Crested Butte Hiking Elopement with Dogs
Colorado Elopement Videography Highlight Film
Crested Butte Hiking Elopement with Dogs
Al + Christine
When Christine and Al came to us, they had just two requirements for their elopement. It had to be somewhere beautiful, deep in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and their 3 dogs had to be able to join them. In a lot of ways, they credit their dogs for being what brought them together, and Floyd was even a part of their first date! If you don’t know anything else about Lisa and I, you should know that we’re absolutely 100% dog obsessed. So we couldn’t think of a better way for these two to spend their elopement day than romping through the mountains while George, Floyd, and Loki sprinted to every new smell.
After considering almost every region of the state for their elopement, they decided that the area around Crested Butte was the best fit. Crested Butte itself has the sort of quaint mountain town appeal that you miss in the larger resort towns, and the mountains surrounding it on all sides are some of the best you can find. Even just the views of Mt. Crested Butte while you walk down Elk Avenue are incredible. But getting just a little bit outside of town like we did with Christine and Al, rewards you immensely for the effort put in.
The day wasn’t without a hiccup though. While packing up all the important stuff into their truck, they remembered almost everything. They got the dogs, and the dog bandanas, and the leashes, and the rings, and the vow books, the water, the snacks, the dress, and everything else, except for Al’s suit. Upon realizing this they rushed back into town while we sorted out a backup ceremony location we knew of nearby that had less of a hike to account for some lost time. But out of sheer luck, Al got enough cell phone service on the way back to town to call a friend. Their friend jumped into action and met them halfway with the suit, and before we knew it Christine and Al were back at the trailhead again. So quickly, in fact, that we were able to stick with plan A due to the buffer time we build into all of our timelines for just these kinds of curve balls.
So with the suit and all the other details in hand, we hiked through the forest and the wildflowers, all of which were still dewy from rain the night before. We chatted about their trip to Costa Rica earlier in the year, and Al inquisitively asked about photography, business, and filmmaking. Before we knew it, we had arrived at the summit of the hike, and the view opened up to a valley beneath us filled with cows who are allowed to roam freely in the mountains of Crested Butte. We all stopped to take it in, including the dogs who seemed a bit puzzled by the cows.
Just a bit further along the trail, we stopped at our final destination for their first look and ceremony. It was our first chance since beginning the hike to notice just how wet the dogs had gotten from brushing past all of the dew-covered plants on the way up. So as Christine and Al changed they did their best to keep the dogs at a little bit of distance. This kind of worked through their first look, which was sweet and tender, but was lost completely by the time they began their vows. Loki and George roamed around them, between them, and even over them (as evidenced by the muddy paw prints left on Christine’s dress) while they poured their hearts out to one another. Where was Floyd you ask? His eyes may have been closed, but he definitely wasn’t sleeping. He was totally keeping watch over our packs.
With the ceremony done, the hard part of the day was over. On our way back down into town we stopped at fields full of wildflowers and had to fly our drone to really capture just how grand the scenery really is, complete with their truck bouncing down the dirt road for scale. Back at their accommodation, all of their friends and family finally got to see them all dressed up together from the balcony above. We had a sweet and simple formal declaration of vows in front of their families, and Christine had saved most of her tears for this moment. After lots of hugs and a coffee break, we headed back into the wilderness for a bit more adventure.
That started with a picnic, complete with cake, and letters from their families. The dogs were still a bit rambunctious but were starting to settle down a bit, all falling asleep at one point or another. But when it was time to head to the nearby waterfall they were ready to go and alert all over again. We even got in a nice little portrait of the furbabies at the base of one part of the waterfall. Above us we headed to the alpine lake source of that waterfall and spent some time popping champagne with their families and friends who had also arrived now, this time fully dressed the part. And we ended the day at the lake, a frequent activity of Christine, Al, and their pups back home in Texas. The dogs chased frisbees and tennis balls out into the lake, the families and friends mingled at a nearby picnic table, and Christine even joined a few of them when the football started getting tossed around. Overall it was an incredible day and one that reflected something both new and exciting, as well as comfortable and familiar!
This elopement took place on Ute Land.