Kid-Friendly Elopement in the Mountains

Colorado Mountain Elopement with Kids

Anthony + Crystal

Crystal and Anthony both work in the same office, but it took a chance encounter while they were both playing Pokemon Go for them to finally meet. They quickly discovered that, in addition to loving Pokemon Go, they had a lot in common. Soon they bought a house together and were engaged. They both loved the idea of having a destination elopement and inviting some of their closest family and friends, most notably Crystal’s two sons.

When we started planning Crystal and Anthony’s Colorado elopement, they knew that they wanted amazing mountain and alpine lake views. They planned to start the day off with a hike and a private vow exchange followed by a more formal ceremony with their guests. They ended up choosing one of our favorite lakes in Breckenridge for both! Originally, the plan was to have the boys come to the private vow exchange and the ceremony, but when they arrived in Colorado the boys both had elevation sickness! Luckily by the wedding day, it had gotten a lot better, but they ended up taking the morning easy and skipping the hike.

Crystal and Anthony met us at the trailhead for their first look, where Anthony climbed out onto a large rock overlooking a forest-lined lake below them. Crystal changed into her wedding dress and hiking boots before she too climbed out onto the rock. Upon seeing each other, they hugged tightly and were nothing but smiles. Next, we all hiked up to a second alpine lake for their private vow exchange. With just us and a cute pika as their witnesses, Crystal and Anthony exchanged emotional vows surrounded by the mountains.

After some drying of tears, it was time to meet up with the boys and the rest of Crystal and Anthony’s guests for the ceremony. One of our favorite things about eloping in Colorado is that you can self-solemnize your marriage, meaning that you don’t technically need a legal officiant or even any witnesses. This allowed the boys to officiate Crystal and Anthony’s elopement ceremony! And we can’t even begin to describe how well they did. They had everyone laughing as well as crying with their thoughtful and professional words. After the ceremony ended, everyone celebrated with hugs and grins.

It’s common for our couples to have pre-elopement nerves and not have the appetite for a full meal before their elopement. We always suggest that our couples make time for a picnic after their ceremony to not only fill their stomachs but also give them some quiet time to enjoy officially being married. For Crystal and Anthony’s picnic, they decided to hire one of our favorite private chefs for a lakeside lunch. We love when our couples hire Zach because it really elevates their elopement experience! They get to choose their menu, in this case, Crystal and Anthony chose to have a dairy-free pasta with scallops, and they get to relax while their meal is professionally prepared right in nature with them! We can’t be sure, but we like to think that the reason a family of mountain goats joined them was that the food smelled so good!

To cap off their elopement day, Crystal and Anthony hiked to a mountaintop for their first dance. They even changed into socks with their favorite Pokemon on them, which was so adorable and so fitting for them! They danced, and snuggled, and admired the mountain views. We loved everything about Crystal and Anthony’s elopement day, it celebrated their love, the official joining of their two families, and the beautiful Colorado mountains.

This elopement took place on Ute Land.

Location Disclaimer: The location with the alpine lakes no longer allows weddings or elopements. We no longer come to this location with our couples.

Photographs

Colorado Elopements

Destination Elopements

Hi There!

We're Lisa + Alex, the goofballs behind Vow of the Wild. We live in Colorado, but we’re passionate about exploring new places. Being elopement photographers + videographers is a dream for us and we can’t imagine doing anything else (other than being professional dog petters).