Donovan Pavilion Reviews

My wife and I are so incredibly grateful to have worked with the Donovan Pavilion for the reception venue for our July wedding. All ~150 of our guests had ample space and room for activities.

The recent renovations including the tasteful repainting, as well as the addition of the bridal suite came out very well - we were more than pleased. The amenities including the large patio area with fire pit, accessibility, and restrooms are all kept immaculate and made for the reception of a lifetime! We would definitely recommend the Donovan Pavilion to future friends, family, and strangers alike.

To the Donovan Team:
Thank you for being so accommodating, supportive, and fun! as we planned for this big day. We hope to return for future experiences to your beautiful venue.

Best,
H&M

I don't have enough amazing things to say about the Donovan Pavilion. Mindy is amazing and so incredible to work with. The views were amazing, the fall colors were perfect for our day, and the Pavilion is hard to beat! I would absolutely recommend it to all of our friends!

We hosted a 135 person wedding at the Donovan Pavilion and we were so pleased with the space. We used the back patio for our ceremony, the Core Creek in the back made for an incredible setting. Our guests loved the spaced and were refreshed to attend a wedding that was outside of a typical hotel setting. As the bride, the venue made sense economically. We were able to hire fabulous caterers (Red Maple), customize our table linens, decor, and flatware, etc. From a price perspective, had we hosted the wedding at a hotel, we wouldn't have had as much money to use on decor but by working with an event space, it allowed us to go heavy on decor. It was more work to coordinate the vendors but completely worth it.

We fell in love with Donovan Pavilion right away, in large part because of the gorgeous windows all around. Which was a good thing too since we had to move our ceremony and cocktail hour inside due to rain. Even with the last minute rearranging everything was beautiful and the space was great. We used their chairs and tables and didn't do any rentals but had to find all of our vendors which really allowed us to get what we wanted and control price, but it's a lot more work! The venue is gorgeous and right off Gore Creek and the staff is great.

We loved Donovan Pavilion! It is such a beautiful venue and was the perfect place for our wedding reception. The outdoor patio was perfect for cocktail hour and the inside was even more beautiful. The staff were super friendly and easy to work with in planning our wedding. One of our favorite parts about Donovan Pavilion was that we could choose our own caterer and bring in our own alcohol which saved on money. The staff at Donovan had great suggestions on caterers and alcohol providers which was nice too.

The donovan pavilion was the most amazing place to have our wedding! The staff was more than helpful, Mindy was always available to chat with me and answer all of my questions. The venue itself is timeless and barely needs any decorations because it's so beautiful all on it's own. I'm so glad we chose the donovan pavilion for our wedding

Donovan Pavilion was the perfect venue for our August 2017 wedding. The space is absolutely beautiful and perfect to be able to make of it what you want. Mindy and the rest of the staff were extremely helpful in answering our questions, allowing us to tour the venue a few times and ensuring all the details of the day of were covered. We had 160 people at our wedding and had more than enough space. I would recommend the venue to anyone looking for a rustic wedding (at a good value) in Vail.

The Donovan Pavilion was a fairytale venue to celebrate our wedding day in. The staff that we were able to work with throughout the process were very attentive at answering any questions we had and giving us advice for the wedding day as well based on weddings they had seen previously in the space. Every time we wanted to get in the space (whether it be to tour it for the first time, meet there with our caterers, or select a time for the rehearsal the night before) we were always able to get the day and time we needed as well. Since you bring all outside vendors into the space (which we loved because we were able to hand pick everyone ourselves) the only other service the Donovan provided was someone to be there during the wedding to make sure that the venue was well taken care of. This person turned into a security man about half way through the night and they were both very helpful! The venue is an incredible space and I couldn’t imagine getting married anywhere else!

Mindy is great to work with! Just ask if you need something, she will let you know how she can help. Even let me use an easel!

We loved having our wedding at the Donovan Pavilion! It is a gorgeous venue. The staff was easy to work with and responsive when we needed to get in touch with them.

