditional venue, and much more. We always recommend hiring your wedding planner early in the process so they can help walk you through a customized budget.

Need a planner to help you get your budget in line? We still have a few openings in 2023 and are starting to book 2024 mountain weddings! Contact us today to set up your free consultation call to see if we are a great fit.