Aspen, Colorado is one of the most popular places for a destination wedding. With the breathtaking mountain views, a darling downtown, luxury shopping, and exquisite culinary experiences it’s easy to understand why. Caitlin and Taylor had a dreamy wedding weekend full of festivities. Keep reading for an in-depth look at their wedding and a breakdown of the events from Rocky Mountain bride, Caitlin.
Why Aspen?
“Growing up in Aspen, I always knew I wanted to get married in Aspen. As a family, we’ve always spent special occasions at Hotel Jerome. We always take out of town guests to this amazing hotel to show them our little slice of Aspen. As a graduate of Aspen High School, we had our Senior Prom at Hotel Jerome as well. Hotel Jerome has always been a favorite of my now husband’s places to go whenever we come home from Texas. It’s just a special place in our family and we quickly decided on Hotel Jerome to make all of our wedding dreams come true! In addition to knowing I always wanted to get married back home in Aspen, I also knew I wanted to get married on a holiday weekend to ensure that out of town guests who’d never been to Aspen could have time to experience this special place. Therefore, my husband and I selected Memorial Day weekend and planned/hoped for the best! This way, we could ensure that our guests had enough time to enjoy their time in Aspen while also getting to see our favorite places in town. Looking back, having a three day celebration truly allowed us to spend quality time with all of our guests and we wouldn’t have done it any other way!”
Bridal Luncheon
“To kick off the wedding weekend, a family friend, Betsy Townsend, hosted the Bridal Luncheon downvalley at the Roaring Fork Club. This event was such a lovely way to kick off the wedding weekend surrounded by all of the special women in my life! Betsy was an amazing hostess and ensured that every moment of the luncheon was spectacular. Following suite, we all returned back to Hotel Jerome to prepare for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at Hotel Jerome.”
Rehearsal
“Hotel Jerome went above and beyond to accommodate us and our guests. They offered a happy hour to kick off our rehearsal in the courtyard and ensured the transition from the rehearsal to the rehearsal dinner at Hotel Prospect went smoothly. We offered amazing wine, chicken, and elk to guests and had several wedding party members give toasts throughout the dinner. Looking back at the beautiful photos courtesy of our incredible photographer, Carter Rose, we’re so happy that our photography is basically curated due to the fact that we had the majority of the wedding events at the hotel. All the photos are authentic to what my husband and I love and represent. Carter ensured to capture all the details throughout each event and we can basically relive these special days due to his effortless touch of capturing authentic moments.”
Kemo Sabe After-Party
“Following the rehearsal dinner, we and our guests walked over to our favorite shop in town, Kemo Sabe! My mother jokes that she’s basically part of the Kemo Sabe family as she’s very close with the owners and staff. And they most certainly hosted an incredible Welcome Party that many thought was the highlight of the wedding weekend! With the majority of our guests coming from Colorado and Texas, this crowd loved every minute of this party! We offered signature cocktails, a spicy margarita and an old fashion, wine, beer, signature Ranch Water by Lone River (a family members company!) and catering from Mawa’s Kitchen. The guests absolutely loved the vibe of the store and enjoyed shopping throughout the event. As a special touch, we offered guests customized bandana’s in our wedding colors for guests to wear throughout the weekend. A lot of guests also got personalized cowboy hats and wore them throughout the weekend!”
The Wedding
“As we approached the ceremony, guests were greeted with water and/or champagne to enjoy throughout the ceremony in the courtyard. It was so fun to watch the guests arrive in their Kemo Sabe cowboy hats from our suite! We had a quick ceremony in the courtyard surrounded by our friends and family. Charla Belinski of Snowmass Chapel led the service and did a fantastic job. It was truly the best moment of our lives. Following suite, guests enjoyed mini margaritas, tacos, appetizers, etc. during cocktail hour in the back end of the courtyard. To transition guests from the courtyard to the ballroom, my husband sabered a bottle of champagne and poured it atop our champagne tower that guests were treated to as they followed the horn section of our fantastic band from the courtyard to the ballroom. Every moment of the weekend was FUN! And every moment was convenient due to the location of all the events.
As guests walked through the magical hallway flanked by floral arches and mood lighting, they were greeted by an immaculate ballroom that brought tears to our eyes. The reception was a PARTY! Everything from the hand-picked champagne and Orin Swift wine (a favorite of my husband and I), to the filet and trout, and most importantly, our band, was fabulous! From the very beginning, there were always guests breaking it down on the dance floor because our band, The Hudson Project, was phenomenal! Guests enjoyed the dessert bar with bourbon and champagne pairings as well. It truly was the best party we’ve ever been to! To close out the night, we walked next door to the speakeasy, Bad Harriet’s, for our after party!”
Day-After Brunch
“Brunch is my favorite activity and the post wedding brunch at my mother’s house was so special! We had a local bluegrass band perform and had an open bar while European Caterer’s served up delicious Tex-Mex inspired bites. We got to recover from the weekend’s festivities in style surrounded by our loved ones prior to everyone leaving to head home.”
Final Thoughts
“All in all, we highly recommend working with all of the vendors that we were lucky enough to work with and loved that the majority of the events were easily accessible around town”
