Are you dreaming of marrying your love in a gorgeous location with fun activities, few crowds, and epic mountain views? If so, look no further than the San Juan Mountains! In this article, I’ll share everything you need to know about having a magical San Juan Mountains elopement.
As an elopement photographer who loves working with adventurous couples, the San Juan Mountains area in Southwest Colorado is one of my all-time favorite destinations. It’s beautiful and has several incredible areas, with something for all couples. Whether you want a laid-back experience or an adventurous elopement, there’s something for everyone!
Below, I’ll discuss the benefits of getting married in the San Juan Mountains, the best locations, the expected cost, and an elopement package.
Why have a San Juan Mountains elopement?
There are so many incredible reasons to get married in the San Juan mountains, including:
- Picture-perfect scenery – The views are incredible, from breathtaking tall mountains to stunning blue lakes. The setting is gorgeous no matter what time of year or where you elope in the San Juan Mountains.
- Natural beauty – No need to go all out with wedding decorations when you can take advantage of the San Juan Mountains’ natural beauty. Nature is your decor, allowing you to have a laid-back and beautiful elopement experience.
- Endless ceremony and photo locations – Whether you want to get married next to a waterfall, on a scenic overpass, or next to a lake, there are many stunning backdrops and places to exchange your vows.
- Fun mountain towns – Not only can you appreciate the natural beauty, but charming mountain towns like Telluride and Ouray offer a fun experience. You and your partner can enjoy quaint downtown areas, local events, off-roading trails, and more.
- Fewer crowds – The San Juan Mountains offer an intimate vibe away from the hustle and crowds. These areas may be more touristy during summer, but you can enjoy a peaceful elopement experience year-round.
- Simple marriage license process – Colorado is one of the easiest elopement locations because you can self-solemnize your own wedding without an officiant or witnesses. Simply complete an online application, then go to any County Clerk’s Office to submit documents, pay the fee, and receive your marriage license. Then, you’ll need to bring your marriage certificate and license for recording within two months of getting married.
Best San Juan Mountains Elopement Locations
You really can’t go wrong with any elopement location in the San Juan Mountains, as the entire area is gorgeous! That said, my favorite locations for elopements include Telluride, Dunton Hot Springs, Silverton, and Ouray. Each destination offers a unique experience and amazing elopement locations, which I’ll share below.
Telluride
Telluride is a quiet, gorgeous mountain town surrounded by thousands of peaks in the San Juan Mountains. Once a mining town, Telluride is now a historic city with unmatched scenery and easily one of the most incredible places to elope in Colorado.
While Telluride is known for world-class skiing, it’s also home to incredible restaurants and relaxing spa experiences. It’s one of the best places in the San Juan Mountains for fun activities – perfect for a fun elopement getaway.
Popular places to elope in Telluride include:
- Bridal Veil Falls – The tallest waterfalls in Colorado, which you can hike to or get to with a 4WD vehicle
- Black Bear Pass – An iconic, scenic jeep trail that runs past Bridal Veil Falls, ideal for an adventure elopement experience
- Alta Lakes Observatory – A private rental cabin surrounded by stunning mountain scenery and outdoor activities
- San Sophia Overlook – A beautiful elopement venue you can reserve through the Telluride Ski Resort
There are many incredible options for a unique elopement in Telluride. For example, Linden and Brent stayed at the Beaumont Hotel & Spa, so we took photos at the hotel before an elopement adventure in Telluride with stunning scenery of the San Juan Mountains:
Dunton Hot Springs
Dunton Hot Springs is a stunning mountainside resort in a romantic ghost town about 30 miles from Telluride. While the resort is a more expensive location for a San Juan Mountains elopement, it offers an unmatched experience and is easily one of the best Colorado elopement venues.
At the Dunton Hot Springs, you can enjoy a unique setting with log cabins, hot springs, nature trails, and spa treatments. It’s the perfect place to spend your wedding getaway – with day and overnight packages. You can also rent the entire area if you’re planning a destination wedding with loved ones.
Silverton
Silverton is another quaint mountain town nestled in the San Juan Mountains. While it’s most known because of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, now a National Historic Landmark, it’s also a fun place to get married.
Couples love Silverton’s historic downtown area filled with shops, restaurants, and historic buildings. Adventure enthusiasts also appreciate nearby hiking and Jeeping trails.
