A Sweet Estes Park Ceremony Then Sprague Lake Photo Shoot
The Soul Of Shelby & Clayton’s Mountain Elopement:
Simple & Intimate While Still With Close Loved Ones
Photos by partner company Colorado Photographer Squad.
First, a fun note on how to still have gorgeous wedding photos in Rocky Mountain National Park on your wedding day, even if they’ve already given out all the permits for your date:
Come on a mini adventure with us as Nikima & Keith get married at our Sweet Little Mini Mountain spot in Estes Park, then have a romantic photo shoot in Rocky Mountain National Park. Wedding ceremonies are super popular in the park these days, which means all of their permits get taken much sooner than they used to. If you have your heart set on wedding photos in RMNP, but they’ve already given out all the permits for your date, then this is a wonderful solution: have the ceremony itself just outside of the park because you can’t have the ceremony in the park if the wedding permits are gone for your date, but wedding photos in the park are totally allowed without a wedding permit - you just need a photography permit, which our team has :)
And now, onto Shelby & Clayton’s love story
Shelby & Clayton went to high school together! But they didn’t really know each other. Instead, their relationship began when they met at a New Year’s eve party through mutual friends. At the time of their elopement, these two were together for six years, and the have the coolest proposal story. Clayton proposed during the pandemic lockdown so he had to get creative. He got Shelby onboard with filming a video for social media about being a couple in lockdown. He had them exchange gifts while filming the video, and the gifts were based on different topics: "Find something with your partners favorite color, Find your Partners Favorite Food.. etc". The final question was "Find something we can do together” - that’s when Clayton presented the ring and asked Shelby to marry him!
Why they chose to elope in Colorado
Shelby & Clayton wanted their wedding planning experience to be less stressful than the bigger wedding scenario with tons of guests, plus they knew they wanted a destination wedding and close loved ones with them. They looked at different states like Florida and other beach spots, but were feeling more drawn to the mountains, plus Shelby had been to Estes Park and knew she liked the area. They were also both in grad school and wanted the money they’d spend on a big wedding to go toward buying a house instead. They were really drawn to Sprague Lake as their wedding spot, but all the RMNP permits had been given out for the year, so our Sweet Mini Mountain spot in Estes for the ceremony itself, plus then a little adventure into RMNP for after-ceremony photos at Sprague was the perfect solution for them. Enjoy these photos from their beautiful day…
Ceremony At Our Sweet Little Mini Mountain Spot In Estes Park
This spot is our favorite in Estes Park because of its beauty and ease of access. The Ponderosa Pines here are thriving and happy, creates an automatically joyful environment, and we have the national park peaks, plus the rocky ridge peaks right next to Estes as our backdrop.
The spot is just a five-minute drive from any lodging in the town of Estes Park, and then it’s just a 20-minute drive to the RMNP entrance station for after-ceremony photos!
Ceremony Highlights
These two chose two readings - one called the Blessing Of Hands which is a deeply meaningful reading about how their hands will change over the years as they journey married life together. The other was a poem about the art of marriage.
They wrote their own vows using my Vow Adventure Kit which is included in my elopement packages, then read them from vow books.
They chose one of our special mini ceremonies as well - a letter box tradition. They wrote love letters to each other and during the ceremony sealed them into a special box, starting a tradition that on every wedding anniversary they’ll go back to the box, unseal it, read the love letters, then put new love letters in for next anniversary.
Married!
Congratulations Shelby & Clayton, we love you!
And now on to Rocky Mountain National Park Sprague Lake…
These two chose Sprague Lake as their RMNP after-ceremony photo shoot spot. It was about a 15-minute drive from their Estes Park ceremony spot to the park entrance station, then another 15 minutes to Sprague Lake. Easy peasy. Check out the beautiful light in these photos as they made their way around Sprague Lake newly married.
Next, they read vows that they’d written from scratch using my Vow Adventure Kit.
These two have so much depth and have navigated through the joys and challenges that a committed relationship brings. All that they’ve learned, all that they’ve grown together, was present in the words that they shared and the commitments that they made.
What I loved about Sarah and Evan’s ceremony too was all the hugs and kissing! They didn’t wait until the end of the ceremony to kiss or to connect - every time they felt moved, they embraced or kissed, waaaay before the ceremony was even near over ;)
Photos by partner company Colorado Photographer Squad
Meet the officiants and photographers who I’m partnered with here
If you want to know more about how your elopement will work, let’s chat about your elopement, just reach out to me at this link here: Let’s Chat About Your Elopement
Let’s Make It Happen!
Hey it’s Lisa :) I’m your elopement guide and an officiant, plus mountain girl at heart. We take couples on the sweetest mini adventures and I can’t wait to start planning yours.
Reach out using this handy form and I’ll send all the info to make your elopement day real, see if we’re a fit and hop on a call to lay out the plan and package quote for your dream day. Can’t wait to get to know you!
