Jun 112 min read

Colorado Sunrise Elopement Photographer - Crested Butte Wedding Photography

Colorado Sunrise Wilderness Elopement

Crested Butte Wedding Photographer

So I have a lot of weddings, engagements and elopements to blog.

I decided to start with this one because I am so excited for wildflower season in the high country. One of my favorite things about Colorado Summer Elopements is the abundance of wildflowers cascading through the mountains. It adds so much interest and color to each photo... but it also is just so cheerful and complimentary to a joyful couple celebrating their marriage.

Joe and Caroline came to Colorado from their home in New York to say their vows on the top of a Jeep trail at sunrise. I'm still stunned that they looked this amazing after spending the very rainy week leading up to their elopement tent camping near Crested Butte. Being an adventure wedding photographer, my work days are certainly never dull and this one was certainly one of the more fun wakeups I've had.

In the middle of the night in July, I woke up to go meet my Bride and Groom. I met them at their Oh Be Joyful camp spot in the earliest hours of the morning. We gathered their wedding things by headlamp light before we started up the trail.

Once we got to the top of the pass, Caroline got dressed in the woods in the dark. I just want to pause & recognize how cool it is that all of my weddings are so unique.

Some of my weddings, my brides have a team of hair and makeup artists and a gorgeous suite to get ready in. Caroline chose instead to put on a touch of makeup in her car mirror and brush her hair and then to zip up her dress next to a pond in the twilight. Some of my couples have hundreds of people witness their vows and sometimes it's just me and the chipmunks. Either way I am always thrilled to be a part of whatever my clients choose. I'm not going to push my clients one way or another.

I just enjoy the beauty in capturing it. But can you imagine camping before your wedding day? Can you imagine putting on your wedding dress in the dark and doing your first look before looking in the mirror?

After Caroline was zipped, we did a little first look with Joe. The sky was still pretty dark, but it was beautiful next to the still pond and the dark trees above. As the sky started to lighten, Joe and Caroline walked hand in hand to the edge of the divide overlooking the valley and the surrounding peaks.

They said their vows as the sky turned pink and the range around them glowed in brilliant hues. It was perfect, right down to their feet where the meadow was filled with an assortment of wildflowers.

Colorado Mountaintop Elopements are completely breathtaking.... especially at sunrise.

(Yes, it's worth it to wake up that early)