Kirkwood

Kirkwood is. The scenery speaks for itself, and our actual wedding day was gorgeous. Unfortunately, the planning and management experience leading up to it left a lot to be desired. We initially worked with Kelly, who handles the Vail/Kirkwood weddings. In the beginning, she was friendly and helpful, but as we got closer to the wedding, our experience changed significantly. Communication became increasingly difficult, and it felt like almost everything we wanted to do was met with a “no,” pushback, or another charge. Considering we spent around $30,000 with Kirkwood just on the venue, food, and beverages, constantly feeling like we were being nickel-and-dimed was extremely frustrating. There were also situations where things we had discussed when signing our contract approximately a year earlier suddenly seemed to change or come with additional costs, including aspects of our after-party. We completely understand that weddings are expensive and venues have policies, but the constant additional charges and pushback made an already stressful process much more difficult than it needed to be. We were eventually transitioned to Stephanie, who was helpful and pleasant to work with. Then, during our wedding weekend, we unexpectedly began working with Camille. Camille was great, but it would have been nice to know beforehand that we would be transitioned again, especially since we had already gone over our plans and ideas with Stephanie. The lack of continuity made things feel unnecessarily disorganized. I do want to give credit where it is due: the staff working our actual wedding day were wonderful. The servers and on-site team were kind, helpful, and did a great job. Our frustrations were primarily with management and the planning process, not the day-of staff. The lodging was another disappointment. Many of our guests stayed at the Lodge at Kirkwood and other Kirkwood properties, and almost everyone commented on how dated and run-down the accommodations felt. Even my room as the bride had broken blinds and other maintenance issues. The lodging isn’t cheap, so we expected the rooms to be better maintained. Our biggest overall impression was that Kirkwood sometimes feels like an afterthought within the larger Vail Resorts operation. Kirkwood is an incredibly beautiful and special property, but it often felt like it wasn’t receiving the level of attention, investment, or hands-on management it deserves. Between the condition of the lodging, inconsistent communication, being passed between contacts, and our overall management experience, that feeling unfortunately showed. Ultimately, Kirkwood gave us an absolutely beautiful backdrop for our wedding, and nothing can take away from the memories we made there. Our wedding itself was wonderful, and the day-of staff was great. However, for the amount couples spend to get married here, the management, communication, consistency, lodging, and overall customer experience need improvement. If you’re considering Kirkwood for your wedding, the setting is undeniably stunning. I would recommend getting absolutely everything in writing, asking detailed questions about every potential additional fee, and confirming exactly who your point of contact will be throughout the planning process and wedding weekend.