Aspen is an iconic fall color spot. The towering peaks of the Maroon Bell-Snowmass wilderness and the golden Aspen trees are quintessential Colorado. For their location, Kaleigh and Andy requested spending most of their day on the trail, hiking under Aspens, and ending at a lake. After a ton of research and a pretty extensive location guide, we found their perfect spot!
Fall in Colorado is normally pretty dry, but as it got closer and closer to elopement day, the chance of rain kept increasing. There’s always back up plans, but when I asked Kaleigh if they wanted to push their elopement back a day she replied with “Thursday is our day rain or shine”. Kaleigh and Andy were ready to embrace whatever weather was in store for their elopement day.
We all met at the trailhead and when the rain seemed to by dying down to a barely there mist, we began our hike. This hike was incredible. It wound through a forest of golden aspens before opening up onto views of the valley and surrounding mountains. As we got into our last mile and a half, the rain picked up and we could see more heavy clouds moving fast over the mountains. The lake we were supposed to end at was above tree line, which meant if it was raining hard at the top there would be no where for us to find cover. After talking it over, we made the choice to go with a different ceremony spot and the sun came out just in time for first look and vows.
While Kaleigh and Andy chose to have a wedding day that was just the two of them, they incorporated their family through their details. Andy had cufflinks with their dogs face, Kaleigh’s grandma made her bouquet, and her mom sent custom sweatshirts that they both hiked up in. Both of them mentioned several times that it felt like their family was there with them.
As we began our hike to the next spot where Kaleigh and Andy would have their first dance, clouds rolled in again and it started pouring. We hung out under a giant tree to stay dry and Kaleigh shared some amazing chocolate chip cookies her mom had made. While we were waiting for the rain to pass, we heard another group of hikers exclaim and turned to see them pointing at something. A huge vibrant rainbow had appeared! We took a few minutes to soak in that magic before continuing down the trail.
The rain finally stopped and the sky cleared up completely giving us the most beautiful late afternoon light. We finished their day frolicking through a field with the most quintessential Colorado in the fall views we could ever imagine.
Part of an elopement days is embracing spontaneity and being flexible- Kaleigh and Andy did just that. And it was an absolutely incredible best day ever.
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