Buena Vista Elopement

Can’t decide between a big wedding and an elopement? Why not both?

That’s exactly what Kristen and Casey did. They were having such a tough time deciding, they chose to have a big wedding back home in Illinois, followed by a private Buena Vista elopement as part of their Colorado honeymoon! It was such an epic day up in the mountains.

The Details

Casey and Kristen’s Buena Vista elopement was at Cottonwood Pass, which sits at 12,000 feet in elevation. When you’re that high up in the mountains, the weather can be hit or miss, but we lucked out with an amazing sunset.
We also lucked out with our timing. Cottonwood Pass is one of those places that can close if the weather makes it unsafe to drive through. When the three of us went up, it was actually the very last day the pass was open! Talk about fucking fate. We were the only ones up there, which really added to the intimateness of their day.
These two rented a Jeep when they came out, which I made sure we got photos in front of. They’re some of my favorites from the day.
After they shared their vows in Cottonwood Pass, we started making our way back down to Buena Vista. We stopped at different viewpoints on our way to take more photos.
Once we got to downtown Buena Vista, they shared a unity joint (LOVE) and we took more photos in the spooky lighting. Because it was winter and fucking freezing, there really wasn’t anyone else outside. It felt like we had the whole town to ourselves.

Must Knows

If you want a winter Buena Vista elopement, be prepared for frigid temperatures and the possibility of pivoting to a plan B. You never know what locations will be open until you show up, so you’ll need to be okay with going with the flow. With me, I’ll always have backup locations ready for us!
If you’re traveling out to Colorado to elope, have fun with it! I love when my couples rent badass cars that we can take photos with, like the Jeep. I mean, look how fucking cool these two look.