If you’ve made it to this page, I’m guessing you’re dreaming up an amazing Colorado elopement!! But maybe you aren’t sure how exactly to plan it, or where to even start. That’s why I’m guiding you through how to elope in Colorado in 8 main steps! Let’s dive in!!

Pick your perfect Colorado elopement location

Before anything else, you’ve gotta do one of the most fun parts of elopement planning: choosing your DREAM location!!

Colorado is full of crazy beautiful locations, so I totally get that it can be hard to narrow down the best spots & figure out which one is right for you. Because we’ve seriously got it all here: epic mountains, valleys, alpine meadows, lakes, & more.

So I wanted to give you 10 of the best places to elope in Colorado based on my past experiences with couples, & the locations that I love!!

Want a more detailed look at 4 of my favorite Colorado elopement locations? Head over to this blog post!!

Loveland Pass

Where it’s located:

60 miles west of Denver
110 miles northeast of Aspen

The scenery:

Loveland Pass is a STUNNING spot in north central CO, with amazing mountain views and scenic roads!

Breckenridge

Where it’s located:

80 miles west of Denver
100 miles northeast of Aspen

The scenery:

Breckenridge is a lil’ mountain town that sits at the base of the Rockies’ Tenmile range, at an elevation of 9,600 feet. It’s a super accessible location that isn’t too far of a trek from major Colorado cities, and has an amazing variety of locations!

Check out more Breckenridge elopement inspiration in this blog post!

Telluride

Where it’s located:

360 miles southwest of Denver
200 miles south of Aspen

The scenery:

Want to feel like you’re in Switzerland without actually having to take the long flights + pay lots of money for an international trip? Then the San Juan Mountains are the perfect place for you ;) It’s another area that’s a little bit of a longer trek, but every single mile of driving will be worth it!!

Check out more Telluride elopement inspiration in this blog post!

Rocky Mountain National Park

Where it’s located:

65 miles northwest of Denver
170 miles north of Aspen

The scenery:

If you’re a big lover of national parks like I am, or know anything about Colorado, you’re probably familiar with Rocky Mountain National Park!

The park has over 300 miles of hiking trails, wildflowers, wildlife, gorgeous mountain views - really everything you could ask for for a dreamy mountain elopement or intimate mountain wedding.

Check out my full blog post on How to Elope in Rocky Mountain National Park next!!

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Where it’s located:

240 miles south of Denver
170 miles south of Aspen

The scenery:

This location is—you guessed it—full of amazing sand dunes!! If you want to elope in Colorado but want a slightly more desert feel (there’s still mountains in the backdrop, so it’s not fully a desert), this is the spot for you. The dunes are super beautiful with the mountain ranges in the back, and make an incredible backdrop for an intimate elopement!

Maroon Bells

Where they’re located:

In Aspen, 170 miles west of Denver

The scenery:

The Maroon Bells are a series of jagged mountains that offer tons of hiking trails, wildlife, wildflower meadows, and epic rock formations. You’ve probably seen them in photos before!

Independence Pass

Where it’s located:

140 miles west of Denver
20 miles east of Aspen

The scenery:

Independence Pass is part of Highway 82 that passes over the Continental Divide. The road has incredibly scenic views of the mountains, valleys, and trees. It’s a popular road to bike on, so if you want to incorporate some road biking into your elopement, let’s go here!

The Paint Mines

Where they’re located:

90 miles south of Denver
200 miles east of Aspen

The scenery:

The Colorado Paint Mines are one of the coolest elopement destinations in the state, in my opinion. It’s full of hills with hills painted with all sorts of colors, plenty of trails, and overall just super rad, unique scenery.

An A-frame cabin

This is a more general idea - you could elope at a cute A-frame cabin!

Here are 5 of the best A-frame cabins around Colorado:

Glamping Cabin - Mesa, CO
Classic Colorado A-Frame on the Creek - Grand Lake, CO
Rustic Cabin with Alpine Views - Walden, CO
Spacious Mountain Getaway - Estes Park, CO
Rustic Cabin - Ouray, CO

On top of a mountain, or in mountain valleys

And finally, it’s pretty easy to find a stunning mountaintop in Colorado. Or if you’d rather not hike/be at a higher elevation, consider eloping in one of CO’s beautiful mountain valleys! Both are truly amazing options, and you can find epic mountaintops for a sunrise or sunset elopement + luscious valleys at most of the locations listed above. Especially RMNP!

Choose your season

Next, you’ll need to choose what season you want to elope in!

Spring

Spring is an amazing time to elope in Colorado, simply because of the luscious wildflowers, warming temperatures, and beauty growing everywhere. It can still be pretty cool in some areas in the spring, especially at higher elevations, so I recommend having a couple of backup options if you want to elope on a mountain in the spring! The last thing we want is to unexpectedly encounter snow & not be able to go to the location you’ve been dreaming of!

Summer

Summer gets pretty hot in some areas of Colorado, so I suggest considering alpine locations for a summer elopement. That way, you’ll be at a cooler spot on top of a mountain rather than down where you’ll sweat, or be surrounded by a bunch of tourists/visitors!

