Colorado outdoor wedding Archives - Calluna EventsCalluna Events

We’re so thrilled to have officially kicked off the wedding season a few weeks ago at the always stunning Devil’s Thumb Ranch. Jenna, Joe and their families gathered in Tabernash to celebrate their wedding. We kicked off the weekend with a fiesta welcome party – it was Cinco de Mayo after all! Guests noshed on a fajita bar and drank margaritas. It was truly the perfect start to the weekend.

When guests woke up on Saturday morning in a slight panic – an unforecasted blanket of spring snow! As the day wore on and the sun came out – Jenna and Joe were truly blessed with the most beautiful spring weather. Sticking to a classic Colorado color palette, we incorporated whites and greens with subtle nods of black to give a little bit of an edge to the barn while still keeping in light and whimsical with stunning florals and ceiling greenery from the talented ladies at Plum Sage.

After guests dined on local Wagyu short rib and Colorado trout – they took to the dance floor for an epic night of dancing! We surprised guests with a surprise + delight moment – an electric violinist DJ fusion for a few fun minutes on the dance floor. After this crowd was danced out – they headed to the after-party where the fun continued with a custom shot-ski and late night burgers and fries!

It was the perfect way to officially kick off our summer season and we can’t wait to be back at The Ranch for more celebrations this year!

Garden Party Wedding at Denver Botanic Gardens | Wedding Recap | Evelyn + Josh

Evelyn + Josh’s summer soiree wedding is sure to make any hopeless romantic swoon. With design notes inspired by delicate, refined and feminine accents, the Denver Botanic Gardens was the only choice for a celebration of 80 guests on a sunny day in June.

We embraced each corner of the grounds to create “roaming” garden party vibes, finding beauty and purpose in our surroundings and a space that was so important to the nearly newlyweds. With a glass of sparkling in hand, stylish guests pursued the property before settling in to watch E + J share their forever vows in the iconic Romantic Gardens, flanked by lush foliage accented by blooming arrangements. Using the garden and it’s seasonal blooms as our compass, primary petal design by Figment Floral was strategically bloom forward yet intentional, playing with the negative space in a way that has come so naturally into trend this year.

Once the party meandered over to the Orangery greenhouse for cocktails and dinner, the theme continued through playful combinations of uniquely cut china glassware and swoon-worthy floral linens – nodding to classic touches without dipping into trite or tradition. The result? A fresh, curated and memorable celebration for two very special people lifted in love and warmth of their closest friends. The festivities finished in the third and final stop of the evening with the beats of The Get Down Co in Marnie’s Pavilion, lending to the distinctive path of this urban garden wedding.

Black Tie Ranch Wedding in Aspen | SMP Feature + Wedding Recap | Lindsay + Ken

We are thrilled to announce our very own lead planner Lindsay + Ken’s wedding is on the front page of Style Me Pretty today! We thought it would be fun for you all to hear about her pretty day directly from her! Without further ado, here’s Lindsay with all the details about her gorgeous wedding in Aspen, Colorado!

I am so thrilled to share my behind the scenes into the most magical weekend! Our relationship started under the 6th train subway tracks in The Bronx, New York with a fireball shot, a bag of lollipops and New York Yankees victory. In May of 2018, my best friend and I went to a Yankees game, her last before she moved back to Colorado to go to law school. After the game, she convinced me to go to Stan’s, the local pre and post-game bar for “just one drink…” and there was Ken, with his brother, his friend and a giant bag of Dum-Dum suckers.” After asking to share a table, we struck up a conversation, exchanged numbers, a couple Dum-Dum’s and a kiss.

Two years later, we moved from New York City to my home state of Colorado, where I started as a lead planner here at Calluna Events! When the pandemic hit, we didn’t get to do as much exploring as we wanted to in the first 6 months of living there but the first “mountain-town” we visited together was Aspen, Colorado and we both fell in love with its charm, culinary scene and views. When we surprised my mom with a trip to Napa for her birthday, Ken decided to take advantage of our time together in Napa and propose. I planned a family photoshoot, which is a family tradition when we travel, we treat it as our sort of souvenir. Ken took advantage of the pre-planned “family photoshoot”and to my complete shock, got down on one knee in the most beautiful vineyard and asked me to spend the rest of our lives together. It was the most perfect morning.

When planning our wedding, we knew there was only one place in Colorado we wanted to say “I do” and that was to head back to Aspen for a black-tie, ranch wedding surrounded by picturesque Aspen trees and views of the Maroon Bells. Since I plan weddings professionally, I immediately knew I wanted a celebration at a venue where I had never planned a wedding at before. While on a site visit (for another couple) before I was engaged, I fell in love with T-Lazy-7 Ranch. Its stunning views and the ability to create the entire environment from the ground up made it the perfect venue to create our dream wedding.