One of the coolest places in Silverton to elope is the Million Dollar Highway, a mountain pass with picturesque scenery just outside of Silverton. It’s a 25-mile stretch with breathtaking mountain, gorge, and valley views. Driving along the Million Dollar Highway to stop and hike, camp, rock climb, and enjoy the scenery is the perfect elopement adventure.
Silverton also has several romantic hotels: The Avon Hotel, a charming historic hotel, and The Wyman Hotel, a modern hotel with a gorgeous space for a small ceremony.
Ouray
If you’re dreaming of an intimate, small-town San Juan Mountains elopement with stunning mountain scenery, Ouray is the perfect place to go. Ouray is considered “America’s Switzerland” because of its natural beauty and historic architecture, reminiscent of Switzerland. It’s like eloping abroad but in the U.S.
Not only is Ouray gorgeous and romantic, but its jeeping tour opportunities also offer an incredible experience. You can book a tour, head high up to secluded places in the mountains, and get married right there! As an elopement photographer, I’ve had incredible experiences working with Alpine Scenic 4×4 Tours. This small family-owned business offers private tours for couples who want an adventurous elopement.
These are some of the best places to elope with a 4×4 near Ouray:
- Imogene Pass – Colorado’s second-highest drivable pass, five miles long at more than 13,000 feet above sea level
- Corkscrew Pass – A beautiful, moderately challenging road perfect for off-roading, mountain biking, and birding
- Yankee Boy Basin – An off-road trail nestled between beautiful San Juan Mountains peaks, known for gorgeous wildflowers during spring
When to Elope in the San Juan Mountains
The San Juan Mountains are gorgeous year-round, but summer or fall is the best time to elope. This is when you can enjoy the best weather and beautiful scenery.
It can be difficult to access much of the San Juan Mountains during winter and spring when it’s snowing. That said, a winter elopement is perfect for couples who enjoy snow activities.
San Juan Mountains Elopement Cost
Eloping in the San Jan Juan Mountains usually costs at least $4,000. However, the cost of an elopement depends on factors like the exact location, whether you have guests, how long your elopement is, etc.
Elopement expenses to consider include:
- Venue
- Travel
- Accommodation
- Attire
- Photographer
- Officiant
- Florist
- Hair and makeup
- Food
- Activities
It’s easy to splurge or plan an affordable elopement in the San Juan Mountains. If you’re working with a budget, I recommend choosing a free elopement location, like one of the jeep trails or another outdoor location. For help choosing your dream elopement destination, contact me to chat!
San Juan Mountains Elopement Packages
As a Colorado elopement photographer, I offer packages to help you have the best multi-day, full-day, or mini-elopement experience.
My San Juan Mountains elopement packages include:
- Timeline planning – Get help planning your wedding timeline to ensure you have a fun and stress-free experience.
- Vendor recommendations – I can make suggestions for other vendors, including a florist, caterer, and makeup artist – whatever you need!
- Planning guide – My 90-page planning guide includes helpful resources for elopement preparation.
- Sneak peek photos – You’ll get sneak peek photos within 48 hours of your elopement for announcements and reminiscing on your big day.
- Custom online gallery – I’ll capture the special moments of your wedding experience and share them with you through a custom online gallery with printing rights.
Let’s Plan Your San Juan Mountains Elopement
With so many magical places to elope in the San Juan Mountains and views you can’t find anywhere else, this is easily the perfect destination for an unforgettable experience. Whether you’re ready to start planning or have more questions, I’d love to help.
Among the Pines (that’s me!) is a Colorado elopement photographer who helps couples plan and execute their dream wedding day. I take photos to capture your big day and can help plan the entire process – picking your ideal location, booking vendors if needed, planning adventures, carrying your dress train, and more.
kinsley + caden
“Brooke was the perfect choice for our wedding day! We had a micro wedding at Sapphire Point in August. I had never been to Sapphire Point and Brooke was so helpful suggesting vendors, picture locations, parking, marriage license info etc. She was so kind and helpful before and during the whole process and was a large part of why the day went so smooth. She does so much more than just show up and take pictures, Brooke will truly go out of her way to make your wedding day perfect! The photos are gorgeous and I keep getting so many compliments! I truly cannot recommend her enough!”
"Brooke was a large part of why our day went so smooth and will truly go out of her way to make your wedding day perfect!"
