Colorado Elopement and Intimate Wedding
Pricing & Experience
MOST COUPLES SPEND AROUND $7000 WITH ME. HERE'S EXACTLY WHAT THAT INCLUDES.
Why the number above is the real number
You’ve probably seen the “starting at” version of this before. A low number gets you in the door, and then the real quote shows up later looking nothing like it, once travel or a second photographer or an extra hour get added on top.
That’s not what’s happening here. Most couples spend around $7,000, and that figure already assumes all of it, the travel, the second photographer, the backup day. Here’s exactly where it goes.
What you’re actually buying
Okay, let’s actually get into it. Here’s exactly where that $7,000 goes.
A second photographer
Travel anywhere in Colorado
Every image edited by me, personally
Here’s what each one actually means for your day.
Why every package includes a second photographer
One photographer physically can’t be in two places at once. While I’m right up close catching your actual face during your vows, my second photographer is already thirty feet back getting the wide shot with the whole mountain behind you. You get both, every time, instead of picking one.
It also means less standing around. Vows, rings, the first kiss, whatever’s happening in that exact second, someone already has it, so nobody’s waiting on me to reposition.
Why travel is included everywhere in Colorado
Travel anywhere in Colorado is included in your package, no matter where in the state that ends up being. No mileage fee shows up after you've already picked a spot. So you get to pick wherever actually fits your day.
How I edit out anything distracting
Your dream spot at sunrise is also somebody’s regular Tuesday hike. There’s a guy stretching in the parking lot, a family unloading a cooler, a stranger’s water bottle sitting right where you wanted to stand. None of it ends up in your gallery. I edit every frame so what’s left is just the two of you and the view you actually came for.
You’ll know exactly what it costs before you decide anything. And you’ll know why.
Why it won’t feel like a photoshoot
Almost everyone who reaches out uses the same three words: relaxed, natural, go with the flow. Here’s the problem. Telling someone to act natural is basically guaranteed to make them stop being able to.
So instead of a shot list with posed breaks built in, I ask what the two of you would actually be doing together if there was no camera anywhere near you, and then we go do that instead. Skipping rocks across a lake. Bad card games. Making coffee on a camp stove. Whatever that actually is for you two.
There’s always a stretch where you freeze up and don’t know what to do with your hands. Everyone does. I’ll usually say something a little ridiculous to break it, and it works more often than not. But that’s one small moment, not the whole approach.
What you’re actually getting isn’t a photoshoot. It’s a day, plus someone paying enough attention to know when to jump in and when to disappear.
My own wedding, hour by hour
This is the only wedding day I can walk you through from memory, because I lived it. Silverton, July 2023, at the end of a rough 4x4 road. Roughly how it went:
3:00am
Awake in the dark
We left before sunrise on purpose, so we’d already be somewhere good when the light came up.
5:55am
Dressed in about ten minutes
Each of us got ready on our own side of the truck. Quick, simple, just the two of us.
6:20am
Vows that stayed private on purpose
More tears than either of us expected, honestly. The vows had jokes in them we wouldn’t have said in front of a crowd, which is basically the whole reason to say them alone first.
7:30am
Breakfast, unscheduled
Pancakes cooked on a camp stove, most of which our pup Flapjack, convinced himself belonged to him. Nowhere to rush to. We were just married and eating breakfast.
8:00am
A very cold lake, entirely optional
We got in anyway. Stuff like that only happens when there’s genuinely nothing on the calendar telling you not to.
6:00pm
The rest of the day, with everyone else
Family arrived that evening and we ran through it all again properly, cake included. I wanted the quiet morning and I wanted them there for the celebration, and it turned out I didn’t actually have to choose.
What’s included in every package
No tiers where the planning support quietly disappears. No cheaper version where you get less help. Here’s what’s actually in every package.
Before the day
A location shortlist, built around your actual date.
Not a generic top ten pulled off a blog. I know which roads are open in October, which lake’s still frozen in May, and which overlook has forty people on it at sunrise in July.
Permits, handled.
National parks need a summer reservation, and some fill up weeks out. I file everything months before you’d think to ask about it, so it’s just done by the time you need it.
The marriage license, start to finish.
Colorado lets you marry yourselves, no officiant or witnesses required, just a $30 license you sign on my tailgate. I walk you through exactly how that works and which county office to use.
Vendor recommendations worth the money.
