Sunrise Elopement at Lost Gulch Overlook in Boulder Colorado

Mary and Jeremiah’s sunrise elopement at Lost Gulch Overlook in Boulder was absolutely breathtaking. Not just because of the gorgeous mountain top views surrounding them, or the incredible wildfire haze sunrise we experienced that morning, but because the two of them and the connection they with each other. You can blame the internet for bringing these two together! I love how Mary tells the story of how they met:

“We both setup online dating profiles via POF, completely not buying into the gimmicky, “Find the One” and “Dive right in” corny slogans. It was Jeremiah’s first experience using a dating platform geared towards finding the ‘right’ person, and Mary was his first actual date through the website! The first few emailed conversations were definitely not you’re typical one liners and we unexpectedly found ourselves messaging literal books to one another over the next couple weeks leading up to our first date. The chemistry was truly as organic as your local produce section! We eventually arranged our first date at a Grecian restaurant, local to St Louis, Sprios. Jeremiah wanted everything to be perfect and spent close to $200 on a custom flower center piece (not even knowing if I might have been crazy or not) and setting up our table in an intimate space in front of the restaurants fireplace. He also thought it might be entertaining to tell Mary that he was an older man sitting at the bar as she walked in because the moment just seemed too good to possible be true without a Catfish scenario! When we eventually first locked eyes, the connection we felt in that moment was absolutely polarizing! And we both didn’t want that night to end.”

I love that Jeremiah made it romantic, but obviously couldn’t miss a chance to incorporate some funny humor in their first scenario to break the ice. It’s so true, that their chemistry was truly as organic as the local produce section at the grocery store – both on their first date and during their sunrise elopement at Lost Gulch. These two love adventure and they knew they wanted to get married on a mountain top, but they also knew they wanted some of their photos in a foresty area. Lost Gulch Overlook was the perfect fit – and I crossed my fingers and toes that they’d be up for waking up before the sun and eloping at sunrise, because even though this spot checked all of the boxes on their perfect Colorado mountain elopement location wish list it can get pretty crowded in the evenings. We lucked out and practically had the entire place to ourselves that morning so they were able to have all of their intimate vibes AND all the best scenery for their elopement.

I’m going to roll back time again because their first date wasn’t the only thing filled with magic, their proposal story is too. Mary and Jeremiah took a trip in 2019 to Waikikis Hawaii, for Marys 30 Birthday. Leading up to this trip she was dealing with a lot of stress with her sporadic school schedule and so as a result they both realized they were in need of some serious rest and relaxation so they headed to Hawaii! Jeremiah shared all the sweet details of this amazing vacation that resulted in him popping the question:

“The trip was a complete paradise vacation to say the least! From the food to the scenery and just sharing that space and time with one another! The trip as a whole lasted a week and towards the end of the trip Mary started dropping certain hints about me possibly proposing to her and how it would be literally the perfect location for it. Unbeknownst to her that prior to leaving for Hawaii I had been stressing beyond imagine about getting her ring sized in time before the actual flight. Which they actually sized the day before we were scheduled to leave! So I had already been building up a surprise for her! The last couple days of the trip there were numerous breathtaking opportunities to pop the question, nevertheless I’m a by-the-book type of guy and wanted to get Mary’s family’s blessing before taking that next phenomenal next step. So I called Mary’s family literally the day before our scheduled flight back to the states for their blessing, and due to the time difference her family presumed I had already asked the question prior to me actually having an opportunity to and started blowing up Marys phone. Now naturally I know the first thing that they were going to ask was if she said yes, so I stalled like no man’s ever stalled before! I told her that we could make use of our last few hours of the trip by visiting a remote beach on the coast and we drove there with her phone going off the entire time! When we finally arrived we were in absolutely awe over the entire view of the ocean and beachside! Mary was so eager to FaceTime her family to show them the view, but I absolutely COULD NOT allow that to happen without proposing first! Even despite how nervous I was. So I told her that I want to at least film us walking towards the water before she called to have that moment with her. So I cleverly setup the GoPro and walked outwards toward the ocean with her hand in mine. When we finally got out to the water, we paused and both took a deep breath and absorbed the entirety of that moment, and without any hesitation I dropped down on one knee and asked Mary If she would marry me.”

Do you have all the goosebumps right now? Because I certainly do. These two have such a genuine romantic connection, so I was getting more and more excited leading up to the morning of their fall elopement and I’ve never been more excited to wake up hours before the sun and head to the mountains for their elopement!

The morning was special right off the bat. As soon as we parked our cars in the Lost Gulch Overlook parking lot a baby fox started hopping around. It was so close to going right up to Jeremiah before we even headed down the trail and it ended up following us on the trail for a moment before we got to their ceremony spot. It was still completely dark out, but I couldn’t resist grabbing a couple of photos of him in the parking lot because it was so neat for their elopement to start off that way. After they exchanged their emotional hand written vows they sealed them in to a wine box that they’ll open and read together on their first anniversary while they share the wine. Then right after they exchanged their rings the sun came out of nowhere – and not just an ordinary sunrise but a gorgeous red/orange glowing sunrise. It was so breathtaking they paused and took a moment to look at the sun before sharing their first kiss as husband and wife. We explored Lost Gulch and the areas around it for their bride and groom photos! With the wildfires burning in Colorado we weren’t sure if we’d see an actual sunrise, but we lucked out and the sun was fiery red/orange when it finally appeared in the sky through all the haze. It was absolutely beautiful!

Just one more special thing about these two before I share the photos from their incredible sunrise elopement at Lost Gulch in Boulder. I didn’t know about this beforehand, but the morning of their elopement they asked their officiant to announce them with a last name that didn’t belong to either of them. It turns out, that rather than one of them taking the last name of the other that they were both legally changing their last names to something new. This was important to both of them both for showing how important equality is in their marriage, but for moving forward in life with a new namesake to build something beautiful out of. I hadn’t ever seen a couple do something like that and it was so moving to hear their intention behind it. What an honor it was to document such an amazing couple and their connection and story!