Planning your own wedding in the midst of one of the busiest wedding seasons of my career was definitely not a task for the faint of heart. But to get to share my passion for design and give our friends and family from all over the country a glimpse into what I get to create for other families, was really special. I was so thrilled how everything turned out. It truly was our dream wedding.

Our weekend kicked off with a welcome party at Silver City Aspen in downtown Aspen complete with BBQ, signature old fashioned cocktails, wild west inspired florals and line dancing to Shania Twain on the jukebox before the Black-Tie celebration in the meadows of the Ranch. We really wanted a fun, casual, welcome party with great food, great drinks and great music. To see all our friends and family in our favorite place was really the best way to kick off the weekend.

For the wedding day, I designed the color palette to be completely neutral tones so that the venue and nature surrounding us could really shine! Because of my job, I had a pretty good idea of all the vendors that I wanted to help bring our vision to life. I started by getting my dream Carolina Herrera gown at Little White Dress. Being a planner, I had never been the one to try on wedding dresses. I had no idea what I wanted or what I would look good in but the second I put on my gown, I knew it was the one!

The ceremony decor was simple but dramatic as I wanted to keep the focus on the stunning backdrop so we opted for an aisle full of flowers, designed by the talented ladies at Wandering Poppy Co. and two simple acrylic pedestals at the altar that complimented the ghost chairs. We wanted to focus on the two of us, and the view so we opted to have our bridal party sit in the first row with our family.

For the ceremony, which was officiated by my brother, we incorporated lots of references to our love of food and travel and of course baseball. I surprised Ken with a custom calligraphy designed “home plate” for us to stand over at the altar. One of my favorite quotes is, “In baseball, as in life, all important things happen at home” and as a nod to where we met, our shared love of baseball and the importance of creating a home and life together, it was one of my favorite details of the day.”

After we walked up the aisle to New York, New York by Frank Sinatra, another nod to Yankees baseball, played live by the brass section of Taylor Pace Orchestra, guests headed to cocktail hour. Another really important feature for the us was the food. We really wanted to have an abundant cocktail hour featuring some of our favorite foods and things that our guests hadn’t seen at a wedding before. One of my favorite elements was the roving burrata bar I conceptualized with Catering by Design, where our guests could create the own burrata dish featuring toppings like tomatoes, pesto, balsamic glaze, chilled asparagus and prosciutto. It was such a fun interactive element and everyone loved it! We also incorporated a late night New York Cheesecake bar and New Haven “Apizza” station, a nod to the our east coast roots.

Another favorite detail was the guest books where guests signed their “autograph” onto a baseball and threw it into a custom designed baseball bucket for the couple to read and display in their house.

Guests also found their way to their seats from custom painted dice, a nod to a family game that’s been in Ken’s family for decades. The only DIY element I wanted at my wedding were these custom dice. When Ken and I first met, he taught me how to play his family game, simply called “dice” and so we sanded, primed and painted dice to for guests to find their seats and paired it with a sign that said “Roll Call”, it was one of my favorite details of the day.

Underneath the sailcloth tent, we wanted to create simple, modern elegance. The floral chandelier above the dance floor was one of my favorite elements. It was so unique and something I hadn’t ever seen before. It was paired with simple dinnerware, textured linens from Nuage Designs Inc. and custom menus by Scarlet Gilia Creative.

Music has always been really important and nothing beats an incredible band. We hired Taylor Pace of the Jordan Kahn Music Company who kept the dance floor packed the entire night. Our friends couldn’t stop talking about the band. They are truly one of the best entertainment bands you could have, and it was so important to keep our dance floor packed all night! I couldn’t have imagined our night without them!

To all the incredible vendors who were a part of our special day, thank you will never be enough. You are all truly the most talented people and it was such an honor to work!

Timeless Romance Wedding in Steamboat | Wedding Recap | Kendall + Chris

A British boy met an American girl, and the rest is history! Kendall and Chris brought their friends and family from all over the world to celebrate in the epic mountain town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and boy, did they celebrate! It was one of those quintessential Colorado weather days, where it’s supposed to be a warm summer day and turns into a rainy one, but the rain didn’t stop the celebration. They warmed up by packing the dance floor and dancing for hours to the epic tunes from Wash Park Band, sipping on burnt orange old-fashioneds and playing the beloved British game of croquet. The number one priority for Kendall and Chris was to show their international guests a fabulous Colorado time, and we achieved that by bringing in personal elements from the couple. Their Harry Potter seating chart, seasonally curated menu and bar, and British-inspired designs were all nods to their life together. We LOVED this day and couple so much!

