There’s this crazy belief going around that choosing to elope means that the elopement cannot be as special as a big, traditional wedding. We know! Crazy right?! This could not be further from the truth! We believe that an elopement can be just as, or more, special than a traditional wedding. Keep on reading and get inspired by these 20 ways to help make your Colorado elopement special. 

Write Personalized Vows

One of the best ways to make your elopement feel so incredibly special and personal is to physically write out your wedding vows. We have found that this is a really great way to keep the elopement intentional and focused on the couple.

Plus, one really cool idea is to get a larger vow book with lots of pages so that you can use that same vow book to write vows for your vow renewals. Keeping all of your vows throughout the years in one place so you can look back on is probably one of the most special things you can incorporate into your elopement! I LOVE these ones! I love that you can completely customize your vow books.

If you want to go even a step further, you can make your own vow books! Turning your vows into a really fun date night that you do together. Sydney and Sarah made their own vow books together and they turned out so amazing!

Have a First Look

One question we get a lot is “can we have a first look if we’re eloping?” My answer is always a massive YES! Absolutely you can! In fact, about half of the couples who we get to work with have a first look. It’s such a fun way to start off your wedding day! I love that all of the anticipation, all of the butterflies, all of the love bubbles to the surface right before a first look and then WHAM! It all comes to a head in that moment. It is such a fun way to kick off your elopement!

Incorporate Your Favorite Activities

This is such a great way to really make your elopement feel like you! Including activities like hiking, rock climbing, making breakfast together, kayaking, chess or any number of things into your elopement day can really help keep the day completely centered around the couple, keeping the focus on them! Which is really what your wedding day should be, anyway! For instance, Colleen and MJ love playing Scrabble together, so they brought their travel sized Scrabble up the mountain and had a quick game before we took off for the next part of their day.

Taking time to slow down and do an activity that you both love can be such a great part of the wedding day!

Have a Picnic

I mean, who doesn’t love a good picnic?! And during your elopement? Sign me up! One of the things that I experienced a lot in my time as a big, traditional wedding photographer was that the couple rarely ate. There was so much to do and a strict timeline to follow that the couple found themselves in a position where they couldn’t remember the last time they ate. I personally love food and would really struggle with this haha. Planning a picnic is a great way to slow down, take a break, and enjoy some incredible food!

Wear a Colorful Suit/Dress

Who says you have to wear traditional wedding colors on your wedding day?! If colorful wedding attire is calling your name, here is our stamp of approval to go for it (not that you needed it, you can do whatever you want to do on your wedding day!). Wearing something colorful or unique is such a fun way to express your own personalities through your wedding attire.

For instance, Tori chose to wear a black wedding dress for her snowy Rocky Mountain National Park elopement. It stood out so beautifully against the snow and felt so Tori! I absolutely loved it. You can see more of Tori and Mike’s wedding here. Another option to consider is what Stevie chose to do, which was wear a white gown for the ceremony but she also wanted a pop of color, so she changed into a fun tulle pink skirt for the second half of their elopement!

Personality can come through in a suit, too! There are green suits, orange suits, and everything in between. You can even opt for no suit and just go for some colorful pants like Nathan chose to do! We love his mustard yellow corduroy pants!

Hire a Musician

Imagine hearing a violinist playing your favorite song as you make your way to your partner. This can be such a sweet way to structure your ceremony and can be a really fun way to incorporate one of your favorite songs! Karina and William chose to have a cellist play as Karina walked down natures aisle to William for their ceremony at their Maroon Bells Amphitheater elopement.

Pop Champagne

One of our favorite ways to celebrate an elopement: Popping champagne! I think this is just such a fun and carefree way to end a ceremony or the wedding day. It can also make for some really fun pictures! We recommend having two bottles if you want to drink some, though. Spraying champagne will likely use all of the champagne, so make sure to bring another bottle if you want to enjoy some after the ceremony. Pro tip: You can purchase a cheaper bottle for the pop and your favorite afterwards to enjoy!

Have a Cake

Some couples will ask us if it’s okay to incorporate some more “traditional” wedding things into their elopement. One of the greatest things about choosing to elope is that there are no rules! If you’d both like to incorporate more traditional wedding things into your elopement, like cutting a cake, we say go for it! Plus, who doesn’t love a good cake?!

Invite Your Family or Friends

Colorado is really great because you are not required to have any witnesses at your elopement. You and your partner act as your own witnesses, make the option to have a completely private elopement totally possible. However, if you did want to include your family and friends you absolutely can! This can be a really special way to keep your wedding small, intentional, and completely focused on you.

