Expansive gardens, a rustic barn, an old school house, and an on-site salon. Does this sound too good to be true?  It’s all in Berthoud and it can be yours for your wedding!  Brookside Gardens & Event Center is an old family homestead that has been slowly converted into a modern Northern Colorado wedding venue with access to many amenities.  It should be on your list of venues to look at in Northern Colorado!

The home on the property was originally built in 1870, and was then purchased by the Bebo family.  The first Northern Colorado wedding hosted here was one of the Bebo’s daughters, and both her and their 30 children (many internationally adopted) enjoyed the property to the fullest during their childhoods.  Over the years the property has gone through many changes: the original barn was converted to office space for the business, the one-room school house is now a 2 story cottage that provides complimentary accommodations for the bride and groom, and in 2009 the home was converted to an Aveda salon & spa, and event center for use by the general public.

Brookside Gardens mainly hosts weddings, with around 75 being held on the property each year.  They also host corporate events, fundraisers, school dances and community events, making them a full service venue for the surrounding area.  What makes them unique for wedding clients, however, is their access to the on-site Aveda salon and spa which can be used by the wedding party on the day of.  This eliminates stress and travel costs for bringing hair and makeup clients to the event center.  In addition, their indoor and outdoor ceremony and reception spaces can hold up to 400 guests, with rentals being included in their pricing package.  They even have access to some centerpiece decorations, which helps save money on designing centerpieces!  The part we love the best?  The accommodations for the bride and groom on their wedding night and the access to discounts at the Aveda salon from the day of booking to the day of the ceremony!

The timeline from first contact to the end of the event is fairly straightforward.  When you send an inquiry to the lovely staff at Brookside via email, phone or any of their social networking sites, they will encourage you to set up a convenient time to check out the venue.  We always encourage brides and grooms to look at the venues they are considering, and meet the staff face-to-face to get a real feel for what the venue has to offer.  Plus, it’s easier to have your questions explained and get a full understanding of what is and what isn’t included.  During tours, the staff at Brookside will go over all pricing and fine print in the contract, and show you all of the lovely amenities they have on-site.

Each couple is given the opportunity to place a 14 day hold on an open date for their wedding, and will ask for contact information through their “Information Needed for Contract” form.  Using this information, they’ll get the contract written up and sent to you.  As always, bride and groom are welcome to ask any questions that may pop up so that everyone understands what they’re agreeing to.  To lock in a wedding date, a deposit of $750 is requested and may be paid in person, over the phone or in the mail, and once that is taken care of, the date and venue are yours!

Final balance is due 6 months prior to the wedding date, but Brookside is always willing to accommodate short notice weddings and will work with your schedule!  A few months prior, each couple is given an assigned wedding supervisor who will reach out to schedule the final walkthrough and rehearsal, and will be their “day of” coordinator.  Walkthroughs are typically 30 days before the wedding date, and the caterer is required to attend that meeting so that everyone can be on the same page for the timeline, the room setup, the final guest count and linen choices.  Coordination is key and Brookside is committed to everyone being on the same page so your day goes off without a hitch!  Final rehearsals happen the week of the wedding and will last around 1 hour.

Oh my, your wedding day is here!  Now what?  With Brookside, depending on if you choose to utilize their salon or not, you’ll arrive around 2 hours prior to your ceremony (sooner if you choose to use the Aveda salon) and when you arrive, all of the tables, chairs and linens in the reception area will already be set up for you!  Once the caterer arrives, the place settings will be completed to make sure your reception area is exactly how you envisioned.  While everyone is putting the finishing touches on dresses, suits and hair and makeup, your personalized wedding coordinator will be escorting guests to their seats and helping your wedding party get in line for the processional.  After the ceremony, the coordinator will then direct your guests to the cocktail hour space so you can take photos with your wedding party.  Then your guests will be shown to the reception area to find their seats and await your arrival!  The best part about all of this? You literally just get to relax and enjoy your day while your wedding coordinator makes sure your guests and wedding party know where they are going!

For the rest of the evening, your wedding coordinator will make sure that your timeline is followed, and all of the toasts, speeches, final send off, and anything else you want to make sure happens at your wedding, actually happens.  After you leave the venue, vendors and guests have one hour to clean up and vacate the space while the bride and groom get to walk over to their cottage suite.  The day after your big day, a complimentary breakfast is delivered to the cottage suite, wrapping up a perfect wedding day, and getting your first full day as a married couple started off right!

Check out a few photos of the event site, and don’t hesitate to look at their website directly!  Brookside Gardens & Event Center is a must-see for brides and grooms looking for a beautiful wedding venue along the Front Range, and you will not be disappointed in them!