Thinking about planning your winter elopement in Durango? Have you ever thought about getting married in the winter? How about saying your vows in snowshoes!? A snowshoe themed elopement is perfect if you love hiking or adventuring in general or want to do something out of the ordinary! I personally love the winters in Colorado and I love snowshoeing even more, so I thought why not incorporate an elopement into that?
Aurora and Gus had the most beautiful day for their winter elopement in Durango! Planning an elopement in Colorado, especially in February can be very unpredictable. The weather is always crazy and who knows what’ll happen until the day of, maybe. Southwest Colorado hasn’t gotten a lot of snow this winter unfortunately, but on the plus side, we had sunny warm weather the entire day! (As I’m typing this though it’s currently blizzarding outside and I am suuuper stoked about that!)
I scoped out a lot of locations for this elopement because the only downside of being anywhere near Silverton is that there are snowmobile tracks everywhere. I wanted this to be a very intimate elopement so we stayed far away from Molas Pass. Although the Ice Pirates snowmobile tours are really fun, that wasn’t what we were going for today.
What a winter elopement in Durango looks like:
The day started with hair and make-up done by Spring, and she did a beautiful job! Click here for her makeup page! We went for a pretty neutral look with some pink tones to match the elopement color scheme! Aurora has the most beautiful hair so we went for a natural wave and I swear she looks like a mermaid! Aurora’s dress was from Katerina’s Darling Bridal and had lace details that were perfect for the winter. Sleeves are definitely a must for a winter wedding in my opinion, I mean any extra fabric keeps you a littl bit warmer! Pro Tip: If you’re taking photos in the snow/winter, put handwarmers in your boots, dress, shirts, etc.! It’ll keep you a lot warmer!
We headed to the Black Diamond Lodge, located just north of Durango to get ready, do the first look, and even have a cupcake fight! This venue is perfect for getting ready and that’s exactly what Aurora and Gus did! Writing their vows in the lobby of the lodge was a beautiful experience, and might have been one of my favorite parts of the day! Looking over their shoulders and reading what they were writing about each other was such a highlight! If you’re not writing your own vows, writing a love letter to your patner and reading them to each other on the day of your elopement or wedding is such a memorable moment.
I also think the Black Diamond Lodge is a really fun place to host a moutain wedding, there is an awesome bar and even hot tubs!! A venue with hot tubs…!? How cool!!
I set up an area to shoot some flat-lays and detail shots. Shoutout to Black Bear Bakery for the delicious cupcakes. I had to try one myself and I can definitely say these were amazing! The announcements, vow books, and wooden elopement signs were done by Petals and Ink Design. This styled shoot came together beautifully and every vendor involved was amazing! The florals were done by Growing Wild based in Buena Vista, Colorado. As always, everyone did beautiful work and I am so happy to have worked with these talented ladies!
And the snowshoeing begins!
After we were done at the lodge, we headed up the road about 20 minutes towards Silverton to a beautiful frozen lake! I think my favorite thing about living in Southwest Colorado is the fact that it is so remote! There wasn’t a single other person or a car in sight throughout their entire elopement! I might be biased but I think the San Juan’s are the most beautiful mountains in the state! (And if you plan a winter elopement in Durango, you don’t have to sit in traffic on i70 for 3+ hours lol)
We hiked about a mile back into the trees and around the lake to a perfect spot where they both shared their vows. The alpenglow was pretty intense but it made for some really unique photos! After snowshoeing around the lake for awhile and taking some fun photos, we headed back towards the cars. We didn’t get as many portraits as we would have liked because getting married and snowshoeing at 11,000 feet is pretty difficult! We ended the evening a little earlier than planned but that’s totally okay because things happen! No elopement or wedding goes 100% planned which makes the day even more memorable! All that matters at the end of the day is you married your favorite person, had a badass winter elopement in the mountains, and got some really cool photos in the process! Click here to view the full elopement gallery.
Colorado winter elopements are for the adventureous couple and luckily, I’m an adventureous photographer! I would love to help plan your Colorado elopement! Fill out the contact form and I’ll be in touch!
The amazing colorado wedding vendors who collabed on this shoot:
- Venue: https://www.theblackdiamondlodge.com
- Florals: https://www.growingwildbv.com
- Stationery & wooden signs: https://www.petalsandink.com
- Cupcakes: https://www.blackbearbakerydurango.com
- Hair and Make up: https://www.instagram.com/reitz_weddingmakeup
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