WEDDING & EVENT TERMS & CONDITIONS
THE A-Z OF EVENTS AT THE BLACK DIAMOND LODGE
ALCOHOL
Registered guests of legal age who choose to bring their own alcoholic beverages may drink those throughout the property. No alcohol on the hot tub deck. Please designate a sober driver for every person who needs to drive to town or other accommodations. We highly recommend hiring a shuttle for special events.
A bartender is required in our upstairs dining room space. BDL can provide a bartender upon request. Please inquire with our team for a quote.
ARBOR
Our ceremony sites do NOT include any arbors. Feel free to bring your own!
AUDIO/VISUAL
Our Columbine Room and banquet hall are equipped with built-in speakers. That being said, they aren’t of the most professional quality, so we highly recommend hiring a professional DJ from our recommended vendor list. Please make sure to note our noise restrictions when coordinating with your DJ!
We do provide a small speaker and microphone for use in the banquet hall during your reception or at your ceremony site. It is the perfect size and volume for toasts if you prefer to not have a DJ manage this during your event. We do recommend having one dedicated person to manage this aspect of your event.
The TVs located in the game and movie rooms are available to be used for slideshows, however you will need to bring adequate equipment to make that happen. We do not provide any projector, screen, or other visual equipment. If you would like to bring your own projector and screen for a slideshow, please let us know ahead of time so we can plan accordingly!
BATHROOMS
Our main bathrooms for your event are located just to the left of the front desk. There are three stalls in both the women’s and men’s sides for a total of six stalls. Each bedroom has its own bathroom as well as a bonus on in the mudroom. Our lodge has 16 restrooms total.
CAPACITY
We want your event to go as smoothly as possible. For that reason, our venue capacity is MAX 120 people. That includes the bride, groom, your guests staying in the lodge, and any off-site guests that you invite to your event. Yes, it also includes children! It DOES NOT include the Black Diamond Lodge staff or any vendors who will only be on property during their promised service. If for any reason, your guest count exceeds this number, you may be subject to a fine as additional guests often result in parking issues, property damage, catering hiccups, and fire code violations.
CATERING
The Black Diamond Lodge does not provide any on-site catering options at this time, but we work with an incredible group of caterers. Because of health code restrictions and the current licensure of our commercial kitchen, you MUST have a professionally licensed catering company cater your event upstairs in the dining room. This means no friends, family, or anyone who doesn’t cater professionally. Feel free to pull from our list of caterers or find one on your own. If your caterer isn’t on our list, they will need to schedule a meeting with our venue manager to discuss kitchen access and use!
While we prefer plated meals for the ease of an event, our space can accommodate a buffet or family style dinner well.
Again, all food for your event, with the exception of wedding cakes/desserts and certain dry snacks, must be provided by a licensed caterer. Any outside food must be discussed with your caterer in advance as Colorado law holds them liable for any food served during an event which they are hired for.
CHILDREN
We ask that children are supervised for the entirety of your event for the safety and enjoyment of everyone. If you think it would be helpful to hire a childcare provider for the duration of your event, please let us know and we can provide references.
COORDINATION
To help coordinate a successful event, a professional and insured day-of event coordinator is required for every event. We very these coordinators with three references and a professional website. The coordinator must be present for the entire event and will be required to serve as The Black Diamond Lodge’s direct contact during a client’s event. They will arrive for set up, check in with The Black Diamond staff, coordinate all vendor schedules, make sure all policies are followed, and remind all vendors of policies and times, etc.
We contract with Durango Event Planners and The Perfect Day Co to provide an all inclusive experience for our couples and guests. However, we understand if you have another event planner you would like to work with and we are happy to work with the coordinator you provide. NO, a friend or family CAN NOT fill this position. The coordinator must demonstrate that they have professional event planning experience and adequate insurance.
DAMAGES
As host of the event, the client is responsible for the actions of their guests. The client will be held responsible for any theft or damage to The Black Diamond Property made by them, their contractors, or their guests during their use of the venue spaces. With exceptions for normal wear and tear, the client will be expected to promptly pay for any needed replacement or cleaning costs.
Under no circumstances will The Black Diamond Lodge be liable to the customer or any of the customer’s guests or contractors for any personal injury or property damage at the venue in connection with an event.
DECORATIONS
We encourage the use of decorations at our venue, however the use of any glitter, fake flower petals, rice or bird seed is prohibited on our property. Confetti requires pre-approval and a cleaning fee. We are happy to suggest decoration alternatives that are more sustainable and respectful of our space. We prohibit nailing, screwing or placement of other hardware into any venue structure, furniture, walls or trees. Decorations may not be fastened to the walls with thumbtacks, nails, screws, staples, tape or other fasteners except for command hooks or masking tape. All decorations must be taken down and stored in the designated pick up location before the end of your allotted contracted time.
