A Coffee Cart at Your Colorado Wedding: The Whole Guide

We've poured at weddings in Denver, Idaho Springs, Estes Park, Vail, Breckenridge and Aspen. This is everything couples ask us, in one place.

When the cart runs

There are three windows, and the cart works in any of them.

Getting ready. Lattes and iced chais in the morning while everyone is in hair and makeup. This is the quietest two hours of the day.

As guests arrive. Hot espresso or cold brew between the ceremony and the reception, while people find their seats and their people.

After dinner. Espresso martinis and one more oat milk latte before the dancing. Coffee cocktails are an add-on.

Each booking is a two-hour minimum, so a morning slot and an evening slot are two bookings. Most couples pick one.

What's on the menu

The full menu comes with every wedding: espresso, cortado, cappuccino, latte, americano, chai latte and hot tea, hot or iced, with whole, oat or almond milk. Vanilla and mocha syrups, which we make ourselves.

On top of that, every wedding gets a custom drink menu and two custom syrups made for the day. His and hers lattes are the one couples ask for most. Nobody pays or tips at the cart; the 20% gratuity is in the quote.

Add-ons couples pick

• Coffee cocktails, for the after-dinner slot.
• A hot chocolate bar with whipped cream and toppings, for the kids and the non-coffee people.
• Cold brew on tap, decaf ($60), matcha.
• A latte art printer, $50 an hour, with your names, your date or a photo printed on the foam.
• Custom cups at $1 a cup with a $150 minimum, or a custom vinyl banner on the cart for $200.

How many carts

One cart, one barista, pours 30 to 40 drinks an hour and covers about 75 guests in two hours. Under that, one cart. Over it, add hours or add a second cart. Each cart comes with its own barista and needs its own spot and outlet. For the math at 100, 150 and 200 guests, we worked it out in a separate post.

What the venue needs to give us

• A 6 by 6 foot spot, indoors or outdoors.
• One dedicated standard outlet. We can't bring our own power, so the venue has to supply it.
• A route in without stairs, since the cart gets rolled in.
• About an hour before service for setup, and an hour after for teardown. We handle both.

Most venues also ask for a certificate of insurance. We carry general liability through Next Insurance with a $2 million umbrella, and we send the certificate with the venue named on it when they ask.

Mountain weddings

A lot of our weddings are up in the mountains, and the only difference is the drive. Travel is free within 50 miles of Denver. Past that it's $1.50 a mile and it shows up as its own line on the quote: about $99 to Estes Park, about $150 to Vail, about $240 to Aspen. We leave early enough that the cart is set up before the first guest, and we plan for mountain parking.

What it costs

$500 an hour per cart, two-hour minimum, so a wedding starts at $1,000, plus 20% gratuity. Weekends don't change the price; weddings are priced for weekends. Four weddings are worked out to the dollar in the cost post.

When to book

As soon as you have a date. Two weeks out is the least we'd want. Send the date, the venue and a rough guest count and a quote comes back in 30 minutes or less.