We’ve had some couples even give the family/friends in attendance a part to play in their ceremony. For instance, Skyelar and Caleb chose to have a family member officiate their wedding. Mariah and Connor gave each family member a roll to play during their ceremony like reading a poem or passing their rings to everyone at the ceremony before giving them to the couple.

There are so many ways to include your family, even having a private ceremony and then having your family meet you later for pictures like MJ and Colleen did!

Bring Your Dogs

Another way to help make your Colorado elopement special is to bring your dogs along! Your fur pals are your family, so why not bring them along for the wedding adventure?! Also, did you know that Colorado allows your dog(s) to sign your marriage license as a witness? If that’s not the cutest thing I don’t know what is! You can read all about how to include your dog into your Colorado elopement here.

Have a Campfire

Want some roasty toasty mallows after your elopement? Have a campfire! Be sure to do this in a designated campfire spot, though. Renting a campsite is a really great way to do this!

Have a First Dance

Bring your own bluetooth speaker and have a first dance among the mountains in Colorado! Pro tip: Be sure to download your song because a lot of places in the mountains do not have service. This will ensure that you can still play the song without service.

Get Ready for Your Elopement Together

Just as you can choose to have a first look during your ceremony, you can also choose to get ready together! It is a really fun way to start the day together. Picture this: You wake up on your wedding day, make breakfast together in your pjs, and then you get ready for your elopement together. It’s a really special way to kick off your wedding day! You can see Emily and Ben’s two day camping elopement in Wyoming here!

Hire a Private Chef

There are tons of private chefs that would love to cater your elopement! Whether it’s just the two of you or a handful of your closest people, hiring a private chef can make the wedding day feel really cozy and personal. For instance, Saber and Erik hired a private chef who made them and their families the most incredible vegan meal I have ever had!

PS: If you want to read all about Erik and Saber’s elopement and watch their elopement video, you can see that here. Be sure to grab your Kleenex box because it’s a tear jerker!

Have a Two-Day Elopement

Struggling to fit everything that you want to do for your elopement into one day? Why not make it a two-day elopement! That way nothing will feel rushed or stressed. Take Kaylyn and Holden’s two day backpacking elopement for instance, they chose to have one day that they hiked to one of their favorite locations, woke up at sunrise for their ceremony and then hiked back down to their families for a ceremony with the fam and friends. Truly the best of both worlds! And because we did this over two days, there was no stress.

Play Music Together

Music can be quite the uniter of folks! When Jake and I first met, we shared our love of music and had so much in common through music. It was one of the things that really drew me to Jake and something that we still share to this day! If you love to play music together, bring it along for the elopement!

Read Letters From Your Family

Don’t want to have friends or family attend your elopement? We totally get it! Eloping can truly be a completely private experience, allowing you and your partner to fully feel every emotion without the pressures of family or friends. If you would like to include family into your elopement without their physical presence, you can choose to have write you letters to read on your elopement day. Like Jenna and Jordan did during their Silverton elopement!

Have a Unity Ceremony

Some couples want to have something that they do in their ceremony that feels a little more structured. Option for a unity ceremony can be a great way to achieve this! There are so many different types of unity ceremonies and this is a great article to inspire your own unity ceremony!

Stay at a Cool Airbnb

Having a really cool spot to stay at for your elopement can totally be apart of your wedding day! Makayla and Franklin rented such an incredible A-Frame Airbnb for their elopement and wanted some shots there. It was seriously so gorgeous and had some pretty incredible mountain views! They even shared their first dance on the deck in the back.

Incorporate Something Totally Unique To Your Relationship

Do you love Star Wars? Bring your lightsabers! Do you love to cook together? Let’s document you making your favorite meal! There are so many unique things about each relationship. We would love to tell your entire love story by including the things that make you, well, you into your wedding day. We hope that these 20 ways to help make your Colorado elopement special have inspired you when it comes to planning your own elopement!

What Are Some Things You Would Do To Make Your Colorado Elopement Special?

There is a pretty big misunderstanding when it comes to eloping. Eloping used to mean running off in secret to get married. However, that definition has completely changed. Eloping now means choosing to have an intentional and intimate wedding in the great outdoors. Choosing to elope gives you and your partner an opportunity to have an incredible wedding experience 100% focused on you and your love! Here are 20 ways that can help you and your partner can make your Colorado elopement day meaningful.

Let’s get in touch today to start planning a wedding experience that actually looks and feels like you! We’d love the opportunity to meet you and hear all about what you would include in your elopement day to make it special!