A self solemnizing Colorado Elopement on Loveland Pass
Andrew and Sarah’s Colorado elopement looked a little bit different than the day they had originally been planning, but after they shifted plans due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions preventing Andrew’s family from traveling internationally they ended up putting together a perfect intentional wedding day that was full of all the good stuff: a gorgeous getting ready location where Sarah could get ready with her mom and sister and have wedding day photos taken with her immediate family, photos at the place where they met and their story began, a self-uniting / self solemnizing elopement on Loveland Pass with gorgeous mountain views and a backyard wedding reception at their new home in Denver with all of their closest friends and their sweet 6 month old pup, Juniper.
The dating scene is pretty dominated by online dating apps (and there isn’t anything wrong with meeting your forever person online), but it’s always fun to hear people’s serendipitous meet-cute stories outside of the virtual world too. Andrew and Sarah met at a popular Denver restaurant in RiNo called Finn’s Manor. They ended up sitting together at a communal table – Sarah was with a guy friend and Andrew had assumed they were a couple – but her friend sparked a conversation with Andrew and they ended up extending the evening with more drinks and bar hopping. By the end of the night Andrew had discovered that Sarah’s friend was a co-worker and swooped in with the flirting. It turns out both Sarah and Andrew had tickets to a Red Rocks concert the following week and since Andrew was new to town he was going solo, but instead they went together and hit it off. Their first “official” date happened right after the Red Rocks concert at Sushi Den in Denver, and that was it – the connection was evident and they had found their forever person. As time went on they built their life together and fell more and more in love. Andrew proposed to Sarah on a trip to Portugal in the fall of 2019. They bought a house, welcomed a dog and set to planning their wedding. The global pandemic shifted their plans a bit, but their elopement day was still every bit of perfection and I’m so honored to have documented it for them!
The Ramble Hotel in Denver was the perfect place for Sarah to get ready with her mom and sister before their mountain elopement! After getting ready Andrew and Sarah did a first look in the hotel room and exchanged gifts. Sarah also had a quick first look with her Dad and it was so sweet and emotional. We used the Ramble hotel balcony to take some immediate family portraits and I was cracking up over the kiddo being bribed to be in photos with a dollar bill. As a boy mom, I’d do the exact same thing because sometimes bribery is what it takes! After family photos Andrew and Sarah had some portraits taken around the Ramble Hotel. The ‘Wish You Were Here’ sign on the balcony was perfect since Andrew’s family was unable to travel internationally and attend their elopement because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After spending some time at the hotel we hopped in our cars, made a quick stop up the road at Finn’s Manor, the place they met, and headed to Loveland Pass for their mountain top self-uniting elopement!
Even if the weather forecast looks fantastic I always buffer in extra drive time when i70 driving is involved because you never know when a storm could roll in…or you know… a semi truck could burst in to flames and shut down the entire East bound lane of traffic. Our hearts were all beating a little bit harder and wondering if and when the route back to their Denver backyard wedding reception would open back up. Since their elopement ceremony location didn’t have cell service we all just took a deep breath, leaned in to the moment, realized that we had no control over what happened and hoped for the best. Thankfully, the east bound lanes opened just as we were heading back down the mountain and even though we all arrived fashionably late to the reception it was still just in time for all the dinner, fun and celebrating with their friends and family (and juniper the pup too, of course)!
After they exchanged their hand written vows with Loveland Pass all to themselves, we hiked around the trails for some epic just married mountain photos, popped some bubbly, they changed in to comfy custom shoes that they ordered, signed their marriage license and we hit the road back to their Denver home for their backyard wedding reception. It was so charming! They had market lights strung up, simple floral arrangements on all the tables, Illegal Pete’s catering (mmm!), yard games, a polaroid wall and all of their favorite people. You couldn’t ask for anything more perfect!
The Place it all Began – Finn’s Manor
Getting Ready Location – Ramble Hotel in Denver
Colorado Elopement Location – Loveland Pass
Dress Boutique – BHLDN
Dress Designer – Jenny Yoo
Florist – Reverie Floral
Caterer – Illegal Pete’s
Ring Designers – Jordan Dzierwa with Sky Dog Jewelry and Marke