Elope in The Colorado MountainsElopement Details:

We love elopements and mini weddings in the back country of the Colorado mountains.  For Paul and Emily the elopement made sense rather than having the formal event at the cost of a car or down payment of a house.  While if you didn’t get word of this coming it might seem random but we were in touch 2 months prior to the getting married date and heard some 3 months out that they had been planning things.

Honorable mentions to the photographer who wanted to charge 5 to 6 thousand for a guided elopement.  We call it listening to what the bride and groom are looking for and making suggestions based on the time of year.  While we have had couples want to trek up a 14er for their wedding often that level of backcountry travel is not what most people are seeking when they are thinking of eloping. Nonetheless, we are all for it but would only be hitting that kind of price point if you wanted a 20 hour straight photography shooting spree.  If a couple was seeking to do a true full day of 24 hours we would likely need to enlist Bokeh our Golden Retriever as a photography assistant to carry some lenses.

Speaking of which their dogs didn’t get invited to the wedding due to the enthusiastic personality they would have had.  For everyone else who was not invited know it wasn’t as much you getting too crazy in the mountains but rather that the cost per beer (CPB) would go up having you there vs having a party later.  If CPB is not a factor in your wedding planning we think you should consider it as a financial factor. As for beer there was an awesome bottle cracked open on the side of Brainard Lake.

When we got there we were thinking of potentially doing things at Brainard Lake but since there were more people around we hopped in the car and went back to Long Lake.  It is a quarter mile of a walk back to the bridge at the base of the mountain lake.  We like to branch around to the south side of the lake slight off the official trail to a more secluded area with a sandy beach spot.  While there were some people on the other side of the lake and you could hear some people in the distance there were not as many people around.

Other times at this spot there really hasn’t been anyone.  From there with a few sprinkles dropping on us after the ceremony we made our way back.  There was an attempt to open the beer bottle at the time of the marriage license signing.  We ended up needing to wait till we got back to Brainard.  At that point we had the sun peak out for some epic mountain photos the kind that are the reason why we love mountain wedding photography.

If you like what you see here and are considering using this location here are some of the other shoots we have done at Brainard Lake and the nearby Long Lake.  If you are considering eloping here are some other Colorado Elopements.