Jackson Hole wedding budget - reality check

saradw515

I'm in the beginning stages of planning a destination wedding in Jackson Hole for summer 2015. Anticipating about 50 people and we're budgeting $30k for:

Welcome dinner

Outdoor ceremony with Teton views

Reception (cocktail hour/passed hors d'oeuvres, followed by buffet or plated dinner, hosted bar, cake)

DJ? We might just create a playlist and let the iPod do the work since it's a small party

Photographer

Flowers/decor (hopefully can keep this to a minimum with a nice venue)

Gifts for parents, attendants

Wedding dress (will keep it simple, don't want to blow budget on this)

Hair/makeup

I'd be curious to hear what other people have spent on their wedding in Jackson Hole. Is having a nice small wedding doable on this budget? I want to be able to treat all those who travel to our wedding with a nice reception (good food and good alcohol!). Would love a reality check on this. 

SA001

This board has been pretty dead for a while, so thought I'd help as much as I can. My fiance and I are getting married in Jackson Hole this September and are working with a very similar budget and guest count. I'm not going to lie to you, it was been a challenge, but not impossible (especially since both of us have pretty expensive tastes).

First, I would recommend you and your fiance both decide what your top priorities are. Would you consider food a top priority? Photography? Venue? Once you have that nailed down, it will make things easier when figuring out what you can cut back on, if needed. Another thing to take into consideration is summer is obviously prime wedding time in Jackson Hole. The majority of the venues in town will have higher fees compared to other times of the year.

You may have already done this, but hiring a good wedding planner or day-of coordinator helps. There are quite a few in the Jackson Hole area that refer to the vendors that will be right for you and your budget. We are going with a day-of coordinator since we wanted to be as hands on as possible with the wedding planning. However, the girls we hired have been amazing from helping us out from day one. We wouldn't have found half of our vendors without them.

Good luck! Also, I'd be happy to pass along any vendor information I've gotten from my wedding research if you are interested.

Knottie85456266

Could you share a few of your findings? My fiance and I would like to travel to Jackson Hole for a destination wedding this September. We are only bringing a few couples along. Do you recommend certain wedding planners? Photographers? What venue did you go with? Thank you! Katie

SA001

Depending on how small your group is, you could probably get away with a small ceremony inside Grand Teton National Park- quite a few locations for ceremonies, and you just pay the $150 (wedding permit and app. fee). Then your group could drive to your reception location afterward, possibly at a restaurant in town (some places we really like on our recent visit were Snake River Grill, The Kitchen, Local, Cafe Genevieve).

Here is what I found during my ceremony/reception research. You'll want to contact all of these places directly as site fees and F&B minimums change throughout the year.

• The Four Seasons Resort- outdoor ceremony space available ($2500 site fee I believe), then they have a number of dining spaces available depending on what you are looking for (F&B minimums vary between all of their spaces).

• Teton Mountain Lodge and Hotel Terra- both are owned by the same company, TML is more rustic and Terra is more modern. From what I recall neither charged a site fee, but the catering manager will set your F&B minimum depending on time of year and the room size you choose. We were quoted $2500-$5000. There is a small outdoor pavilion in Teton Village that apparently is commonly used for weddings. From what we were told, you could have your ceremony there (approx. $500 rental), then guests could easily walk over to the reception at Teton Mountain Lodge or Terra.

• Spring Creek Ranch- outdoor ceremony space available, depending on which space you choose (they have a ballroom, outdoor vista, Granary restaurant) site fees will range from $1500 to $4000.

• Snake River Ranch- outdoor ceremony space, need to bring in tent and other rentals, we were quoted a $2500 site fee

• Teton Pines Country Club- outdoor ceremony space, can rent the Grand View room for smaller weddings or the entire club house, $3000 site fee for entire club house rental

• Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis- outdoor ceremony space, can accommodate outdoor tent for reception or dining terrace for smaller weddings. We were quoted a $3500 site fee for the dining terrace

My fiance and I ended up hiring Lisa Mack and Lindsey Nickel from Events, Etc for our day-of coordinator. So far they have been amazing to work with and really great in offering vendor recommendations. We chose to have our ceremony and reception at Teton Pines Country Club.

For photography, we chose Ashley Merritt. There are so many photographers to choose from in the Jackson Hole area. Here are some photographers I found in my research. They all have range of price points and styles. Once you do find someone you like, I would definitely book them asap as most of them book up really quickly.

Adam J. Howard

Arnica Spring

Ashley Wilkerson

Carrie Patterson

Hannah Hardaway

Heather Erson

Jayme Chrisman

Katy Gray

Imagewell Photography

Goo luck with your wedding planning!

Knottie87036794

SA001, Can you tell me a little more about your quote from Snake River Ranch?  I'm still waiting on a quote from them, and can't find any contact into besides an email address.  Does the site fee include anything like seating for the wedding?  Does the site fee include both space for the ceremony and reception? Can you bring in outside alcohol to the reception?  Do they have any restrictions on catering, etc?  Also if you have a phone contact for them, I'd love that.  Thanks!

SA001

Sure thing! It's been a few months since I spoke to someone over there, so I cannot remember her name. The phone number I have for them is 307-733-2864.

In short, the site fee was just the cost for using their space (outdoors or indoors). You have access to the ranch for the whole day, so you could have both your ceremony and reception there, or just one or the other. I did everything over the phone, so I never got to see the ranch in person. There is a barn at the ranch, which you can use if you want. If I remember correctly, only the second floor of the barn is what you would use for your wedding (barn includes only basic lighting and 30 or so basic folding chairs). The first floor of the barn is what the caterer would use. Some people just go the tent route, and bring in a tent for the reception. However, you will need to bring in everything (tables, linens, dinnerware, chairs, dance floor, etc).  There is only one bathroom on site, so they recommended bringing in portable lavatories as well.

I don't think they have any catering restrictions, and you would have to work out the alcohol with your caterer I suppose.

Hope this helps, and happy planning! Let me know if you have any other questions.