60+ Best Small Wedding Venues in Colorado
60+ of the best small wedding venues in Colorado, including affordable venues and ceremony sites, outdoor venues with epic mountain views, luxury boutique hotels, unique elopement venues, vacation rental homes, and traditional venues that offer elopement and micro-wedding packages—something for everyone!
Small weddings and elopements become increasingly popular in the past couple of years thanks to group size restrictions during the pandemic, but there’s no reason to stop planning micro-weddings just because we’re back to “normal”! Whether you are planning a micro-wedding for 30 people or a casual elopement weekend with only your parents and siblings there to celebrate with you, this guide will help you find the perfect small wedding venue in Colorado.
Wondering where in Colorado you should start your search? You might want to read my post about the best places to elope in Colorado—the info about each town is just the same for small weddings!
Affordable venues
Looking for an affordable small wedding venue in Colorado? These venues can host your ceremony, reception, or both, and are all incredibly cheap compared to the average venue price for our state.
- Maroon Bells Amphitheater in Aspen
- Rocky Mountain National Park
- Sapphire Point Overlook near Breckenridge
- Windy Point near Breckenridge
- Sunrise Amphitheater in Boulder
- Chautauqua Park in Boulder
- Julia’s Deck near Vail
- Tigiwon Community House near Vail
- O’Connor Pavilion in Estes Park
- Top of the Pines in Ridgway
- Halfway House in Boulder
- Evergreen Lake House in Evergreen
- Bristlecone Inn in Estes Park
- Colorado State Parks
Outdoor venues
If you’re planning a small wedding in Colorado, I bet you’d like sweeping mountain views for your ceremony backdrop. These outdoor venues all have great ceremony views, and range from the foothills of Boulder up to the top of ski resorts in the mountains. The ski resorts wedding venues are usually a bit more pricey, even for small weekday weddings, but you can’t beat the experience of having your guests ride a gondola or ski lift to your ceremony! And you can always do a ski elopement for just the two of you first, then head to a separate venue for your reception.
Some of these small wedding venues have options for hosting your reception as well, like the Mountain Wedding Garden in Crested Butte, and Treehaus in Nederland (one of my favorites!), but many of them are ceremony-only. If you’re having a small group of guests, consider renting one of these venues for your ceremony, then having everyone go back to a vacation home rental for a celebration dinner prepared by a private chef!
- Beaver Creek Wedding Deck
- Aspen Wedding Overlook
- Copper Mountain Resort
- San Sophia Overlook in Telluride
- Black Mountain Lodge at Arapahoe Basin
- Holy Cross Event Deck at Vail
- Keytop Overlook at Keystone Resort
- Mountain Wedding Garden in Crested Butte
- Woods Walk in Crested Butte
- The Spires Ranch in Pine
- Rhize Weddings in Pike National Forest
- Treehaus in Nederland
Venues with lodging
If you are coming to Colorado from out-of-state to get married, what better way to celebrate than with a small wedding at a venue that can host your ceremony, celebrations, and lodging all in one? These boutique hotels and resorts all have ceremony sites, private dining rooms, and lodging options perfect for small weddings. Denver also has a large amount of hotels that offer micro-weddings.
- Dunton Hot Springs near Telluride
- Juniper Mountain House in Evergreen
- Gold Mountain Ranch in Ouray
- The Wyman Hotel in Silverton
- The Surf Chateau & Hotel in Buena Vista
- A-Frame Club in Winter Park
- Devil’s Thumb Ranch in Grand County
- Scarp Ridge Lodge in Crested Butte
- FREIGHT in Leadville
- The Eddy Taproom & Hotel in Golden
- The Lodge at Breckenridge
- Hotel Jerome in Aspen
- SkyView at Fall River in Estes Park
- Della Terra Mountain Chateau in Estes Park
- Romantic RiverSong Inn in Estes Park
Restaurant venues
- Flagstaff House in Boulder
- Terrace on Main in Buena Vista
Wedding venues with elopement packages
Many wedding venues in Colorado have started offering elopement packages as a more affordable alternative to their regular rental prices. These packages are usually only available on weekdays and/or in the off-season (late fall to early spring), and may include a shorter rental period or a limited number of guests compared to regular wedding rentals.