We were planning our wedding under a pretty tight timeline and feel so lucky that we managed to find a Friday availability 6 months out. Mindy and her entire staff were always extremely responsive and efficient. The contract was clear and concise and I feel we got an amazing value for the money. We were able to get an in-county discount as well, which was nice that they offered that to locals. One great thing about it being a government-owned facility is that you have free-reign to choose your vendors and are even able to purchase your own alcohol from any source (as long as a TIPS certified bartender serves it).

What an incredible venue! Donovan is a true blank slate which allowed for us to completely transform the interior into our dream reception. Mindy is so kind and was a joy to work with.

Beautiful venue! We were so glad to have this space and the flexibility as a back-up for our ceremony in case of bad weather. Our guests just LOVED the back patio and the fire pit. The dance floor did get pretty hot throughout the night so some air or fans would have been great but, really, overall, we had an awesome experience here!

Mindy at the Donovan was so easy to work with. The Donovan and the property was just beautiful! The icing on the cake was you could hear the river running on the back patio where we had our ceremony!

What a beautiful setting we had for our daughter's weekend wedding and thanks to Mindy and the staff for having such a great place to host a wonderful celebration! It was beyond our imagination of how wonderful it was to have an outdoor ceremony and a wonderful indoor dinner and reception! Thanks! So wonderful!

We worked with Mindy at the Donovan Pavilion for our February wedding. She was incredible! The venue is gorgeous, but the fact that Mindy was so helpful and wonderful was what really sealed the deal for us. So many venues aren't overly welcoming or helpful - but Mindy was. She answered emails immediately, she worked with our schedule for visits and walk throughs, she is a very friendly person to work with and I would highly recommend working with her. On top of that, you get a beautiful venue with a patio and fire pit - all of our guests raved about the perfect mountain atmosphere. all in all, a winning combination!

Mindy and the team at the Donovan Pavilion were fantastic to work with over the past year. We had a lot of things come up (change of date, change of time, etc) and they were quick to help us and were very flexible. This venue is a true reflection of the mountain beauty that we were looking for on our wedding day AND we were able to use our choice of vendors (a money saver).

The Donovan is a beautiful facility, and Mindy is a gem to work with!

As a wedding photographer myself i have been to a lot of weddings. Over 200-
and we choose Donovan pavilion for our own wedding, and we were not disappointed. Beautiful large space. Great kitchen for caterers. And you can supply your own liquor. an all around great value.
–www.bryangrantphoto.com

The Donovan Pavilion is amazing. Mindy was extremely helpful and very pleasant. If you are looking for a Colorado mountain wedding, this is the perfect place!

The Donovan was the PERFECT location for our outdoor December wedding and our indoor reception venue! Our guests loved having everything within one location! They were so kind in letting us come in a little early to set up, and they were fabulous in helping us to envision our entire day! I highly recommend the Donovan Pavilion for both a very special wedding and a wonderful reception! The only thing that was hard was the cost! It really is expensive to rent out for your event, so make the most of your time there! By the way, Mindy is PHENOMENAL! She handled all of our music for the wedding and the reception! You will NOT be disappointed!

The Donovan was a great location for our ceremony and reception. We had many out of town guests and they all enjoyed the surrounding area and all that Vail had to offer.

They respond in a timely manner. They are very helpful when it comes to finding other vendors. They help make sure your day is special and the way you want it.

I had my winter wedding reception for 100 people at the Donovan and I could not have asked for a more beautiful wedding venue. Everyone was commenting on how perfect it was and taking pictures. While it isn't the most inexpensive to rent you do get quite a bit out of it being able to bring in your own caterer, bartenders, and alcohol. We even also just hooked up our iPhone to play cocktail hour music. People absolutely loved the fire pit - we had people out there all night long. The service was incredible - Mindy was so responsive and helpful before, during, and after the event - we really couldn't have pulled everything off so smoothly without her! Thank you so much!