Josephine + Andrew
When these two decided they wanted a Colorado fall alpine lake hiking elopement, they were dreaming of golden aspens, sunshine, and crisp fall temperatures. 🍁 But what we got were bare aspen trees with all of their leaves already peaked and fallen to the ground, snow patches, strong winds, and freezing temperatures.We tell our couples all the time, if we could control the weather for your wedding day, we totally would! But because our couples are choosing to have this completely different, wild wedding day outdoors, you have to be okay with rolling with the punches. Mother nature throws whatever she wants at us, and it’s all a part of the experience. These two were just so happy to be in Colorado with each other, having this amazing adventure, and finally, getting married. Permanent dibs is what Josephine’s backpack sign read. She’s just happy she can finally call permanent dibs on her man 😊 , the weather just made it more exciting!
Josephine and Andrew had an idea of what they wanted for their ceremony scenery. They wanted a place all to themselves, and an alpine lake surrounded by tall mountains and evergreen trees. 🌲 Alex and I knew just the place for them. Alex and I found this location when we first moved to Colorado, and we’ve been dying to take a couple here ever since. We were so excited when they picked this spot as their location. We call it the Unnamed Alpine Lake location because this lake doesn’t even have a name! It’s so far out there. It’s miles down a dirt road. We were so happy to deliver the spot they were dreaming of. These two had the trailhead, the hike, and the lake all to themselves. We didn’t see another hiker all afternoon! It was so freaking fun.
When we were talking about plans and ideas for their big day, they mentioned wanting to bring a pizza. 🍕 I then started spitting off ideas on how they could get it up the mountain easily. But then they had a genius idea! They decided to have the pizza before the hike at the trailhead. Most of our couples decide to have their meals in the middle of their day with us, but because these two were meeting us at the trailhead at 3, and booked our mini elopement package, we wrapped up photo coverage around 7 pm, which gave them plenty of time to head out and have a private dinner just the two of them after their elopement.
After these two got changed and had their pizza party at the trailhead, we started the hike to the alpine lake. We began seeing patches of snow and the wind was picking up. We took in the views during the hike up and enjoyed the last little bit of sunshine before the clouds rolled in. Once we made it to the lake, the sun was down and the clouds were looking really spooky. These two had their private ceremony right on the edge of the lake on the rocky shore with the beautiful mountain backdrop and fall colors surrounding them.
We hiked up the hill a little further to take in the views and to capture a few more portraits. These two were absolutely badass. It was so cold and windy! Josephine even kept her nice warm hat on for some of the photos. She said she wanted to be reminded of how cold it was when she looked back on the photos. A true adventure bride right here folks! 😆 The original plan was to have their first dance, enjoy some champagne to celebrate, and take star photos at the top of the mountain, but after seeing how cloudy it was, we decided star photos were very unlikely. The temperature made their decision easy to head down the mountain and back into the trees away from the wind. We stopped on the trail at the perfect spot to celebrate their marriage and popped some champagne!
Once we got back to the trailhead, we improvised. These two still didn’t have their first dance! So we pulled our Subaru out into the dirt road, pointed the headlights down the road, and turned up the music. These two enjoyed their first dance on a dirt road and had it all to themselves. Literally what adventure elopement dreams are made of 🌙 We headed back to Denver still pumped with adrenaline, and these two headed off to a private dinner at their Airbnb.
We are so thankful for every single couple we get to work with. It’s such an honor to capture and document such a big day for them. We are forever grateful for you guys. Thank you Josephine and Andrew for having us come alongside you and capture who you really are, not who everyone else expected you to be.
Congratulations to the happy couple! 🥂 🍾
