Ashley and Nick | A beautiful day exploring the best time of year in the San Juan mountains of Colorado for a Telluride fall elopement!
Ashley and Nick knew they wanted fall colors for their wedding day. One of the best places in Colorado for golden aspens is in the San Juan mountains! So, Ashley and Nick decided on having the most perfect all-day Telluride fall elopement at the beginning of October. There are so many stunning aspen groves in the area, and of course beautiful mountain views!
The best time to elope in Telluride, Ridgway, or Ouray in the fall is the last week of September or the first week of October. That is when you have the highest chance of catching the leaves during their peak color! Then, you can decide which location is your favorite and which activities you want to include in your day! Do you want to hike or go off-roading through an aspen grove? Do you want to see an alpine lake lined with yellow aspens? Or maybe a waterfall with aspen groves in the valley below? You can do any of these, or do what Ashley and Nick did and include them all!!!
Do you need help planning your fall elopement in Colorado?
Getting Ready
Ashley and Nick started their elopement day nice and early at a house on Last Dollar Road in Telluride, that can only be described as a castle! It was so beautiful! The mountain views and changing aspens were the perfect setting for their day. To add to the beauty, it even snowed a few nights before, so the mountains were looking extra majestic! With their closest family members with them, Ashley and Nick prepared for their wedding day. Also, there was a fun setup in one of the bathrooms where they could get ready and talk to one another without seeing each other! Soon enough, it was time to put on their cowboy boots and get ready for the first look!
First Look
Ashley and Nick had their first look outside of the house. The views in front of the house sure made for a stunning spot for a first look! Nick’s reaction was so perfect to seeing his beautiful bride! The emotions were definitely building and everyone was eager to start heading over to their ceremony location!
A Telluride Fall Elopement Ceremony, Champagne Pop, and Photos!
After the first look we all drove out to a lake in Ophir, which is about 30 minutes from Telluride. The mountain scenery and yellow aspen groves were so beautiful as we drove to their ceremony location. Once we arrived, we picked a spot along the lakeshore for Ashley and Nick to read their vows. It was a heartfelt ceremony and Nick even shed a tear which Ashley had hoped for! Next, they exchanged rings, and of course shared their first kiss as husband and wife! To celebrate, they popped some champagne and their family cheered them on!
After exploring the area around the lake and making it official with signing their marriage license, Ashley and Nick were ready for some adventuring just the two of them. Having a ceremony with your family and friends and then heading out for a hike, off-roading, or any adventure you want to include in your elopement day, is a great way to include your loved ones while still making time to cherish some moments between just the two of you!
Telluride Fall Elopement Adventure Time!
We went back into Telluride and did a little bit of off-roading to reach a stunning waterfall in the heart of Telluride! Bridal Veil Falls is certainly an iconic spot if you are visiting Telluride. You can hike up to the falls if you want, or you can access the base of the falls with a high clearance, 4WD vehicle. After enjoying the falls, we headed to an aspen grove.
Getting married in the fall in Telluride means you absolutely have to experience a golden aspen grove. That was definitely Ashley’s main wish for the day, and I made it come true for her by finding the perfect spot! As Ashley and Nick walked through the grove, the aspen leaves fluttered in the wind and even fell on us in the most magical way! Fall in Telluride truly is like a dream and Ashley and Nick enjoyed it to the fullest. They shared sweet moments as well as silly moments together while exploring all of these amazing spots in Telluride!
Dinner time and cake cutting!
After a lot of adventuring, we were certainly getting a little tired and hungry, so a break back at the house with a private chef hit the spot! Yes, you read that right, a private chef! If you want an intimate and delicious meal on your elopement day and don’t want to worry about waiting at a restaurant, a private chef is definitely the way to go! There were delicious appetizers including a charcuterie board, grilled shrimp, and butternut squash soup (a perfect fall meal!). The main course was a choice of lamb or beef tenderloin, all followed by a cheesecake desert! Seriously, does it get better than that? Oh, yes it does, because Ashley and Nick also had the most beautiful wedding cake decorated with mountains! After cutting their cake, it was time for the next adventure of the day!
Sunset at the Telluride Gondola
After dinner, we went back into Telluride’s Main Street for Ashley and Nick’s sunset portraits. We rode the gondola for some spectacular alpenglow views and a cotton candy sky! You can ride the Telluride gondola for free in the summer and fall months! Just be sure to check when they close for the season before getting ready for the winter ski season. After the sun fully set, we stuck around for blue hour photos and played with lanterns. We rode the gondola back down in the dark and watched the twinkling lights of the city below us. It was so romantic!
Ending the night
Finally, we headed back to the house for their first dance to Taylor Swift’s, ‘Lover’, that Ashley sang to Nick while they danced. It was so sweet! To end the night, they lit pumpkins with their wedding date carved into them. It could not have been a more beautiful fall elopement in Colorado!
Ashley and Nick’s day was the perfect example of the most incredible all-day elopement. They truly shared every moment together with pure joy and got to experience the magic of fall in Colorado!
Congratulations, Ashley and Nick!
Vendors
- Photographer: Mountain Marta Photography
- Hair: Hair 9 Salon
- Makeup: Telluride Beauty Co
- Florals: Country Elegance Florist
- Private Chef: Chef Bud
- Cake: Be Sweet Bakeshop
What a stunning elopement in Telluride! I love the fall colours with their style. Looks like such a magical day.
From start to finish, this was all so stunning! You perfectly captured the beauty of Telluride in their day.
Wow, the colors here are just stunning. You photographed and lit this all SO well!
What a jaw-droopingly gorgeous place to elope! Telluride is absolutely bursting with charm and colour 🙂
Lovely work Marta, and I find the bathroom shots particularly charming and fun!
Okay, wow. This Telluride elopement is stunning!! The gorgeous backdrop aside, I love the way you did the getting ready photos, especially the ones with them on each side of the mirror. Very fun.
What a gorgeous wedding! Absolutely stunning photos what a cool spot and the colors are popping!!