We chose Brooke to capture our Colorado elopement and she did exactly that and more. She made it easy to plan our day out with locations and timelines so that we could focus on ourselves. We decided last minute to change our afternoon/evening elopement to a 6am sunrise one so beat the heat of the day. Brooke accommodated us without hesitation and even created a new timeline for us so that we knew where to be for the perfect sunrise. She was kind and understood what we wanted in terms of our elopement and we are so grateful to have her capture the day. Our photos turned out beautiful and truly helped us relive the day. I would recommend Brooke to anyone wanting their special day photographed.
"Brooke accommodated us without hesitation and even created a new timeline for us so that we knew where to be for the perfect sunrise."
erica + stacy
kirstie + colin
Brooke not only photographed our mountain elopement beautifully, but she put so much thought into the details and knew all of the answers the questions I didn’t even know to ask. She really puts a lot of thought into each photo and brings her expertise while still remaining very open to what we wanted and ideas we had. She even helped pick the perfect spot for us and advised us on the logistical details like securing a reservation at the mountain lake where we wanted our ceremony. She is SO easy to work with and very friendly and chill. My husband and I are super awkward in front of a camera but she made it so natural and easy - and the shots came out better than we could have imagined.
"She really puts a lot of thought into each photo and brings her expertise while still remaining very open to what we wanted and ideas we had."
amanda + jace
Brooke is many things; talented, calm, flexible, experienced/ knowledgeable, patient, incredibly responsive, organized, resourceful in a pinch, supportive, creative, professional yet a blast to work with, and goes above & beyond w her clients. Our wedding was a spectacular dream and we couldn't be more grateful that she made that single day last forever. Whether she's photographing nature or an intimate event, her pictures tell a story of peace, love, whatever your vision may be. We couldn't recommend her more and we look forward to booking with her for all of our vow renewals, seasonal and family pictures for as long as she'll have us.
"Whether she's photographing nature or an intimate event, her pictures tell a story of peace, love, whatever your vision may be."
linden + brent
Working with Brooke was a dream come true! Before we even met, my husband Brent and I were impressed by her portfolio. After meeting, we were even more convinced that her photography skills and knowledge, and her fun and easygoing personality were exactly what we were looking for in an elopement photographer. Brooke was able to take our vision and facilitate everything so that it worked out beautifully, especially when it came to finding the perfect location (the incredible mountains surrounding Ouray). Throughout the entire planning process, she was honest and flexible, and made it clear that her goal was for us to be 100% happy. In the end, her creativity and our happiness totally shine through in every single photo.
"Throughout the entire planning process, she was honest and flexible."
lauren + branden
I can't begin to express my gratitude for the intimacy and beauty behind Brooke's photographs. In capturing our wedding day, she went above and beyond to document our story, our families, and the depths of our love in ways that I'll forever be grateful for. Brooke has an eye for not only capturing the adventure and magic of your love, but deeply connects with your personal story, understands your relationship, and then gives that back in the most incredible way. She is truly an artist and tells your story in an authentic and creative way for you to look back on for years to come. We are forever grateful to Brooke for spending the time to get to know us, our story, and capturing the memories that we'll relive for years to come.
"Brooke deeply connects with your personal story, understands your relationship, and then gives that back in the most incredible way."
heather + jedd
“If you're contemplating which photographer to go with, THIS IS YOUR SIGN TO CHOOSE BROOKE!!!! She is so so so talented and was able to capture our elopement exactly how I pictured and wanted! We eloped in Ridgway, CO this past September and she was so helpful figuring out picture locations, recommendations of timeline for the day, and just made the whole day feel so smooth. She schedules multiple check ins, phone calls, etc., leading up to the big day to ensure everything is as you want it. Brooke has such a calming, down to earth presence and is one of those awesome people you feel like you've known forever after just the first time of meeting."
"Brooke has such a calming, down to earth presence and is one of those awesome people you feel like you've known forever."
christy + austin
Brooke is the absolute best. She truly went above and beyond for my fiancé and I to be able to get our engagement photos taken with the fall colors. Brooke is so sweet, fun, personable and incredibly talented. We could not be more in love with our engagement photos! Our engagement session with Brooke was such a special experience and a memory we will cherish forever.
"Our engagement session with Brooke was such a special experience and a memory we will cherish forever."