We’re so thrilled their day is featured on Rocky Mountain Bride! See the full feature linked below!

Fall Romance in the Mountains | Wedding Recap | Katie + Stevie

We are so thrilled to share a deeper look into the last Calluna wedding of the 2022 Wedding Season – Katie & Stevie’s fall nuptials at the one and only Devil’s Thumb Ranch! Katie is originally from San Antonio, Texas and has a deep affinity for horses and so when they moved to Colorado and got engaged – they knew right away that the atmosphere of Devil’s Thumb Ranch was the perfect place to say I Do!

When Katie and Stevie picked this weekend – they were hoping for the perfect blend of Colorado blue skies and changing autumn aspen trees and they got their wish! We kicked off the weekend with a western welcome party complete with BBQ, refreshing Ranch Water to sip on, and live music from local musician Notes by Nate.

For the palette of the wedding, we really wanted to lean into the fall tones that were surrounding the ranch that weekend. We partnered with Amy Lauren Floral Design to bring that vision to life! Subtle pops of blush pinks and apricot oranges woven with climbing greenery, the florals captured the magic of fall in the mountains!

Perhaps one of our favorite parts of the weekend were all the incredible paper goods by Knapp Design Co. We started off with an incredible western luxe invitation suite. It was such a fun way to give guests a glimpse into the weekend, with lots of fun textures, especially the velvet belly band with galloping horses being our most adored design element! We knew we wanted horses to be a focal point of the weekend so we created a custom escort display with velvet letter pressed paper tied to mini horseshoes for a delightful surprise for guests to find their seats! This display is one of our all time favorites and perfectly tied into the leather bar menu displaying the couples signature cocktails!

After dinner, the couple’s dear friends and family made the most incredible round of toasts to the newlyweds, followed by a special family song that has been in the bride’s family for generations – it was such a fun personal touch led by her cousin and musician Josh Klause. There was certainly not a dry eye in the crowd! Soon thereafter, everyone hit the dance floor where The Get Down had the dance floor packed all night long. It was truly the perfect way to end our 2022 wedding season!

Elegant Rocky Mountain Wedding | Wedding Recap | Meghan + Blair

Meghan + Blair’s wedding weekend at Devil’s Thumb Ranch was truly one that we will cherish in our hearts evermore! With the majority of their guests and family traveling in from New York and New Orleans, Meghan + Blair’s families hosted a weekend full of activities and celebrations. The weekend kicked off with rehearsal dinner in the Grotto with their nearest + dearest followed by s’mores + stargazing led by an expert who pointed out constellations and shared insights with all who attended. The next day was full of western flair as the groom + groomsmen went zip lining and the bride + bridesmaids went horseback riding together. In the evening, everyone gathered in their best western dress for an incredible BBQ welcome dinner with darling beverage burros, fun games, and delicious food.

And soon it was wedding day! Meghan + Blair said I do in the most stunning of outdoor ceremonies with views of the Rocky Mountains setting the tone and a garden of gorgeous florals by Cori Cook surrounding them as they shared their vows. Guests then made their way to cocktail hour where they sipped on spicy margaritas named after their pup Harley and enjoyed each other’s company at the lounges adorned with leather sofas + custom made kilim accent pillows. Soon they found their seats at the ‘Where in NOLA Will You Be?’ escort wall designed by Scarlet Gilia Creative, a nod to the very place our darling duo first locked eyes at Tulane University and all the special places so dear to their hearts.

Guests walked into High Lonesome Barn for reception and were greeted by the ever so amazing Jordan Kahn Orchestra playing the couple’s favorite tunes. The space was dressed to the nines with soft drapery swagged from high ceilings adorned with greenery and pretty pendants adding that extra glow to the room with a mix of warm wood tables and rounds. Each table was brimming with floral galore and elegant linens + dinnerware with pops of deep blue in the glassware + napkins and menus beautifully hand calligraphed by the bride’s Aunt. Guests indulged in a decadent meal by Devil’s Thumb Ranch and then hit the dance floor for a night full of dancing + fun! At last it came time for the final song and Jordan Kahn Orchestra assembled in a second line followed by the bride + groom with their umbrellas as they led everyone to the after party to the tune of New York New York with handkerchiefs swinging in the air and guests accessorized with Mardi Gras beads as another nod to their forever love for NOLA! We’re so very honored that we were part of Meghan + Blair’s celebration and always grateful for our team of vendors who helped bring all the pretty to their day!