Fall

Fall is a really freaking beautiful time in Colorado, with the colors changing in the trees. However, temperatures can drop pretty fast in the fall, and snow can start appearing pretty quickly at higher elevations. Consider lower locations for a fall elopement so we don’t risk hitting a trail or road higher up that’s inaccessible because of snow or ice!

Winter

Wintertime is pretty iffy in Colorado, simply because of the amount of snow we get. So winter won’t be a great time for any kind of mountain elopement!

Tip: Use the radar on an app like AccuWeather or Weather Underground to watch Colorado weather around the time of your elopement!

Invite your guests

Now it’s time to invite your guests (if you’re inviting any at all)!

First, think through the people that are most important to you who you’d like to invite.

Consider a few things:

Who has supported you & your partner the most
Who you wouldn’t want to celebrate without
Who you are closest to, whether that’s friends or family members
Who might stress you out on your elopement day, or pressure you to do certain things (spoiler alert: don’t invite those people)

If you get through those points and realize you’d rather have a private elopement with just you and your partner, awesome!! But if you do want to invite some guests, now is the time to start sending out those invites.

Keep in mind: You’ll need to see how many guests are allowed at the location you’ll be eloping at. For example, some spots you can’t have more than 10 people - including you two, your vendors, AND your guests.

Find a place to stay in Colorado

Don’t forget to find a place to stay! I highly highly recommend staying somewhere for not just one night, but for multiple - make a trip out of your elopement. That way you have plenty of time to explore, adventure, and enjoy each other’s company & don’t need to worry about rushing anything.

This will obviously depend on where your elopement is held, but here are a few great places in some of the main areas of Colorado that I discussed above!

Breckenridge

Stunning Studio in the Village at Breckenridge - $88/night; sleeps 4 guests
3-Bedroom Condo - $199/night; sleeps 10 guests
Cozy Studio Condo - $92/ night; sleeps 2 guests
Remodeled 1-Bedroom Condo - $111/night; sleeps 4 guests

And if you’d prefer a lodge or ski resort, you won’t have trouble finding those in Breckenridge either!

Telluride

Rivertail Retreat Condo - $224/night; sleeps 4 guests
Blue Collar Boutique - $310/night; sleeps 3 guests
Condo with Private Hot Tub + Amazing Views - $381/night; sleeps 4 guests
Bright Historic Telluride Studio - $200/night; sleeps 2 guests
Comfortable & Convenient Condo - $183/night; sleeps 4 guests

Rocky Mountain National Park

Cozy Cabin in the Mountains - $257/night; sleeps 4 guests
Modern Rocky Mountain Cabin - $120/night; sleeps 2 guests
Estes Park Mountain House - $390/night; sleeps 4 guests
Tiny House in the Mountains - $98/night; sleeps 2 guests
Guest Suite with Hot Tub - $397/night; sleeps 4 guests

Hire your dream Colorado wedding vendor team

Time to hire your vendors!!

If you hire me as your Colorado elopement photographer (in which case - heck yessss!!), I’ve got a ton of preferred vendors that I’m happy to refer you to. These are Colorado vendors that I fully trust to give my couples amazing experiences, so I keep this list private for only my booked couples!

But otherwise, I’d suggest looking at elopement publications in the area such as Rocky Mountain Bride for vendor recommendations. They’ve got a whole bunch of Colorado vendors on their website here!

Colorado elopement packages - photography

If you’re feeling like we might be a great fit for your elopement, take a look at my Colorado elopement photography packages below! Then contact me here so we can start planning your dream Colorado elopement together!!

Get your Colorado elopement permits

This is a SUPER important one: please make sure to apply for the permits you’ll need WELL in advance!!

The permits you’ll need will depend on the location of your elopement, but generally, for national parks, you’ll need a Special Use Permit. These take time to apply for & obtain, so please do not wait until the last minute to do this step!

Here’s the information on Rocky Mountain NP wedding permits to give you an idea of what this process will look like!

Make an elopement packing list

You gotta remember to bring all the important stuff, so here’s a quick packing list to make sure you don’t forget anything!

Your wedding permit
National Park Pass or cash for entry
Water and extra water
Protein and granola bars
Extra snacks
Extra gas/full tank of gas
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Hiking poles
Bug spray/bear spray
Emergency first aid kit
Wireless extra phone charger
Download offline maps of your location
Spikes for your shoes in case of ice or snow
Flashlights
Toilet paper/ plastic bag/wet wipes
Rain jacket/umbrella
Extra socks/shoes
Hiking boots
Lots of socks

Obviously, what you need to pack will depend on the season you elope in. And make sure you prepare for altitude adjustments if you’re not from Colorado!

Brainstorm fun elopement ideas + plan your activities

Finally, it’s time for the most fun part of it all: planning your elopement activities!!

I really want you to get creative with these. Think through what would make your elopement feel the most YOU, be the most special to you, and be the most memorable, best day EVER.