Q: Why is it called "A Pikes Peak Wedding?"
A: Named after the beautiful mountain that towers over little Manitou Springs, our carefully designed wedding package includes everything you'll need to create happy memories of your wedding day.
Q: How much does the wedding package cost?
A: With a minimum two-night booking in the suite of your choice, our base price is $1695 for the package, and $10 per wedding guest, plus tax.
Q: What is in the package?
A: The wedding package includes a wedding ceremony at Blue Skies Inn, two full breakfasts delivered as room service, a pretty wedding cake, lush flowers for bride and groom, 96 wedding photographs plus negatives and CD, and the officiant who will perform your marriage.
Q: What are the extra costs?
A: There are no "extra" costs unless you wish to order extra flowers for your wedding party or guests.
Q: Can I purchase just a part of your wedding package?
A: We think that we have designed the Perfect Wedding. Because we are proud of our creation, we do not take anything out of the package in order to reduce the cost. We think that every bride should have wedding flowers, cake and photos. Because we are a bed and breakfast inn, booking a two night stay is the basis of the package.
Q: Where do we get a wedding license?
A: You may get a wedding license from any County Clerk's office in the State of Colorado. They will ask for $10 cash, a photo ID, social security number, and information about other marriages and State of dissolution. Please visit the El Paso County Clerk's website for more information. Their hours are 8 AM to 5 PM, Monday through Friday, except holidays as listed on their website.
Q: Can we be married on a Wednesday?
A: At Blue Skies Inn, we hold weddings every day of the week. If you choose to hold your wedding on a Monday - Thursday, there is a $75 discount.
Q: Do we bring our own wedding cake?
A: A cake is included in our package, and it is sized to fit the number of guests, whether that be one or more tiers. If you wish to order a top tier to take home for your first wedding anniversary celebration, the additional cost is $30. Vanilla and chocolate cake with regular or buttercream icing are the standard flavors. Cheesecake and other flavors and filling may be chosen at an upgrade in price of $25 per tier. Each tier may have two flavors in it. All tiers will be identical in flavors. If the flavors are not important to you, we usually order one layer each of vanilla and chocolate with buttercream icing. Your cake will be decorated with flowers to match the bride’s bouquet. We will decorate your wedding cake with flowers at no charge.
Q: What do we get for the $10 per guest?
A: The guest charge covers set-up, tables and chairs for all, wedding tent, service and tableware, champagne flutes for sparkling cider, a much larger cake, complete break-down and clean up and a much larger photo package. In addition to the 96 photos that are taken of bride and groom, our photographer will photograph your guests and family. An extra roll of film (24 exposures) is added for every tweenty guests at your wedding.
Q: How many guests may we invite?
A: There is seating for up to 80 guests if you wed in our Secret Garden, or 24 guests indoors. We hold weddings year round in our garden in the handsome wedding tent.
Q: Who will marry us?
A: The services of a wedding officiant are included in our wedding package. The officiant will confer with you by emal and phone, schedule a meeting for the afternoon or evening before your wedding, and perform your ceremony the next day.
Q. May we choose our officiant?
A: After you have booked, we will send you to a special website page where our officiants' profiles are posted. You may choose the one who best suits your belief structure.
Q: May we bring our own minister?
A: Yes, you may arrange to bring your favorite pastor if you wish. We will credit you with $50 if you wish to do so.
Q: May we write our own vows?
A: Yes, we encourage you to make your ceremony as personalized as you wish. Other couples have written poetry, composed vows, or played a musical instrument.
Q: How long is the wedding?
A: We call our weddings "Short and Sweet." Some of the fluff that makes our couples decide against a BIG WEDDING is gone. Usual wedding features are: entry of the bridal party, a greeting and wedding address by the officiant, exchange of vows and ring exchange. That may range from 10 - 20 minutes.
Q: How long is the reception?