Florals, hair and makeup, an officiant if you want one after all. People I’ve actually worked with, not a list I found the morning you asked.
Unlimited calls and emails, the whole way through.
No question is too small, and you’re not paying by the hour for my attention.
On the day
A backup weather day, held free.
Roads close, storms roll in, someone else beats you to the spot, and the answer is always just: cool, we’ll go somewhere else.
An emergency kit in my bag.
Bobby pins, hand warmers, snacks, safety pins, the stuff you didn’t think to pack because you had a wedding to plan.
After the day
A sneak peek within a week.
Enough to know it worked, while you wait on the rest.
Your full gallery within eight weeks.
50 to 100 images for every hour of coverage, so an 8 hour day comes back with 400 to 800 photos, not forty.
Every image edited by me, personally.
Never handed off to an editing service to move faster. If it’s in your gallery, I looked at it.
Your gallery stays live for a year, and I never delete the files.
No renewal fee, no “your photos expire” email a year from now.
What’s in the truck
If the weather turns, or you forgot something, or you just want a cold drink in your hand when you say I do, there’s a decent chance it’s already sitting in my truck.
None of it costs extra. It’s just there, the same way the backup weather day is just there, because a day that runs eight hours outside needs more than a camera to go right.
Why there’s no price list on this page
I know, you’d probably rather just see a number right now instead of reading another paragraph. Here’s the honest reason there isn’t one. A flat number on this page can’t account for things like:
How many hours you actually need
How far the location is
Whether you want one sunrise or two
Any add-ons, like film or an extra hour because the light was too good to leave
Round up to cover all of that and you’re paying for things you don’t need. Round down and you’re missing the parts that make your day actually work. So instead you get real numbers, built around your actual day, sent straight to your inbox. Not a range that might not even apply to you.
How payment actually works
The last payment isn’t due until seven days after you’re already married.
A $2,000 retainer books your date, and it counts toward your total
50% due a month out
The final 50% due seven days after your wedding
You’ll have already seen your sneak peek before that last payment is due.
Payment plans are available on any package. Setting one up is easy, just tell me what works.
Your next step
Tell me the scenery, the time of year, and who’s coming. That’s genuinely all I need to send you real numbers. If all you’ve got is “we like mountains,” that’s plenty to start with. Fill out the form, it takes about a minute, six questions, two of them optional. I read every single one myself, and you’ll hear back with a personal note, usually within a day. No call required, and I’ll only ever email you about your wedding.
Plenty of people just book once they’ve read the guide. If you’d rather hop on a call first and talk through seasons or locations or whether your dog is coming, that’s completely fine too, there’s no right way to do this part. Whenever you’re ready, a signed contract and a retainer are what actually lock in your date, and from there the planning is on me.
Leave the rest to me.
Colorado elopement pricing questions, answered
Do we have to hike?
No. Every spot I recommend is a short, flat walk from where you park. If you two want an easy to moderate hike, I know some good ones, but it’s your call, never a requirement.
Can we bring guests?
Yes. Fifteen guests is the cap if we’re on public land, that’s a land rule, not a pricing tier. Got your own venue or Airbnb? Different story.
Do we need an officiant?
No. Colorado lets you marry yourselves, no officiant, no witnesses, just a $30 license you sign on my tailgate. If you’d rather have an officiant there, I can recommend a few.
How do I know which package fits us?
You don’t have to figure that out before you reach out. Send me your date, roughly who’s coming, and how far you want to walk, and I’ll tell you which package fits and what it costs. If two of them work, I’ll say that too.
Do you photograph elopements outside Colorado?
Occasionally, when it’s the right fit. I’ve shot at least one elopement outside the state, in Glacier National Park. My planning knowledge is built specifically around Colorado, so out-of-state requests are considered case by case.
How far in advance should we book?
Most couples reach out somewhere between 12 and 18 months before their date, especially for a summer weekend. That said, last-minute elopements happen too, if your date’s coming up fast, reach out anyway.
When do we get our photos?
Your sneak peek lands within a week, and your full gallery within eight weeks.
What happens if it storms on our wedding day?
If it’s just rain or wind, we keep going, that’s what a fast, flexible plan and a rain jacket are for. If it crosses into actually unsafe, lightning, wildfires, mudslides, that kind of thing, we move to the backup weather day I already hold for you, free.