Colorado Springs Wedding Venue Guide
As a Colorado Springs Wedding Photographer, I have been fortunate to have worked with many local wedding venues in and around COS. I’ve made this list of my favorite venues as well as a few venues that I haven’t photographed in but know they would be great spots for photos! Most of these are within the city limits but there are some that are just a little outside of Colorado Springs but are close enough to count.
Looking over downtown Colorado Springs to the east and Pikes Peak to the west, The Pinery at The Hill truly has panoramic views and the best of both city and mountain photo options. There is an indoor and outdoor ceremony space as well as great prep rooms for both sides of your wedding party. There are also 2 options of reception spaces that fit larger and smaller groups. There is lots of parking onsite and transport to and from nearby hotels and Airbnbs is very simple.
The Pinery is a beautiful venue with a great team behind it who will work hard to make your day perfect!
The biggest draw for this venue is the lawn that overlooks the Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak. It may be one of the best and clearest views you can find. It also features a beautiful reflecting pool which I love to use for portraits.
There are two wedding venues at Spruce Mountain Ranch. They are both beautiful with rustic elegant mountain cabin vibes. Fortunately each venue is located at opposite sides of the property with a lake in between them. This means there is little to no chance of the two weddings crossing paths with each other. There is lots of space for portraits with amazing outdoors Colorado wedding vibes.
A great option for weddings in the Black Forest area is The Hideaway Inn & Conference Center. It currently has space for small to medium size weddings but when I was last there they were building a space for an outdoors tent to accommodate larger wedding parties. The beauty of this location is that your guests can stay onsite. This can simplify any transportation stress and allow you to more easily spend time with everyone.
The Pinery North is the newer sister venue of The Pinery at The Hill. It has much more modern vibes and clean open spaces that can be customized to your personal style. This venue has some larger spaces so it can accommodate big and small weddings.
While Pinecrest Wedding & Event Center is a little north of Colorado Springs, it is still close enough to make the cut for this list. There is a lot to love about this venue. There is a chapel for indoors ceremonies and a dedicated spot for outdoor ceremonies too. The bridal suite has 2 rooms, so you can make a mess in one room and use the other room for putting on the dress and not have to worry about a messy background!
There are also great options for portraits with lots of greenery, log cabin vibes, and a road with a beautiful mountain in the background. The reception hall is huge so can easily accommodate larger weddings.
The Black Forest area of Colorado Springs is home to several great wedding locations. One of my favorite is 1C Barn. This is a location where you rent the venue and bring in your own 3rd party vendors to make your wedding completely your own. The interior is smaller and would be ideal for around 50 guests with some room left over for dancing. There is another building across the street for you and a few guests to stay in the night before and there are dedicated spaces within the barn for either side of the wedding party to get dressed.
This historic castle sits high on a hill in Manitou Springs. It’s perfect for smaller weddings. Last time I was there they were renovating one of the rooms to make space for slightly larger events but for weddings, it would still be a smaller group. My favorite part of this venue is the huge windows in the ceremony space. They are gorgeous and face the mountains to the south.
Conveniently located in downtown Colorado Springs and with enough space to accommodate your whole wedding. You could hold the entire event here or arrange transport for an off site ceremony. While you are in the heart of Colorado Springs, I promise there are endless creative photography opportunities right outside the hotel AND you’ll still be able to have the mountains in the background!
This is an excellent space for a reception after an offsite ceremony in one of the nearby parks and open spaces. There are also mountain views just outside and a TON of creative portrait locations nearby including the architecture of the US Olympic and Paralympic Museum
Airbnb & VRBO Venues
The Black Forest area of Colorado Springs has many large Airbnb/VRBO properties that can be hired out to host a backyard Airbnb style wedding. There are many different locations and they change regularly so check Airbnb and VRBO for currently available venues. There used to be a wedding venue filter on both of these sites, I’m not sure if they are still there but if a property does welcome events it will probably say in the title.
Most of these venues will have a DIY vibe to them so you will have to find all your own vendors. However, I think that is a good thing. It means you will be able to select all your vendors because they fit your vibe! For any DIY event like this, I would highly recommend a good Wedding Planner/Coordinator. You might not think you need one but I promise it will free you up to enjoy your day and as a result, make your photos even better!
So this venue is much closer to Denver on the map but it’s only 45 minutes from Downtown COS and if you live in the Briargate area it’s only about 35 minutes north. So it’s not too far away and if you have family coming from further North or flying in to DIA, it’s a pretty good option. It’s a stunning modern venue with tons of photographic charm. It’s also attached to a golf course so if golf is your thing, you will love it. The grooms (or brides) getting ready space is even equipped with a golf simulator.
This venue is tucked away behind the busy business areas of Powers Boulevard but don’t let that fool you. Creekside event center is so well secluded that you’ll forget there’s a Walmart just a stones throw away. There is space for both indoors and outdoors ceremonies and the outdoors space has been recently renovated to make the space even more flexible.
Looking at the space objectively, it is a great location for a Colorado Springs Wedding. However, a big drawback for many is that LGBTQ+ weddings are not allowed.
Wedgewood is a huge wedding company with many different venues. I find them to be very well ran and each venue has its own charm and style. Craftwood Peak has an amazing vintage style that fits the vibes of Manitou Springs perfectly.
I get that one of the biggest draws of Colorado is the mountains and the outdoors so it’s no surprise that most weddings happen away from downtown. It’s what brought so many of us here in the first place (including myself!). As a result, I think that downtown Colorado Springs gets overlooked because it’s not immediately apparent what would be photographically interesting. Well, for a Photographer, urban industrial settings and city streets are as creatively inspiring as any scenic vista. Plus, you can still get amazing mountain views while in downtown Colorado Springs.
Another beautiful modern urban industrial venue. Add a touch of whimsical Colorado mountain vibes and you’ve got loads of potential for amazing photographs and an even more amazing wedding day! I fell in love with the colorful parking lot murals alone.
Elopement and Outdoor Ceremony Spots
We are extremely fortunate in Colorado Springs to have so much natural beauty and public lands available to us. Many couples choose to have a small ceremony or elopement on public lands before celebrating with everyone at one of the great local wedding venues. Some parks do not permit weddings. However, if you plan to elope with just the two of you, there may not be restrictions that apply as long as you are following all of the parks rules. For more information about holding wedding ceremonies in public parks, check the links below. If you are planning to elope, I could not find any information that confirms it would be allowed so it may be worth calling the parks department to explain your plans and check if they will allow it.
