Ouray Winter Elopement on the Million Dollar Highway
Just before Christmas, S messaged me on Instagram and asked if I had any last minute availability for the following weekend to photograph and her partner R eloping in Ouray. I asked if they were just sitting around the dinner table and said “fuck it, we should elope” and she said yep, pretty much. And thats how I met them 7 days later as they committed their lives to each other on a snowy little mountainside in Ouray!
I sent them a list of locations that were accessible in winter and they decided on this beautiful overlook that features Mt Abrams in the background. The parking lot that allows this location to be super accessible in the summer is actually packed with snow in the winter, which means we all got to throw on some snowshoes to wade through the 3 foot deep snow.
One of my favorite parts of the day was surprising them with letters from their family after the grooms sister had reached out to me and asked me to surprise them to them. Keep on scrolling to see their reaction!
How to Elope in Ouray in the Winter
If you’re looking to elope in Colorado in the winter, it’s actually an amazing time of year to get married out here. It was 35 degrees on this day, and with the sun out, it’s actually warm enough for a t-shirt or long sleeve shirt if you’re hiking and moving around. Even when not moving, as long as the wind isn’t too bad, it’s SHOCKING how not shocking the cold is haha! I guess thats what happens when you’re so high up that the sun is just that much closer. Odds are, you’ll need more sunscreen than you will layers!
You’ll also most likely need snowshoes or micro spikes for most locations, even spots right off the road have 4 foot high snow berms from the plows - snowshoes keep you from post holing on trails (legit, I jumped out of the trunk into waist deep snow at one point of the day!).
And while most high altitude locations like Yankee Boy Basin or American Basin aren’t accessible except by snowmobile, with the accessibility of Red Mountain Pass, you can still find off the beaten path locations to say ”I do”!
And as another reminder, I do offer custom packages for last minute elopements! If you’re only looking for 2 or 3 hours of coverage, meaning you just want to have a sweet little ceremony with you and your boo, then get some quick photos to remember the day by, I do offer that! Just get in touch :)
Thanks so much to Way Out West Leather for the personalized leather vow books!
“Kimberly and Keith made our wedding day PERFECTION. We decided to elope less than a week before the big day and Kimberly made everything completely effortless. She was in touch in the days prior location scouting and showing us photos of options around town. She gave me the name of my makeup and hair artist and dropped off our vow books before the ceremony so we could write them over lunch. In the best way possible, we didn't even notice she was there during the ceremony. It was perfectly captured from every angle. We even hopped in their truck to go to a few different spots for photos in the mountains and do our first dance on a frozen lake. I could go on and on... and on, but if you're considering hiring Kimberly, you will not regret it. We have the most gorgeous photos to look back on forever because I sent Kimberly an instagram message on a whim :)”