A: Your reception will last about half an hour and includes signing your wedding license, a sparkling cider toast, and cutting and serving of your wedding cake, followed by photos. Photography may take a bit longer if you have many guests. Start to finish, for a wedding with guests, your celebration might last as long as an hour and a half.
Q: Where is the wedding held?
A: Blue Skies Inn does not have an "event center." Here, you may choose to wed by the fanciful wedding tent in our lovely Butterfly Garden that is lush with flowers, by the cascading waterfall or at the edge of our new woodland garden which is overhung with trees. Weddings may be held in our Midnight Woods suite in case of inclement weather. Your wedding will feel intimate and close to Nature, with a deer wandering by or the song of hummingbirds overhead.
Q: Tell me about the 96 photos.
A: As the bride walks into the garden, we start a roll of 36 color exposures. Those are usually finished by the first kiss at the end of the ceremony. The photographer loads another roll of 236 exposures to photograph the couple signing the wedding license, the toast, cutting of the wedding cake, and then portraits. Some of the photos of the couple are taken by the 1873 Briarhurst carriage house, some with Pikes Peak in the background, and the rest down by our shady streamside with a lovely arching greenstone bridge. After that, 24 black and white photos are taken. You will be given double prints of all of your photos to share with family and friends. In addition, you are given your negatives and a CD so that you may have enlargements made wherever you wish. You will also own the copyright for your photos. If you have guests, we will ask the bridal couple to call them in for group or family photos. An extra roll of film is used for every twenty guests that you invite.
Q: What if we want all color photos?
A: Our photographer is happy to use whatever kind of film that you wish. You may also choose your poses if you want something special. Bring a list of the poses that you want, and we will photograph them for you. A recent couple jumped onto a big rock in the stream for a dramatic photo.
Q: What if I want more photos and there's just the two of us with no guests?
A: For more than 96 photos, each additional exposure is $3, which includes the negatives and CD.
Q: Can you put our photo on your website?
A: Absolutely! Within a week days of your wedding, we will have posted a photo of you on our website as our most recently wed couple. If you click on the photo, there will be 10 or more additional photos displayed as a pop-up, a perfect way to have your distant friends and relatives see you on your wedding day.
Q: May we videotape the ceremony?
A: You may videotape your ceremony with a camera set on a tripod. If you choose a friend or family member to do this, your videographer must be seated during the ceremony.
Q: What if a relative wants to photograph our ceremony?
A: You won't want your professional photo of your first kiss or the ring exchange blocked by someone using a throw-away camera. Sometimes, guests want to take photos because they are afraid that your photos will cost too much. Remember, they are included as part of your wedding package, and you get both negatives and CD's to make your own enlargements. We ask that all of your guests be seated during the ceremony. Since our photos are professional and of excellent quality, you truly do not need to have others taking the same photos. We use a telephoto lens to take photos of the tiniest details: the rings, the buttons and bows on the back of your dress, your bouquet as a butterfly alights upon it. After all of our photographs are taken, your family is welcome to take photos. Our package is so economical because it takes a certain amount of scheduled time. When family members take photos, it adds a lot of time to the afternoon. Since our photographer is not present at your wedding dinner, that is a perfect place for family members to use their photography skills. We don't stop your guests from photographing the wedding from their seats with real cameras (not cell phones that beep), but we think it is more polite if they are "present" for your vows.
Q: What kind of bouquet is made for the bride?
A: Our designer will make a bouquet that either rests on the bride's arm or one that she carries in front of her. It can be any size that she wishes. She may choose flower colors to match her wedding party's colors, or ask to be surprised with seasonal colors. A boutonniere for the groom is made to match a color in the bride's bouquet. Flowers for others in your wedding party are at additional cost. The bride's bouquet can be made more elaborate at additional cost if she wishes.
Q: What are the flower petals in the photos on the website?
A: We scatter petals from a hundred roses in the bride's path, and we choose available colors of the season. In winter, it is especially dramatic to scatter petals on the snow for photos.
Q: What should we wear?
A: Some choose favorite blue jeans and cowboy boots, others choose traditional wedding attire. Grooms may rent formal wear within blocks of the County Clerk's office.