DIRECTIONS AND PARKING
The best address for Google Maps is “48475 Highway 550; Durango, CO 81301.” Please instruct your guests to drive past the lodge on their left and park in the designated parking lot. The main lodge entrance is the one with a large patio as you drive up.
Our parking lot can accommodate 36 cars including our staff, vendors, and those of overnight guests. Please instruct your guests to ONLY park in designated parking areas or along Silverpick drive. Any violation of existing parking signs may result in your car being towed. Guests are not permitted to stay overnight in the parking lot in their car. We HIGHLY recommend you hire a shuttle for your off-site guests as we are located over 40 minutes from town and need to avoid drinking and driving.
Overflow parking may be used along the neighborhood road for 6 additional cars during summer months as long as no exits or fire hydrants are blocked.
Because of the location of the ceremony site, we strongly recommend that you provide 1 greeter for every 50 guests. The greeter will direct guests as they arrive for your event. Greeters can be family members or friends and are only needed during the start of the event.
DISPLAY RIGHTS
The Black Diamond Lodge and Durango Event Planners reserve the right to use photographs from your event for business related purposes such as promotion, display, advertisement, publication, portfolio, etc. If you are having a “no screen” event, please let us know ahead of time and we will be respectful of your wishes to avoid photos.
EXCLUSIVITY
The client acknowledges that The Black Diamond Lodge may schedule venue tours on the day of the customer’s event. Management will schedule the tours during the setup or teardown times and will not invite tour guests to be present during the customer’s event.
The Black Diamond Lodge also reserves the right to schedule any events on the property during your lodging stay or event date so long as they do not interfere with your event. This could include, but is not limited to, breakfasts in the upstairs event space prior to the start of your contract, workshops or banquets the day before your event, wedding ceremonies on the site you’re not using, etc.
FIRE
INSIDE: Candles are allowed in our banquet room, patios and lobby as long as they are enclosed in glass votives, hurricane lamps or glass pillar vases. The top of the wick must be at least an inch below the top of a glass container.
OUTSIDE: Because of forest fire danger, absolutely no candles or flames of any kind at either of our outdoor ceremony sites. Battery operated candles are allowed. No sage burning or sparklers at the ceremony sites.
FIREWORKS OR SPARKLERS require pre-approval and must have a BDL staff member on site. No paper or Chinese lanterns or sage brush allowed on site.
FIRE PIT: We provide the use of 1 fire pit which can be placed on the front or back patios at any point during your event. We do provide firewood. All fire pit use is at the whim of Colorado fire bans. We will let you know as soon as we do whether we think a fire pit will be an option at your wedding.
S’mores stations and grills can be set up by your caterer with the proper equipment and should be discussed ahead of time with our venue manager.
FIREARMS
Firearms are allowed on property but please adhere to all local, state and federal firearm regulations. Law enforcement will be called if legal regulations are not adhered to.
FORCE MAJEURE
If the Black Diamond Lodge is unable to perform the services in this agreement due to a fire, or other casualty, strike, act of God, or other cause beyond the control of the parties, then the client and management shall in good faith, find alternative dates for the event. If alternative dates are not possible, management shall return the deposit to the client, but shall have no further liability with respect to this agreement. In the event the management fails to perform for any other reason, the management shall not be liable for any amount in excess of the total fee.
The Black Diamond Lodge may assign its rights and obligations to a party who purchases part or all of the venue and will transfer the deposit and contract obligations to the new party.
Management will not be liable for failure to perform this agreement due to unforeseen or uncontrollable circumstances such as catastrophe, war, acts of terrorism, government regulations, disaster, weather, strikes, civil disorder, covid related restrictions, or other emergencies.
HANDICAP ACCESS
If any of your guests can not walk up to our Aspen Grove venue, the BDL shuttle can take your guests. We recommend limiting these trips to as few as possible as the walk to the ceremony site is a beautiful part of the experience. No private cars are allowed to drive to the ceremony site.
The interior venue spaces in the Black Diamond Lodge are handicap accessible except for the spa are and rooms 8-12.
HEATERS
We provide heaters in the winter months for guest use. Please ask one of our staff members to turn them on for you, but PLEASE turn them off when you are done to save propane. We provide propane and can refill them on site so please let us know if a heater is running low. We currently provide 6 heaters for our patios. Please confirm with our venue manager if you would like these out during your stay.
INCLEMENT WEATHER
Our team will work with you to determine a rain plan well in advance of your event date. Should rain or snow prevail on your event date, we will work with you to move your event to an indoor space if possible. Though we wish you a wonderful stay with wonderful weather, it cannot be guaranteed. No refunds will be given in the event of inclement weather, lack of snow, or poor skiing conditions.
