Here is what couples actually tell me when they call about eloping in Colorado: “I have done the big wedding before. I know exactly what I do not want this time. I want it to feel intimate and special, and I do not want to spend my own wedding day performing for a crowd.”
Girl. I get it. Because I was the SAME WAY. Which is why I stopped shooting weddings of 400 guests to small imtimate elopements 20 years ago. Long before it was ever popular.
You two can legally marry YOURSELVES on a mountain with no officiant, no witnesses, and nobody else for miles. Literally just us is not a dream here, it is a legal ceremony type. It is called self solemnization, Colorado is famous for it, and for couples who are done performing, it changes everything.
Here is the full playbook: the law, the places, the seasons, and the real numbers.
Jump to: The Legal Part | Best Places | When to Go | What It Costs | FAQ
Why Elope in Colorado
Self solemnization. No officiant. No witnesses. Your dog can be the only guest and the marriage is still legal. No other mountain state offers this.
Variety that does not quit. Alpine lakes, red rock gardens, golden aspens, sand dunes taller than buildings, 14,000 foot peaks. You can build any wedding aesthetic here without leaving the state.
Access. Many of the best ceremony spots are a short walk from a trailhead, not a six mile hike. Grandma can come. Or not. Your call.
The honest part: Colorado is the most popular elopement state in the country, which means the famous spots get crowded and some locations now require permits and timed entry. That is not a reason to skip Colorado. It is a reason to have someone who knows which trailhead at which hour. Hi.
How to Get Married in Colorado (the Legal Part)
This is the easiest license run in America. Both of you visit any Colorado county clerk with IDs and about $30. No waiting period, no residency requirement, no blood test. You can pick the license up in Colorado Springs, Denver, or whatever county you land in, and use it anywhere in the state.
Then the Colorado magic: self solemnization. You two sign the license yourselves. No officiant required, no witnesses required. Your ceremony can be genuinely, completely just the two of you, and I photograph it from far enough away that it feels that way. Want someone to guide vows anyway? I am ordained and happy to. Want your pup to sign? Colorado clerks will genuinely let a paw print on the witness line, and yes I will photograph that too.
Return the signed license to the clerk within 63 days and you are married. Done.
Best Places to Elope in Colorado
Rocky Mountain National Park
The classic for a reason: alpine lakes, elk in the meadows, and ceremony sites like Sprague Lake and 3M Curve that were made for vows. The park uses designated ceremony locations and requires a special use permit, plus timed entry reservations in peak season, so this one rewards planning ahead.
Best for: alpine lakes, classic mountain drama, accessible ceremony sites
Best months: June through early October
Good to know: permit required, timed entry in summer, check current rules at nps.gov/romo
Maroon Bells (Aspen)
The most photographed mountains in North America, and they earn it. Two purple pyramids over a mirror lake, aspen gold in late September that does not look real. Access is by reservation and shuttle most of the season, which keeps the chaos down if you plan it right. Sunrise is the move here, both for light and for solitude.
Best for: the postcard shot, aspen season, sunrise ceremonies
Best months: late June through September, gold peaks last two weeks of September
Good to know: vehicle reservations and permits via the Forest Service, book early for fall
Telluride
A box canyon town with waterfalls at the end of main street and a free gondola that floats you over the mountains. Elope at a mountaintop overlook, ride the gondola in your dress, then dinner in town. The San Juans around Telluride are the most dramatic range in the state, and the town makes the logistics easy.
Best for: town-plus-mountain weekends, gondola rides, waterfall backdrops
Best months: June through early October, September for gold
Good to know: Bridal Veil Falls road is 4×4; the gondola is free and runs till midnight
Garden of the Gods (Colorado Springs)
Towering red rock fins against Pikes Peak, free to enter, and open year round. This is the Colorado spot that works in January when the high country is buried. Sunrise turns the rocks neon. City park permits are simple and cheap compared to the national parks.
Best for: red rock drama, winter elopements, easy access
Best months: all twelve of them, sunrise always
Good to know: free entry, city permit for ceremonies, five minutes from the El Paso County clerk
Great Sand Dunes National Park
700 foot dunes with 14,000 foot peaks behind them. It photographs like another planet, the walk up is a workout in the best way, and almost nobody thinks of it, which means you will likely have a ridge to yourselves. Spring brings a seasonal creek at the base for barefoot champagne moments.
Best for: otherworldly photos, solitude, adventurous couples
Best months: May through June and September through October
Good to know: permit required, details at nps.gov/grsa, sand gets hot in July
Ouray + the San Juan Mountains
They call it the Switzerland of America and for once the nickname undersells it. Jeep roads climb to alpine basins, waterfalls pour through town, and the Million Dollar Highway serves overlook after overlook. This is the pick for couples who want a 4×4 adventure baked into their day.
Best for: jeep elopements, waterfalls, wildflower basins
Best months: July for wildflowers, September for gold
Good to know: many high passes open July through September only
Sapphire Point (Breckenridge/Dillon)
A five minute walk to a lake-and-peaks overlook that feels like it should require a backpacking trip. This is the accessible crowd-pleaser: easy permit, easy parking, huge view, and close to Breckenridge lodging. Perfect when you want big Colorado with small logistics.
Best for: easy access, small guest lists, lake views
Best months: June through October, magical with snow too
Good to know: popular and permit slots go fast, weekday mornings win
When to Elope in Colorado
Summer (July to August): wildflowers, every road open, afternoon thunderstorms like clockwork. Ceremony at sunrise, party by noon.