Q: May we choose what room we want at the inn?
A: You may reserve any suite at our bed and breakfast that pleases you. Booking two nights at Blue Skies Inn is required in order to book the wedding package.
Q: What if we want to stay longer for a honeymoon?
A: Extra days may be booked at a discount of 10%. There is much to do and see in the Pikes Peak area. Even if you stay for a week, you will need more time to see it all. See our attractions page for more information.
Q: Do the bride and groom stay in the same room the night before the wedding?
A: The night before the wedding as well as the night of the wedding are scheduled in one of our suites. Many suites have an extra bed in the sitting room if you would like to sleep separately until the wedding. We have also had couples who decided to have the bride use the suite the night before the ceremony while the groom stayed elsewhere. Since our weddings are mid-day and our check-in time is not until late afternoon, it does not work to have a wedding here unless you check in the day before the wedding. That way, all of your wedding clothes are right here where you want them, and you can even go to our nearby hair salon that morning.
Q: Do the bride and groom have to dress in the same place on the day of the wedding?
A: We invite the groom to use another one of our suites at the inn, if available, to dress. Sometimes the groom dresses in the suite first, then waits in the garden while the bride gets dressed. If many guests will be coming from a distance, you may wish to rent an additional room as a "hospitality suite."
Q: What if the bride needs help with a zipper?
A: Staff is always available to help the bride at the last minute, whatever her need may be.
Q: What about music?
A: You are welcome to hire musicians if you wish, and we will help find them for you. We have a lovely CD selection of wedding music that you may borrow. We bring that collection to your suite the night before the wedding, and you may choose a selection to start the wedding and one to play just after you are pronounced newly married. Feel welcome to bring your own favorite CD if you wish. You may play your own favorite CD's during your reception, assigning one of your guests to operate our equipment.
Q: What happens during the reception?
A: First, the bride and groom sign the marriage certificate. We pour a sparkling cider toast for all, then the cake is cut and served. We take photographs through all of this, then take photos of your family and guests with you. After that, we photograph just the newlyweds by our carriage house, some with Pikes Peak in the background, and some by our stream and lovely arching bridge. If you have other ideas for photos, we are happy to oblige.
Q: May we bring alcohol?
A: We do not have a liquor permit or license. Since your event is a private party, we will give you permission to bring champagne to serve one flute per guest only. Please select a member of your wedding party to pour and serve it. We do not give permission for any other alcohol to be served.
Q: What about a wedding dinner?
A: A wedding dinner and catering are not available at our inn, but after you book with us, we are happy to make recommendations for restaurants nearby that will seat any size group and at a wide range of prices. Usually, your wedding guests depart for the restaurant while the last wedding photos are taken of bride and groom.
Q: If we have children, may they be in the wedding?
A: Our officiants are happy to include your children in the wedding, asking them to form a family circle after your vows are said. We will make baskets that are full of rose petals if you wish for children to be involved that way. If you choose the Ribbon Ceremony for part of your ceremony, the children or other family members may help by wrapping the ribbons around your hands.
Q: Is there off-street parking at Blue Skies Inn?
A: Yes, we can accommodate up to 50 cars in our free off-street parking.
Q: What if the bride needs someone to style her hair?
A: Abby at Blades Salon is right across the street from us, and she will create a lovely wedding hairstyle for the bride.
Q: Will our photograph stay online for a long time?
A: A photo of couples who leave us a note before they check out is posted on our comments page for others to enjoy.
Q: What do we have to do to book a wedding?
A: Call us to book your minimum two-night stay in the suite of your choice and your wedding date. Half of your total is due upon booking, the other half is due 60 days before the ceremony. The balance for guests is due 30 days before the ceremony. We can make adjustments to cake size up to ten days before the ceremony. See our booking page for exact details.
Q: I have more questions. What should I do?
A: Call Blue Skies Inn at 800 398-7949 to speak to Sally at any time.
|