Our property does not accommodate event tents. We provide 100 white wedding umbrellas free of charge if needed.
INSURANCE
All clients are required to obtain a general liability special event insurance policy covering the event with limits of no less than $500,000 per occurrence, $1,000,000 aggregate.
All insurance policies must name the following entities as additional insured:
The Black Diamond Lodge: 48475 Highway 550; Durango, CO 81301
Bower Dog, LLC: 3703 Eastledge Drive; Austin, TX 78731 3703
Durango Event Planners: 33405 Highway 550; Durango, CO 81301
Insurance may be obtained through your choice of carrier. The client must provide proof of insurance two weeks following booking. Failure to do so will entitle management to terminate this agreement and retain the total deposits paid. This will also result in the forfeiture of your event date. Check HERE for a full tutorial.
KITCHEN ACCESS
Our venue fee includes access to our staging kitchen for your professional catering team ONLY. Our kitchen access is provided for STAGING and not cooking. All caterers must be on our approved list or schedule a meeting with our venue team prior to you hiring them. No friends or family members can cook in our kitchen. The use of our kitchen must be reserved prior to your event date and unless you’ve reserved it, the doors will be locked.
LODGING
We have lodging accommodations for 42 people in 12 rooms. A two night lodging package is required unless otherwise determined by our event staff. Event clients will have the option of paying for the spaces directly or having their guests pay for the rooms themselves.
Check in time is at 4pm on the day of arrival and check out time is at 10am. For this reason, we HIGHLY recommend you scheduling your lodging check out day TWO days after your event to allow for a relaxing post-event morning. There is no daily maid service.
All lodging will be booked separately through theblackdiamondlodge.com. For more information on lodging amenities, please visit our website.
LOST & FOUND
The Black Diamond Lodge assumes no liability for lost, misplaced, stolen, or damaged valuables or belongings. If you discover that you have left behind something of value to you, please fill out THIS FORM immediately and we will try to assist you in locating your lost item.
Any item, with the exception of perishable items, left behind by our guests and found after departure by Housekeeping will be collected and kept in a secure location for collection by the owner for up to fourteen (14) days. Reasonable effort will be made to notify the guest that an item has been found. If we are unable to contact the guest during the fourteen (14) day holding period, the unclaimed item(s) are thrown away, given to local organizations, or disposed of accordingly.
We would be happy to return your lost item(s) to you by United States Postal Service. We are not responsible for any item lost or misdirected during shipment by the United States Postal Service.
MAILING
You or your guests are welcome to ship packages, decor, or attire to the lodge within 14 days of check in. Our address is 48475 Highway 550; Durango, CO 81301. For organizational purposes, it works best to add Bride’s Name + Groom’s Name so we can find the correct party if the package hasn’t been picked up.
NOISE
Noise should be kept to a minimum past 8pm outdoors and 10pm indoors. That means no screaming, partying, playing music, etc past these times. We will work with you to establish a reasonable noise level. Let’s respect our neighbors!
PETS
Pets are allowed in your room, the lobby, both ceremony sites, and downstairs, NOT the banquet hall upstairs. Please plan accordingly. You must clean up after your dog outside. If they bark you will be asked to leave or referred to the kennel down the street. We HIGHLY recommend using a crate for any pets left alone in the rooms to avoid damage or mess that could result in a deduction from your damage deposit. We love Here Comes The Floof for pet sitting references.
POWER
We do not provide power at either of our ceremony sites so please plan accordingly for any power needs your DJ may have. Most DJs will provide a quiet generator exactly for this purpose.
At the reception site, we should have adequate electricity for all your needs, but if you’re having an espresso bar or other things that use a lot of power, please tell your venue manager and coordinator so we can talk about any special power needs ahead of time. We have a small supply of extension cords, but it’s a good idea to bring your own!
PROPERTY IMPROVEMENTS
The Black Diamond Lodge assumes the right to make any changes and/or improvements to the grounds or structures without the consent of the client. Any changes will be communicated to the guests as early as possible and all construction will be scheduled around events as much as possible. Should any major construction impede your event, necessary adjustments shall be made at the sole discretion of the Black Diamond Lodge staff.
REHEARSAL
You are welcome to schedule a rehearsal at either ceremony site at the time of your choosing as long as it is arranged ahead of time to ensure there are no other event conflicts. We ask that you limit the rehearsal time to two hours and only include the persons absolutely necessary. Please do not set up any decorations prior to your scheduled event dates and times.
REFRIGERATION
There is a large refrigerator in the breakfast room, as well as two in the Columbine room that you can use during your stay. Coolers likely make the most sense for drinks to allow space in the fridge for other foods. We provide 2 XL coolers for overflow items. We also have an on-site large ice maker to fill coolers.
