Estes Park Colorado Elopement Photographer

Anna and Wade are some of the raddest people. They met back in middle school and have been dating since high school. They said somewhere along the lines, they sort of just knew that each other was the one. Wade proposed last year when he and Anna were hanging out. He told her that he was going to the other room to get his phone charger, and he really grabbed the ring. When he came back into the room, Anna was distracted by her phone so she didn't notice that he got on one knee and was holding the ring! When she saw him she said "NO WAY!" but obvi she meant yes. We all flew to their home town for the wedding. The same town that they grew up in! Anna picked the location for their ceremony when she was THIRTEEN YEARS OLD. She attended a small wedding that year, and just DECIDED that that was where she was going to get married. Estes Park is a GORGEOUS place for a ceremony so it's easy to see why Anna fell in love with it. A huge mountain towered behind her ceremony site and elk and wild turkeys wandered around the park near us. It was a rainy, stormy day, but Anna and Wade's spirits weren't dampened at all by the weather. Anna was so excited to see Wade all day, and he was smiling ear to ear in anticipation. 

The ceremony was at 4, but by 11am, it was literally DUMPING. I was SOAKED by the time I got inside the cabin from the car, but Anna said that she still wanted to get married outdoors. By 3pm it was still raining, and we decked out the bridal party and guests with umbrellas. BUT by 4pm, the rain STOPPED. We all held our breath to see if it would start again, but it DIDN'T. Anna walked down the aisle while Wade grinned and there was NO RAIN to be seen. They said the sweetest vows to each other, and I was crying and praying that my autofocus was working. The best part was that the rain held off for the ENTIRE ceremony! Even though people say that rain on your wedding is good luck, I think it was better luck that the rain gave us a break for a brief 45 minutes!

We headed to Bear Lake, about 40 minutes away, for Anna + Wade's bridal photos. This place is actually super special because we came here for their engagement photos as well back in December! The lake was actually frozen back then and we were able to walk all over the ice! It was so fun to see it in its usual glory though, and it was such a gorgeous place for their bride and groom photos!