Madison and Tony met while in college. They were both taking a Chemical Engineering Fundamentals course and ended up joining the same study group. Tony immediately thought Madison was cute and would do his best to stay late at the study group to spend more time with Madison. Little did he know, Madison was doing the same. It took until 2015 when they were both traveling together for an engineering competition. A couple of months later, they were official and have spent nearly every day together since.

Initially, after getting engaged, Madison and Tony imagined having a big, traditional wedding. But as they really started to brainstorm what would make them the happiest, their guest list started to shrink. And eventually, they decided that they wanted to elope just the two of them, and Colorado sounded like the perfect place. They loved that they could self-solemnize their elopement and get married alone in the wilderness. When we first started planning Tony and Madison’s elopement, they were open to any location within Colorado, but they quickly set their sights on Crested Butte, which is one of our favorite areas in the state.

On the morning of their elopement, we met them under just the light of the moon at the trailhead. They packed up their backpacks and we looked up at the stars as we started the hike. Much of the hike is through gorgeous aspen and pine forest and as the sun came up, the world around us slowly came into view. As Madison and Tony separated to change into their wedding attire, the warm light filtered through the trees. They had their first look along the trail before climbing down to the edge of a beautiful alpine lake. Alex led their ceremony and they exchanged heartfelt vows to each other. After their ceremony, they celebrated with champagne and a picnic next to the alpine lake.

We continued the hike and stopped at a waterfall and then a second alpine lake for their first dance. By this time, we started seeing a few other hikers on the trail and everyone was impressed by their love for adventure. We ended their elopement morning with a wedding cake made by their friend. Madison and Tony traveled all the way to Colorado with their wedding cake, and they were worried that it wouldn’t successfully make the trip, but it did! After such a busy and early morning, they headed back into Crested Butte for a nap and a nice dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in town.

This elopement took place on Ute Land.

Photographs

Colorado Elopements

Destination Elopements