Boho Wedding with Pops of Rust and a Mix of Fresh + Dried Flowers | Wedding Recap | Emily + Steve

Camp Hale is one of the venue’s in Colorado that is really special. Situated between Leadville and Vail – the remote nature really gives your guests the most stunning views and overall experience and that’s exactly what Emily & Steve wanted to give their families – many of whom were traveling to Colorado from Kansas and Missouri.

We kicked off the weekend with an intimate rehearsal dinner at The Hythe hotel in Vail followed by a big welcome party at Arrabelle Vail! It was the perfect way to welcome all their guests to Vail for the weekend.

When we started designing their wedding, we knew we wanted to keep a lot of the tones and colors earthy but with a summer twist. The color palette of rust tones mixed in with some lighter colors played perfect to the vast landscape of Camp Hale and the beautiful summer season. It all came together beautifully!

At cocktail hour – guests were treated to spicy margaritas and comfy lounge groupings while these “party people” found their seats at a custom designed escort display. Before heading into the tent – Wandering Poppy Co. blew us away with a lush, organic entrance install. Once inside, guests the boho inspired florals were on full display with an amazing dance floor installation that was paired with pops of color in the glassware and napkins to transform the tent.

After dinner, guests took the dance floor to dance all night to the sounds of Manhattan Band before sending the couple off with a sparkler exit!

Wedding Planning | Calluna Events

Venue | Camp Hale

Photography | Meredith Diamond

Videography | Klassey Productions

Ceremony Musicians | Oncue Entertainment

Floral Designer | Wandering Poppy Co.

Specialty Rentals | Hazel Grove Rentals

Specialty Linens | BBJ La Tavola

Invitations + Paper Goods | Scarlet Gilia Creative

Wedding Band | Jordan Kahn Music

Hair & Make-Up | Lola Beauty

Cake & Cupcakes | Cornerstone Chocolates

Transportation | Aspen Vail Limo

Bridal Gown | Anaïs Anette from A&bé Bridal Shop Portland

Bridesmaids Dresses | Show Me Your Mumu

Groom Suit | Suit Shop

Real Wedding :: Liz + Russell’s St Julien Outdoor Wedding

On August 7th we watched Liz + Russell tie the knot on the St Julien lawn with the magnificent Flatirons as the backdrop. We began working with Liz + Russell sixteen months before and we worked closely with Liz to make sure every detail was absolute perfection for her special day! And did we mention we worked with her entirely long distance the entire time, and only had the pleasure of meeting her the week of her wedding?! Both Russell and she were an absolute pleasure and we couldn’t have been more excited to help them bring together a true dream team!

Lynn from Brighter Day Floral was the mastermind behind all the gorgeous florals that were sprinkled throughout the day. From the beautiful arch that framed the couple as they said their forever vows, to Liz’s soft but exquisite bridal bouquet. Shamane from Shamane’s Bake Shoppe crafted that almost too pretty to eat cake. And yes, those flowers you see are not real, but rather hand made and absolutely stunning. We could barely take our eyes of that masterpiece! Design Works pulled everything together with their beautiful market lights that hung over the party and gave an enchanting feel throughout as well as provided the seating vignettes on the lower terrace.

One of our favorite part of Liz + Russell’s special day was right before their ceremony ended. They had purchased butterflies to release; something we have never seen before! The butterflies come frozen, putting them in a hibernating state and placed in special boxes, when they are warmed up they are ready to take flight. It was so magical watching the butterflies take flight in honor of Liz + Russell’s love for each other and the commitment they had just made! We loved watching the butterflies fly around the St Julien garden long after the ceremony!

DJ Jahsonic, one of our favorite DJs in the industry was at Liz + Russell’s wedding too! He always plays such great music and is always such a pleasure to work with. In line with that, we worked closely with the St Julien staff who bring such wonderful service and are all so lovely to work with always. We couldn’t do what we did on Liz + Russell’s wedding day without them! They helped set the ceremony site and once the ceremony conclude, they completely flipped the space so guests could dine al fresco under the twinkling lights!

After dinner, guests danced the night away and then moved the party to the T Zero Bar located in the St Julien to continue the fun on into the night! It was such a special day, and one we will surely remember forever! We simply cannot wait to get the photos back from Nicole Dawn Photography. Until then, enjoy some photos we were able to snap throughout the day with our iPhone! xx, Calluna