3M curve elopement | estes park elopement photographers

Eloping in Colorado

A couple weeks ago, we wrote a post about whether or not you should consider having a small wedding to stay safe in the time of COVID-19. Event sizes are likely to be limited for the foreseeable future, which means that if you’re getting married this summer, you might need to either whittle down your guest count to include only your closest friends and family, or postpone until later in the year (or next year). But there’s one other option as well: eloping in Colorado!

If you absolutely can’t wait to marry your fiancé and you don’t want your parents, siblings, and/or best friends to deal with the hassle of traveling to be part of your nuptials, an elopement is your best option.

And where better to elope than the Rocky Mountains? Whether you’re a Colorado local or coming in from out of town, it’s the perfect place to say your vows surrounded by nature. If you’re on the fence about eloping in Colorado, allow us to try and sway your decision….

Epic Colorado elopement photo locations

This is a bit of a no-brainer because Colorado is absolutely chock-full of epic photo locations. But when you elope, you have a lot more leeway as far as where you can and can’t go. When you have a large wedding (or even a small wedding), you have guests to think about, so you can’t travel too far afield before they’ll start to miss you.

When it’s just you and your photographers, you can take more time to get to the perfect location for your wedding photos – like the top of the Great Sand Dunes!

great sand dunes elopement bride and groom on sand dune

The stress-free experience of eloping in Colorado

Weddings are a blast, but they also come with their fair share of baggage and drama. One of the groomsmen forgot to pick up his suit. Mom isn’t happy because the centerpieces aren’t perfect. The officiant is running late.

When you elope in Colorado, you don’t even need an officiant (or witnesses, for that matter). You can self-solemnize here, which means you’re allowed to legally marry one another without anyone else being present. The best thing about this is that you don’t have to listen to other people’s opinions about when, where, how, why, or to whom you’ve decided to marry. You can just sit back, relax and enjoy your day with the one person you love the most.

Of course, we’re advocates of bringing along a photographer for at least part of the day so that you’ll have something to remember it by. Plus, wedding photographers know all of the best elopement locations, so you won’t have to do any of the legwork when it comes to logistics. That said, if you want it to just be the two of you, I have to admit that’s pretty kick-ass as well.

bride and groom eloping in Colorado

Eloping in Colorado to stay safe

Speaking of bringing along a photographer for your Colorado elopement, we here at J. La Plante Photo are taking every possible precaution to make sure everyone stays safe and healthy during these shoots. We’ll be wearing masks, even if we’re feeling perfectly healthy. Since we won’t actually be in any of the photos, we’re totally comfortable looking ridiculous. We’ll also make sure to maintain at least a six-foot distance at all times and simply zoom in if we want to grab some of those more intimate close-up shots.

And, of course, we’ll help guide you through the entire elopement process – from travel to planning to logistics to scouting photo locations – to make sure you have the most enjoyable day you can possibly have.

lily lake elopement bride and broom at long's peak | estes park elopement photographers

The party can wait, but the marriage doesn’t have to

Just because you’re eloping now doesn’t mean you can’t have a larger wedding and/or party later. You can get married on your original date and then revisit the idea of getting all of your friends and family together to celebrate in 2021. And the real beauty of eloping is that you don’t have to tell anyone that you’re doing it if you don’t want to!

We’ve had several couples who were legally married before their actual wedding date and didn’t tell a soul except for us, their wedding photographers. So if you have a parent or grandparent or aunt or uncle who would be upset that you made it official without them, you can simply omit that information and move forward without having to worry about it.

estes park colorado elopement bride and groom in the mountains

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions for us about eloping in Colorado, feel free to reach out anytime. See you in the mountains!

Interested in getting some cool photos of your own?
Reach out and we’ll brainstorm ideas together.

Similar Posts