A Lake Isabelle Elopement- fall in the alpine

Elopements

Weddings

Couples

Lake Isabelle is an iconic and popular location in Colorado, but no matter how many times I visit it, it’s beauty stuns every time and in every season. Location is a huge part of an elopement day. Of course, epic views are a must, but other factors like privacy, accessibility, and availability all factor in. One of my absolute favorite parts of elopement days is seeing a couple’s reaction to their location.

This was Andrea and Jared’s first time in Colorado, first time around mountains this big, and first ever alpine lake hike. They had gotten engaged in Acadia National Park, so doing a hike on their elopement day had just felt right.

Lake Isabelle is located in the Brainard Lake Recreation area which requires a timed entry reservation. Two weeks before their elopement day, at 7:59am, we all huddled over our phones as if trying to get Taylor Swift tickets, waiting for the site to go live. Thank goodness we were so prepared, because their time slot sold out in less than 2 minutes!

With the stressful part taken care of and our entry secured, we were able to relax and get more excited about our adventure! We met in the parking lot and began our hike to Lake Isabelle. The 2.5 miles up to the lake were beautiful and so fun to get to share Colorado with people who were experiencing it for the first time. As we neared a lake we even saw a moose! Moose are common in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, but its always special to see one.

After changing into wedding attire and saying vows, they celebrated with a small picnic and pie. These two have been together for ten years and have been through a ton of life together. Its clear that they are true partners and friends, ready to go through adventures big and small. The late September weather was perfect, and there were very few people around (weekdays for the win).

All of the ground plants had changed color for fall and the water was more reflective than I’ve ever seen at this lake. It was hard not to say “wow” every three seconds. Location is absolutely a big part of elopement days, but really it was these two and their story that were the stars of the show.