Off-Road Jeep Elopement in Colorado

Colorado Elopement Videography Highlight Film

2-Day Jeep Elopement in Ouray, Colorado

Brittany + John

We first met Brittany and John back in the summer of 2019. At the time, they were in the beginning stages of dreaming up their May 2020 elopement in Greece. Together, we dove into virtually exploring the Greek Islands in search of the perfect place for them to elope with their families, eventually falling in love with Santorini. Over the following months, we planned out their entire elopement, they rented a gorgeous home (with a pool), they picked out a gorgeous cliffside ceremony location, they hired a private sunset boat cruise, and even booked their other vendors. We’re sure you can see where this story is going from here. When the world shut down in March 2020, we all agreed to reschedule their Santorini elopement to the very beginning of October 2020. But that would also end up being impossible. So instead, they decided to elope in the mountains of Ouray, Colorado at the beginning of October 2021.



This elopement took place on Ute and Pueblo Land.

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Day 1

When Brittany and John’s elopement day finally came around, we were so excited that the long wait was over and they would finally be able to celebrate! We shared with them our favorite off-road route in the entire state of Colorado and spent the day completely surrounded by enormous mountains. The first stop on our adventure was a sunrise first look at a lake just outside of Ouray. The temperature hovered around freezing and frost collected on the dirt path and the plants. Brittany and John hugged each other to keep warm before walking up into a small grove of aspen trees. We planned to spend most of the day above tree line, so it was important for them to be able to enjoy some of the peak fall colors at the beginning of the day.

As the sun started to come up behind the tall mountains, we started our way up the mountain. Brittany and John brought along two of their pups, Riley and Bjorn, then Brittany’s parents and their dog also joined us! The mountains had recently received some snow and everything was dusted with a light layer, which really added to the majesty of the area! After a slow and bumpy drive up in our matching white Jeeps (it was an accident, we promise), we arrived at their ceremony site. The dogs ate their breakfast while we got all of our camera gear ready.

Brittany and John led their own self-solemnized ceremony. It was so incredible to finally watch them exchange their vows after waiting over 2 years since we first began planning! During the ceremony, their dog, Bjorn, decided that he needed to roll around in the grass immediately. Brittany and John both paused to laugh before regaining their composure and continuing. After the ceremony, we continued along dirt roads to one of our favorite stops. There, they performed an amazing choreographed first dance to “This Must Be The Place” by Talking Heads.

Our adventure continued, driving up and down narrow roads, and even a section that was covered in snow. We saw a few other Jeeps and UTVs along the way, but we were so lucky to have most of the views completely to ourselves. Our final stop before lunch was at an old ghost town. We walked from building to building and couldn’t believe that it was once a bustling mining town deep in the mountains.

For lunch, we made our way to a beautiful alpine lake that is nestled right up against the mountains. Shortly after we arrived, the sky became filled with clouds and it even snowed on us momentarily. Brittany + John set up a table with their wedding cake and champagne. John is an amazing chef, so it was important for him to cook their Greek lunch (as an homage to their previous elopement plans) on a propane grill. He made spanakopita and chicken on the grill as well as a tabbouleh salad. John had even made extra of everything, and insisted that we eat some as well. We’re both thankful, because it was quite possibly the best meal we’ve ever had at a wedding, and really bummed because we haven’t been able to find greek food quite that good since.

As the first day of their elopement came to a close, we made our way back into the town of Ouray to rest up for the second day of their elopement adventure. This next adventure would take us deeper into the mountains, up another bumpy Jeep road, to one of the coolest mountain cabins we’ve ever seen!

Day 2

After the most incredible elopement day filled with mountaintop views and Jeep roads, we couldn’t wait to meet back up with Brittany and John for their post-elopement adventure session. Instead of starting the day before sunrise, we met up later in the afternoon. They rented out the most incredible cabin, which sits at about 11,500 ft above sea level. We’ve been doting on this cabin for years and were thrilled when Brittany and John decided to rent it for their honeymoon! The cabin sits right off of a Jeep road, surrounded by open mountain views, and National Forest land. But most notably, it is accessed by a long (and admittedly bouncy) suspension bridge.

We met up with Brittany and John shortly after they checked in and helped John transport their belongings across the bridge to the cabin. Then we got back in our Jeeps and headed to an incredible overlook. There, we could see miles and miles of snow-dusted mountains and the remains of an old mine.

We returned to the cabin and played with their two dogs, Riley and Bjorn as the sun started to go down. We most often see alpenglow at sunrise, but on this night, beautiful pink light lit up the mountain behind the cabin and the clouds glowed with the colors of cotton candy. As the sky grew darker, we ate dinner together while we waited for the stars to come out. It was a cloudy evening and we weren’t sure if we would be able to catch a glimpse of any stars, but our patience paid off and we could see the milky way peeking through the clouds. By now, the temperatures had dropped below freezing, but Brittany and John braved the cold for some really fun star photos. It was the perfect end to such an incredible 2-day elopement adventure in Ouray, Colorado.

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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).