Ella and Austin traveled all the way from Oregon with their adorable dog Lucy for this laid-back fall elopement in Colorado. We hiked, we danced, we played in the rain, and we got Ella and Austin married! It started with an emotional first look at Brainard Lake. Then we laced up the hiking boots and hiked over to Long Lake, where Ella and Austin exchanged their vows and signed their marriage license. Lucy, their sweet older pup, witnessed the whole thing and helped out by signing the marriage license as their witness,. We continued exploring and popped champagne, and then found a secluded spot for a first dance to Ed Sheerhan. It rained off and on, but Ella and Austin were so in the moment that it didn’t even matter.
Now for some Q&A from the stunning Ella…
How did you and your significant other first meet?
We met at a horse show! I was riding and he was the photographer there. We had a lot of mutual friends through the organization so had met informally on a few occasions before eventually following eachother on Instagram and chatting our way to a first date, which was a fun day at the coast.
What is your proposal story?
Austin’s been paragliding for a few years now but I hadn’t gone up yet; I like to stick to my retrieve driver and photographer position. He finally convinced me to take a tandem flight up with his instructor and while conditions ended up being not-so-ideal, I was able to get up for two short flights.
He found someone to hand my camera to, gave some brief instructions, and surprised me with a ring after the second landing!
What are your favorite things to do together?
Adventure! That’s why we decided to celebrate our marriage with our biggest road trip yet. Our relationship was founded on our many little adventures throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Austin’s paragliding has also brought us to many cool new places and Lucy is always up for a new hike.
Why did you decide to elope/have an intimate ceremony?
We had decided early on that we wanted something small for a few reasons. We’re both pretty private people and not big on parties or having a whole lot of people around at once. We are also working hard to save for a down payment on a house so didn’t want to spend a crazy amount on this one day.
It was also a really great way for us to include Lucy, our pup. She had a few little health scares this year, so we wanted to make sure she got to be apart of things.
Honestly, we really love how simple it was. I’m a pretty easily stressed person so my top priority was avoiding that and we definitely did.
We didn’t have to worry about any of the major planning details and pulled everything together pretty last minute. We’re super thankful you found the perfect location for us! It was one of those days where everything just fell perfectly in to place and we couldn’t be happier.
What advice do you have for other couples that are thinking about eloping?
Do it!! We are so glad we did and wouldn’t change it for the world. We budgeted for three main things- photos, rings, and a dress. We didn’t worry about much extra planning, which ended up making the whole experience even better. We just roughly sketched out our route through 5 states and picked out some camping spots and fun activities along the way. We made a lot of decisions as we went, and it allowed for a lot of really cool new experiences.
Keep scrolling to look at all their photos and don’t forget to watch their elopement video at the end!
Interested in planning your own fall Colorado elopement?
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