It’s not often that you find love when you’re still in high school. It’s easy to drift apart from high school relationships as you grow up. But since the day Amy and Dale met in high school Chemistry class (clearly there was quite a bit of chemistry happening), they’ve been inseparable. And even after spending 5 years of their relationship apart while Dale was in flight school and Amy was in nursing school, they grew together.

When they started imagining their own wedding, they quickly realized that a big wedding just wasn’t for them. To start, they had been to weddings before and had witnessed the couple running around all day, worrying about everything and everyone but themselves. They saw that wedding days were full of stress and very little time for true, intimate conversations. In addition, Dale’s love for the outdoors made them crave a beautiful ceremony space. Finally, they realized that an elopement in the Colorado mountains was exactly what they wanted. Suddenly, the idea of planning their wedding was exciting again.

They decided to get married just outside of Aspen, Colorado at the Maroon Bells Amphitheater, which is one of the most beautiful ceremony sites in the state. A couple of weeks before their wedding, a huge wildfire ignited outside of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. This closed down the main route to Aspen and filled the air with smoke and haze. The day before their elopement, as we drove into Aspen, we could barely see the mountains, everything was flat and gray. We were worried that we wouldn’t even be able to see the iconic “Bells” during their ceremony. But thankfully, the next day the air was calm and the fire more under control, giving us gorgeous views.

On the morning of their elopement, Amy and Dale arrived separately. Dale hiked up to the ceremony site while Amy completed some finishing touches on her hair in the parking lot. The nerves were palpable and as Amy hiked up to the ceremony site, she caught a far off glimpse of Dale and let out an excited squeal. Unable to wait any longer, Amy decided to start the ceremony earlier than planned.

Amy’s dad walked her down the aisle and Dale’s face lit up as she came around the corner of the line of aspen trees. He helped her up onto the top of the hill and the ceremony began. Their good friend officiated and had them bursting into laughter. Having someone be your officiant, who knows your inside jokes, is always a good idea. They even took a moment to pause and look around at the gorgeous mountains surrounding them. Dale read his vows first and successfully held it together, but by the time it was Amy’s turn to read her vows, Dale couldn’t hold in his emotions anymore. He wiped his tears away with a handkerchief and laughed. Finally, it was time for Amy and Dale to exchange rings and have their first kiss.

After their ceremony, we explored Maroon Bells and then parted ways for a lunch break. They went back to their Airbnb to celebrate with their families and to reenergize for our sunset adventure.

That evening, we met back up at one of our favorite spots. It’s a beautiful meadow that is surrounded by trees and incredible mountain views. We played in the meadow before starting the long drive to the top of the mountain. It was later in the evening, so we had the entire mountaintop to ourselves. Amy and Dale explored and admired the views. As the sun dipped below the mountaintops, they headed back down to Aspen and the end of their wedding adventure. But of course, only the beginning of a lifetime together.

This elopement took place on Ute Land.

Photographs

Colorado Elopements

Destination Elopements