Craftwood Peak by Wedgewood Weddings — Attraction in Manitou Springs

tl;dr The entire process was not perfect (it never is) but definitely made up for it the day of! The attention to detail was phenomenal & would recommend for anyone planning a wedding to consider this venue. Check out the * bullet points for the highlights.

The venue is really picturesque. We wanted an adventure / rustic mountain theme and the area definitely captured that with the mountains in the back and the cute cottages. The photographer had an abundant amount of backgrounds on the premises to utilize. We can't ding Wedgewood Weddings for the hiccups that occurred during the planning process as I never heard of a perfectly smooth wedding. Their process really streamlined the planning aspects & when there was requests/corrections to be made, they definitely took the feedback and fixed it! *We really liked that they had vendors built into the packages, especially for a decision paralysis person like myself. We utilized the DJ, Florist, & Cake vendors (which were all wonderful!) and opted out of the photographer. The advantage is they are familiar with the space so the day of setup was seamless. Instead of having a single planner, you have a team of planners that pick up the meetings & questions you may have. The advantage of this is the response time is quick. The disadvantage we observed was they might not be as intimately familiar with your specific details at a given moment; however, that did NOT become a factor the day of but something to be aware of. Requests during the planning phases took a bit more nudging from our end for the requests to be honored. For example, they do not offer private tastings and had to insist given we were not impressed with the food offered at their quarterly preview for couples and food is our top priority. They finally did offer which helped us feel confident with our menu choices. The chef (John) also went above and beyond to take care of our guests with more particular dietary restrictions (Vegetarian, Vegan, GF, & nightshade allergy). *Speaking of above and beyond, my goodness the entire staff was amazing! I know I stated that the entire process was not perfect but the day certainly was; they captured every detail we had requested, even tedious ones like tying twine & stuffing rosemary as part of the guest napkin display. A large chunk of guests had commented on how detailed & attentive everything was. *They were super attentive & anticipated our needs throughout the entire day: Natalie (our banquet captain) was on a mission to find us periodically (as you bounce around everywhere) & one time, when I had asked for a water, she already had one prepared for me in her hands. Katie (our ceremony coordinator) flawlessly orchestrated the ceremony, even when more than half of our wedding party missed the dress rehearsal. I also absolutely loved the personalized congrats cards from the both of them-- I could tell they were invested in making the wedding shine. Max guest count for this venue is 150. We did max out and the venue felt a little congested at times, particularly during the ceremony & traditional reception events (dinner, cake cutting, etc). However, the venue was fantastic once guests could free roam as there were many places for guests...

I recently attended my best friend’s wedding at this venue as a bridesmaid, and unfortunately, several issues made the experience less than ideal.

To start, there was a significant mishap when the staff dropped one of the wedding cakes. It was an unfortunate incident, and the venue’s handling of it didn’t inspire much confidence. They also nearly forgot to return the cake toppers, which we only got back because we remembered to ask.

The photobooth was another disappointment. Not only was it not working properly for a while, but some of the props we brought and custom-made for the wedding were never put out. When we asked the staff about it, they insisted that the props weren’t there without actually checking, only for us to find them later. Additionally, other props went missing entirely after the event, which was frustrating.

The rehearsal was also a mess, as the planner showed up 40 minutes late and claimed it was due to another meeting with the venue. This really impacted our timeline and caused unnecessary stress before the big day. If she had something to attend to, they should have let her go from the meeting on time.

It’s also worth mentioning that the venue has get-ready areas, but you aren’t allowed to use them until right before the wedding. We had to get special permission just to use them 2 hours before the ceremony, instead of the 1.5 hours they initially allowed. This policy made getting prepared far more stressful than it needed to be. I have to wonder if the venue was probably run much more smoothly before Wedgewood bought it. It used to be an independent wedding venue, but since being taken over by a corporate entity, it seems the "getting ready" areas are more for show or leaving belongings in.

The bartender came across as annoyed to be there. This reflected in the service, as he forgot to make my drink on more than one occasion or made it incorrectly. Although the drinks themselves when I got them were great.

The Caesar salad served during the reception had croutons already mixed in, even though the venue was aware that there were gluten-free guests. It would have been considerate to keep the croutons separate to accommodate everyone’s dietary needs since the bride and groom were so clear about the gluten free options. The charcuterie board after the ceremony also ran out of crackers with still a lot of cheese remaining.

The parking situation was also a little confusing and not clearly marked. While the dancing room was beautiful, it became quite hot with only one visible AC unit in a corner, which wasn’t sufficient to keep the room cool.

Overall, while the venue had its nice moments, and the venue itself and space is beautiful. The lack of attention to detail, mishandling of important elements, and poor communication left a lot...

Our wedding at Craftwood Peak by Wedgewood Weddings was something out of a fairytale. We are from Kansas and always dreamed of a Colorado wedding, and this adorable, yet enchanting venue in Manitou Springs was better than anything we could’ve imagined. Their coordinating team was excellent help when it came to planning a destination wedding. It was the most beautiful day, and I didn’t have to worry about a single thing thanks to the fabulous event coordination team.

Our event coordinator, Violet, truly made sure that everything was taken care of and we loved working with her from the second we met her. She is such a kind, and caring person and genuinely a joy to work with.

Our Captains, Jenny and Israel, were a tremendous help to us throughout the night and allowed us to enjoy the night thoroughly. They were a very calm presence and we really appreciated them being there.

Our server, Landon, was an absolute delight and always made sure we had everything we needed and more. He was very kind, attentive, and always made sure we had something to drink - alcohol or water!

Our bartender, Tyler, was a delight and kept our guests happy throughout the night, and served everyone with a great attitude. We greatly appreciate him!

Our chefs, Tristan and John, knocked it out of the park with all of the AMAZING food. It was one of the most talked about things at our wedding as everyone was very pleased with their food. Many people told us it was the best wedding food they ever had, and we certainly agree!

As a couple who works in the restaurant business, we know how under appreciated the role of dishwasher is. We want to thank Patrick for being there to wash dishes throughout the night - we noticed your hard work as there was about 60 people in attendance and there were no dirty dishes lying around at all.

Last, but certainly not least, our DJ for the night, DJ Fritz, was THE life of the party. We got several compliments from our guests on how fun DJ Fritz was and we agree! It was truly a pleasure to work with him!

We would absolutely recommend this venue to anyone wanting a Colorado wedding - even for someone who wanted a fall wedding, the venue was so beautiful in late August. Honorable mentions to Dawn’s Floral Creations for helping us make our wedding day so beautiful, to Sugarplum Cake Shoppe for the delicious and beautiful desserts, and also to Summer with Tina Joiner Photography for capturing some of the best photos we’ve ever had taken in our lives! Our wedding was the best day of our lives (so far) and we are so happy to recommend this venue to...