- Wild Basin Lodge in Estes Park
- Blackstone Rivers Ranch in Idaho Springs
- Lyons Farmette & River Bend in Lyons
- Colorado Mountain Ranch near Boulder
- North Star Gatherings in Idaho Springs
- The Observatory at Alta Lakes in Telluride
- Piney River Ranch in Vail
- Grant Humphreys Mansion in Denver
Indoor Venues
Want to have your small wedding at an indoor venue, so you don’t have to worry about backup plans in case of inclement weather? These venues in the Boulder/Denver area all have options for indoor ceremonies and receptions for small weddings.
- The Manor House in Littleton
- Rembrandt Yard in Boulder
- The Simon in Louisville
- Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art
- Hotel Teatro in Denver
- Skylight in Denver
- Denver Botanic Gardens at York Street
Vrbo wedding venues
Vacation rental homes like Vrbo and AirBnB are the perfect venues for couples who want a down-to-earth, chill wedding day with their closest friends and family. Colorado mountain towns have lots of large homes to choose from, and these can easily be combined with an outdoor ceremony in nature, or an epic hike for couples portraits.
Stay together for a long-weekend, book a private chef to prepare dinner for everyone, and enjoy the celebrations without having to worry about driving back to your lodging at the end of the night. Just make sure that you rent a vacation home that allows events! For more on how to plan a small wedding at a vacation rental, check out my guide to airbnb and vrbo weddings here.
- Alpenglow Villa in Steamboat Springs
- Summit at Shock Hill in Breckenridge
- Chateau of Breckenridge in Breckenridge
- Point View Place in Breckenridge
- The Lodge at Stoney Ridge in Breckenridge
- Chalet du Soleil in Breckenridge
- Twin Eagles Lodge in Breckenridge
- The Lodge at Carolina in the Pines in Frisco
- Whispering River Ranch in Breckenridge
- Majestic Views in Crested Butte
- Rivertree Lodge in Frisco
- The Wapiti Retreat in Steamboat Springs
When do you need a venue for your small wedding?
If you plan to have more than 10-15 people at your wedding, including yourselves, guests, and vendors, you’ll want to reserve a ceremony site or book a small venue. Most free locations in nature have strict rules on the number of people allowed in a group, and you don’t want your ceremony interrupted by a park ranger because you unknowingly broke those rules. It’s also hard to guarantee parking and privacy at most public trails in Colorado.
With a small wedding venue, you have the perfect place to celebrate your marriage without worrying about tourists and hikers gawking in the background, or not having all your guests be able to get parking at a trailhead. Some couples book a ceremony site in nature, then celebrate at a vacation home rental afterwards. Others prefer to book a venue where they can have both the ceremony and reception all at the same place.
And if you’re dreaming about those epic Colorado mountain views for your couples portraits, book a local photographer before you book your venue! That way we can help you find a venue that’s close enough to a hike or scenic area for you to get the best of both worlds.
When can you elope without a venue?
While the rules around group size varies for each location, you can generally find an epic place to elope in nature without needing to reserve a ceremony site or pay for a permit if you have 10-15 people or fewer in your group, including yourselves and all guests and vendors. The rules for special use permits are complicated, so I highly recommend finding a local photographer in the area where you want to elope first, and they’ll help you find the perfect location and navigate any permits and rules. (Oh hey, I’m one of those photographers!)
You can learn more in my Colorado elopement guide!
Hello, I’m looking for a wedding venue for around 50-75 guests, that allows our dog. We’re looking for somewhere within an hour of Denver, but not in Denver. Can you please send me some options? Thank you!
That’s the kind of research I do for my booked couples. I unfortunately don’t have the time to spend hours putting together venue options for couples I’m not directly working with beyond what you can already find on my blog 🙂
This is an incredible resource!
Thanks Traci! There are so many good venues out here, but many of them can be hard to find!