Notes on the light
Palm Springs light is its own argument for a wedding. The mountains stop the sun early, golden hour runs long and amber, and every street around the Colony Palms is lined with palms that catch it. A portrait walk here goes out the front gate and straight into that light, no drive required. After dark the desert stays warm, which is why sparkler exits and open-air receptions work here in months when the coast has gone cold.
The spaces, and how they film
The hotel. Fifty-seven rooms, suites and bungalows on three walled acres at the Movie Colony edge of Uptown, a 1936 property gut renovated and reopened in 2021. It films like a private estate because for a weekend wedding it effectively is one.
The streets. The blocks around Indian Canyon Drive carry palms, mid-century walls and the San Jacinto ridge at the end of every sightline. Some of the best frames in our film here were made a hundred steps from the front gate.
The film, so far
We have made one film here so far: Ellen & Sandro, black tie in the desert, a golden-hour kiss under the palms and a sparkler exit to end the night.
Filming here
Black tie photographs beautifully against the desert palette, and the Colony Palms keeps everything inside its walls, so the film never has to leave the property except on purpose. We plan the portrait walk to the streets for the last hour of sun and keep the night for the courtyard and the exit.
Have you filmed a wedding at the Colony Palms Hotel before?+
Yes. Ellen and Sandro's wedding film was made there, from golden-hour portraits under the palms to a sparkler exit, and you can watch it on this page.
Do you travel to Palm Springs for weddings?+
Yes. We film throughout Southern California and the desert is an easy run for us; travel is part of the conversation, not a surprise on the invoice.
Does a Colony Palms wedding take over the whole hotel?+
Weekend weddings are reported to require a full property buyout with a two-night minimum, which turns the hotel into a private estate for your guest list. Confirm terms with the hotel's sales team.
How late can music run at the Colony Palms?+
Third-party listings report outdoor music to ten and indoor to midnight, in line with Palm Springs quiet hours. The hotel publishes nothing, so get your end time in writing.
More venues we know
See every venue we have filmed, and our notes on filming across Los Angeles.
Planning notes, and the fine print
Checked August 2026
The hotel publishes no numbers at all. Everything runs through its sales office, and the one reported term that shapes everything else is the buyout.
- The property
- Fifty-seven rooms, suites and bungalows on three acres at 572 North Indian Canyon Drive, opened in 1936 and relaunched in 2021 under Hermann Luxury Resorts after a full renovation. The on-site restaurant is The Colony Club; any listing still naming the Purple Palm predates the renovation.
- The buyout
- Weekend weddings are reported to require the full property, every room, with a two-night minimum, and midweek a one-night buyout. That makes the room block the real venue fee here. third-party
- Capacity
- The hotel publishes none. Third-party listings put poolside events up to two hundred with a buyout, garden events near one hundred, and villa weddings around fifty. third-party
- Music hours
- Reported outdoor cutoff at ten, indoor to midnight, consistent with the citywide quiet hours. The hotel itself publishes nothing; put your end time in the contract. third-party
- Food and drink
- In-house through the hotel. The events team plans food, beverage and guest rooms as one program.
- The history
- The property opened in 1936, built by Al Wertheimer of Detroit's Purple Gang, and has been the Colonial House and Howard Manor before this name. The hotel tells that story itself, and it is a good one for a welcome-party toast.
- What the buyout gives the film
- With the whole property yours, there are no strangers at the pool and no other event sharing the light. The film gets the hotel empty of everyone but your people, which is why footage from here looks like a private estate rather than a hotel wedding.
Property history, room count and the in-house events model as published by the Colony Palms Hotel, checked August 2026. Buyout terms, capacities and music hours are reported by third-party planning sites; the hotel publishes none of them. Confirm each with sales before you budget.
