Your Guide to Planning an Intimate Colorado Wedding

In this blog you’ll find our step-by-step guide to planning your intimate Colorado wedding! As intimate wedding planners, we understand the draw this type of celebration has on our mountain loving couples. Intimate, effortless and intentional – that’s the ultimate goal.

If your priorities include:

• Gathering 50 or less of your closest family and friends in one place to make meaningful memories outside of just your wedding day.
• A weekend itinerary that includes morning hikes, quaint little coffee shops, afternoon shopping or hot springs, and evenings spent around watching the sunsets.
• A wedding day inspired by your surroundings.
• Less fluff and more fun, like renting jeeps to get to your ceremony spot rather than butler service and cha cha slides…

We see you nodding your head ‘YES’ and we’re so excited you’re here! Mountainesque understands the intimate wedding experience you are craving and is sharing the inside scoop on how to make it happen.

You can also check out our Intimate Planning Package if you’re looking for planning help every step of the way.

Read on my friend.

Photos by Blake Fountain // Venue Gold Mountain Ranch

Colorado Wedding Location

Finding the perfect town for your intimate wedding experience

Your location determines more than just the wedding day, it’s where your list of weekend activities take place, it’s the cozy accommodations for you and your guests, and it’s the quality restaurants, breweries and ambiance nearby that you’re looking to enjoy for a long weekend.

“But how do we decide where in Colorado to get married?”

Are you looking for:

• Gorgeous mountain views without being too remote?
• Adorable mountain towns that aren’t overwhelmingly touristy?
• Comfortable accommodations, maybe large enough to accomodate fmost of your guests?

Are you still nodding ‘yes’? Well keep reading…

The Colorado wedding location that checks every one of these boxes and some (drumroll please).

The San Juan Mountains

Perfect for hosting your intimate Colorado Wedding

Southwest Colorado and the San Juan Mountains a.k.a The Switzerland of America is home to some of the dreamiest hidden gems! Ouray, Telluride, Silverton and Durango happen to be some of the prettiest spots in the state and some of the dreamiest places to host your entire weekend.

I’ll just leave these here to prove our point…

Okay, now that we have your location decided let’s move on to actually planning your intimate mountain wedding!

5 of our favorite venues in Southwest Colorado

For your intimate wedding

The Western Hotel (Ouray, Colorado)

The Black Diamond Lodge (Durango, Colorado)

Gold Mountain Ranch (Ouray, Colorado)

The Wyman Hotel (Silverton, Colorado)

Mountain Lodge Telluride (Telluride, Colorado)

Each of these venues provide incredible views of the mountains, areas for hosting a beautiful intimate wedding, as well as on-site accommodations for most if not all of your guests.

*When you work with Mountainesque we make it our mission to not only pair you with vendors of your style and budget, but also with those who have experience at these venues. It’s important to note, that small mountain towns don’t have quite the vendor pool compared to big cities and it can be hard to find what you’re looking for. We’ve crafted a list of the best ones over the years, so that this dream can happen without a hitch!

Now that we’ve narrowed down your venue search, let’s talk numbers!

The average intimate wedding budget in Southwest Colorado

The topic that’s hardest to find answers to because every location is different. It’s important to understand that Colorado is a desirable destination, and hosting 50 guests anywhere is an absolute luxury. A luxurious investment that you deserve!

We’ve put together a budget pie chart to help you understand the break down of costs. With projected costs for intimate weddings in Southwest Colorado to fall between $35k – $60k in the 2026 season.

*Please note that these percentages are based on the averages in our area. These numbers can change based on vendor experience, guest count and overall scale of event.

Are you ready to jump into planning!?

Let’s Start this Planning Journey Together

Now that you’ve read through your guide to planning an intimate Colorado wedding and saved yourself hundreds of hours scouring the internet for the dreamiest spots, average costs and local-insight – We would love to save you hundreds of more hours putting this plan into action and making it all come to life!

We’ve created a no frills, no hidden fees, just-for-couples-like-you, Intimate Planning Package!

This guide to planning your intimate wedding was designed to eliminate a bit of stress as you begin this exciting journey! We are happy you landed here, and are confident you are off to a great start. We hope we get the chance to meet you and hear more about your unique day!

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