Fall (mid September to early October): aspen gold. The most requested window, about three weeks long. Book months ahead.
Winter (December to March): snow globe ceremonies, empty trailheads, and Garden of the Gods still works when the passes do not.
Spring (April to May): mud season up high, but the dunes and Front Range shine. The savvy budget window.
What the Cheap Photographer Does Not Know About Colorado
Colorado is crawling with photographers who will shoot your elopement for next to nothing because they want the mountain trip. Ask them one question: how does self-solemnization actually work? Colorado lets you marry yourselves, no officiant, no witnesses, about $30 at the county clerk, and even your dog can sign with a paw print. If your photographer does not know that law inside out, including which counties handle it smoothest, you are the one doing the legal homework on your own wedding.
I plan every Colorado day in five versions before you arrive. The afternoon storm version, because the Rockies build storms on a schedule in summer. The road closure version. The crowd-dodge version for the famous overlooks. The altitude-friendly version if one of you flies in from sea level. And the dream version, which is usually the one we shoot, because the other four kept it safe.
License logistics, dog paw print included, locations matched to the season, and a timeline with the stress engineered out of it. That is what you are hiring. The pictures are the easy part after that.
What Your Colorado Elopement Day Actually Looks Like
Forget “6 hours of coverage.” Close your eyes. This is your wedding day.
The Half Day
5:30am Your alarm goes off in a cabin that smells like pine and coffee. Hair and makeup happen with music on and zero people knocking on the door asking about centerpieces. You are laughing already.
6:15am We drive up in the dark, headlights on a dirt road, your dress hanging in the back like a secret. You hold hands in the backseat and whisper because it feels right.
6:45am First look on the overlook. The peaks go pink behind you, and whatever nerves you carried up the mountain fall right off the edge.
7:15am You say your vows at Sapphire Point with the lake catching fire below and not one single stranger watching. Then you sign your own marriage license, because Colorado lets you marry yourselves. If the dog is there, the dog signs too. You are married and the trail is still empty.
8:00am Champagne pops echo off the water. You eat breakfast burritos on a rock in your wedding clothes. You dance to one song from a phone speaker. These become your favorite photos, I promise you now.
9:00am The adventure leg: a second overlook, a slow wander through the aspens, dress flying, boots dusty.
11:30am You are married, exhausted in the best way, and it is not even lunch. You nap. I start your sneak peeks.
The Full Day (my most-booked collection, and it is not close: add $2,000)
Everything above, and then the day keeps unfolding. You disappear for a long lunch and a hot spring soak while I vanish. 4:00pm you climb into a jeep and ride a shelf road into the San Juans, or float over Telluride on the free gondola in your wedding clothes while tourists cheer. Golden hour number two happens somewhere that looks nothing like your morning. You eat a sunset dinner on a tailgate. And then, if the sky behaves, you stand under the Milky Way in your dress, still married, still laughing, while I make the photo nobody at a ballroom wedding has ever owned.
One day. Two golden hours. Zero performing. That is the elopement difference.
Colorado Elopement Packages + What It Costs
Colorado sits in my Lower 48 collection: from $7,550 with every travel cost included. Flights, lodging, rental car, all baked into the number you see. That covers a half day. Want sunrise at Sapphire Point AND stars over the dunes? Add a few extra for the whole day.
Real talk about the elopement market: there are a thousand options now. When I started shooting elopements, almost nobody did this, and I have watched the show up, click, done crowd arrive. A cheaper photographer who does not know the permit rules, the sunrise timing, the backup plan when the pass closes, or the law that lets you marry yourselves is not actually cheaper. They are just less. You are not paying me for six hours of shutter clicks. You are paying for twenty years of knowing exactly how this day works.
Every collection includes 20 years of experience, The Knot Hall of Fame credentials, planning and location scouting, permits handled, an ordained officiant if you want one (or coaching for your self solemnized ceremony, because yes you can still have structure), and your full gallery with printing rights. All numbers are public at my elopement packages page.
Eloping for a Second Marriage (or Your First Real One)
So many of my Colorado couples have stood at a big altar before. They planned the 200 person day, smiled through the tablecloth decisions, hugged distant relatives, and somewhere in the blur realized the day was never really about the two of them. If that is you, hear this: wanting a mountainside and nobody watching is not settling for less. It is finally choosing what the day was supposed to be about.
It can be just as simple and intimate of just you two, or you can invite your most favorite people in the world to be by your side! You truly get to do this how you WANT to do this without any obligations.
Colorado Elopement FAQ
Can we really get married with no officiant and no witnesses?
Yes. Colorado self solemnization is state law. You sign your own license. I photograph you doing it.
Do we need a permit to elope in Colorado?
At most popular locations, yes, and they are cheap but limited. This is the main thing couples get wrong on their own, and the main thing I help with.
What about altitude?
Most ceremony spots sit between 8,000 and 12,000 feet. Arrive a day or two early, drink absurd amounts of water, and tell me if either of you is altitude sensitive, because I plan locations around it.
Ready for the Rockies? Book your free consult, tell me the Rockies sent you, and when we make it official, a gallery-wrapped canvas or an heirloom wedding album is on me. Thirty minutes, zero pressure, and you leave with your top locations and one honest, everything-included number.
Still comparing mountains? My New Mexico guide is the uncrowded alternative one state south, my step by step how to elope guide covers the universal stuff, and every destination lives at my best places to elope hub.
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