SET UP & TEAR DOWN
The Black Diamond Lodge team will set up and arrange our provided chairs and tables according to how the client would like them arranged - decided upon at least 2 weeks before the event. Suggested table and chair layouts will be provided for both the ceremony site(s) and the banquet hall. Please note that our outside furniture is meant to be used outside, and our indoor furniture indoors. Please do not take our indoor furniture outside! Likewise, please do not move our lobby furniture or tables. If you need something moved, just ask us! We’re happy to adjust certain areas to fit your needs.
The client is responsible for the set up and tear down of all decorations, florals, place settings, etc. and will either need to do it themselves or hire someone to do so. Due to insurance restrictions, The Black Diamond Lodge does not supply any ladders or dollies. All rented equipment delivered to and used by the renter in connection with the event is the sole responsibility of the renter. All equipment must be removed from the venue at the completion of the event time unless otherwise arranged prior to the event date.
When you arrive for your stay, please unload your decorations into the dedicated Mud Room/Storage room, NOT the lobby. Ideally all your decorative items should be brought in and removed within the duration of your lodging stay.
Please leave our event spaces as you found them. Although we don’t expect you to wipe all the tables or vacuum the floor, we do expect that there will be no damage, furniture will be back where you found it, decorations will be cleared out, and our spaces will be left tidy!
SMOKING & DRUGS
NO SMOKING is allowed in any inside space at the Black Diamond Lodge. That means vape, marijuana, and tobacco. The ONLY designated smoking areas at our venue is 30 feet from our doorways in the parking lot.
NO SMOKING of any kind is allowed at our ceremony sites. This is Colorado and forest fires are a real and present danger. This is a non-negotiable rule.
If the fire alarms or sprinklers are set off as the result of smoking inside, you may be subject $1200 fine.
Any form of illegal drugs anywhere on property is prohibited.
STAFFING
Any of the Black Diamond staff will be happy to help you with any questions you have during your stay. Our front desk is staffed 9am-5pm many days of the week, but our team is busy and frequently out and about. Please refer to your lodging information for contacts for our virtual front desk, accessible anytime during your stay.
TIMING
Event guests may only be in the venue spaces during the times they are contracted for. Any access outside of these hours including rehearsals, tours, walkthroughs, etc. must be requested prior to guest arrival. Please see the section on rehearsals to schedule your two hour included rehearsal time!
If the client prefers to have additional time for a dinner or set up the day before the event(or earlier than the scheduled venue access time), then the customer must reserve the venue space for a second day in order to ensure the venue and staff are available.
Last call for alcohol will be no later than 10pm and all party activities (including but not limited to music, dancing, send off) must be completed by no later than 11pm. The last hour is reserved for tear down and clean up. All personal or rented items MUST be removed from the ceremony site, lobby area and banquet hall prior to 12:00am. Personal items may be stored overnight in the Columbine room or breakfast room for pick up the next morning. Events not cleared from the event spaces by 12:00am following the event will forfeit 100% of the security deposit.
Feel free to consult our recommended timeline for a smooth flow of what usually works the best in our space.
TOURS & WALKTHROUGHS
We provide complimentary tours prior to booking your event after you are on our calendar. However, these tours and walkthroughs MUST be scheduled ahead of time to allow our staff to be on property to provide access to any needed areas. Please be respectful of our staff and our current guests and limit walkthroughs to as few visits as possible.
TRASH
Please take all trash after your event to our dumpster located on the north end of the parking lot. It’s VERY important that you break down any boxes before you put them into the dumpster as our trash only gets taken out twice a week and we want to leave room for any catering food waste!
VENDORS
We are a flexible venue and do not require you work with any specific vendors. That being said, you must hire a professional wedding coordinator, a professionally licensed caterer, and a pre-approved bartender to use our space. A list of all event vendors must be submitted to the venue manager at least 2 weeks prior to the event date. We also require that if they have never worked in our space that they schedule a walkthrough with us prior to your event so we can show them the details and make sure they are aware of our policies.
We require meals be provided for 2-6 event venue staff depending on the size and scope of your event. Furthermore, remember to review your other vendor contracts as you typically are required to provide meals for all vendors during your event.
All vendors are required to remain sober while on property at The Black Diamond Lodge or may be asked to leave, whether or not they have delivered services. Please communicate this to your bartenders and vendors.
WIFI
Our wifi is free for guests, and they are expected to use this access fairly and appropriately. The internet access is intended for general use such as email, messaging, or social media. It is not intended for heavy media streaming or extensive downloads or uploads. Access to illegal activity or the use of our network for illegal activity is prohibited and will be reported to local authorities. Should you need to work during your stay we recommend you go to one of the awesome Durango coffee shops for a more reliable and quick connection.