May Mountain Elopement

Choosing a May mountain elopement in Colorado can be an iffy decision.

May is “mud season” up in the mountains. That means winter activities have wound down and summer fun hasn’t kicked off quite yet. Some businesses close during this time and there isn’t much to do, but there are also some perks of saying “I do” during mud season! It’s not fucking freezing or too hot, and the mountain towns won’t be overrun by tourists. Hannah and Kyle chose a May mountain elopement in Breckenridge, and besides a little wind, it was a beautiful day.

The Details

Kyle and Hannah came to Colorado from Florida. After seeing way too many beach weddings, they knew they wanted something different. Mountains > beach any day of the week.

I met these two at their Airbnb to snap some detail photos before their first look. One of their priorities was just taking tons of photos together, so we spent some time outside their Airbnb taking both posed and documentary-style pictures.

Then we drove over to Dillon Reservoir, where they shared vows and signed their marriage license. After that, we popped celebratory champagne and they shared some cake! Aside from a few people fishing, we had complete privacy.

After their ceremony, they really wanted to see some of Colorado’s famous mountain views! I took them up to Loveland Pass, which at that altitude in May was FRIGID. You can tell how cold they were, but they didn’t want to go back to Florida without those photos.

We ended the day back at their Airbnb where I said goodbye, and they headed off for a private dinner together.

Must Knows

If you don’t care about the snow (whether it’s in your photos or not in your photos), a May mountain elopement is a great choice. It’s WAY less crowded up in the mountains and the temperature is usually perfect. Plus, our typical summer thunderstorms haven’t started yet.

Something people don’t think about enough is what their Airbnb looks like. If I’m meeting you there, that thing is going to be the backdrop for a ton of your photos. And if you hate it, there’s nothing I can do about it. So spend time finding a place you love, both inside and out. Hannah and Kyle were really intentional with their Airbnb decision. If the weather went to shit and we ended up needing to do their elopement at the Airbnb, they would’ve been happy with that.

It was pretty windy on this day, but these two really leaned into it. They only cared about getting married, which duh, is the one thing that really matters.

This was a five-hour elopement day, which gave us the perfect amount of time to travel to a couple different locations. We also intentionally planned to do all of this in the middle of the day so we’d be done in time for their dinner reservation.