If you’re dreaming of a magical Brainard Lake elopement, you’re in the right place! One of my all-time favorite Colorado elopement locations is the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. And in this guide, I’m discussing how to elope at Brainard Lake.
From how to plan your elopement to where to stay, learn everything you need to know about eloping at this gorgeous lake surrounded by scenic views, diverse wildlife, and hiking trails.
Why elope at Brainard Lake?
I’ve joined over a hundred couples to capture their elopement, and Brainard Lake is easily one of my favorites. It’s an ideal alternative to eloping at Rocky Mountain National Park, with its beautiful scenery, accessibility, and various locations perfect for saying, “I do.”
Gorgeous Scenery
The Brainard Lake Recreation Area is in a glacially carved valley offering magical panoramic views of Brainard Lake. Alpine forests and high peaks along the Continental Divide surround the lake, making for breathtaking scenery.
No matter where you explore around Brainard Lake, the picturesque backdrops almost seem unreal – an elopement couple’s and photographer’s dream!
Easy Access
With more than 20 trails and ample parking, Brainard Lake is easily accessible for most couples planning an adventure elopement.
Tip: Indian Peaks Wilderness, where Brainard Lake is located, is incredibly popular. Plan a weekday elopement for the most convenient accessibility.
Many Locations
Although Brainard Lake gets very busy, there are many locations for your elopement ceremony. Not only are they all stunning, but this also makes finding a more intimate spot to exchange your vows easier.
Three popular locations for an elopement ceremony at Brainard Lake:
- Brainard Lake Recreational Area: the central, main area with gorgeous scenery and close to hiking trails and activities
- Mitchell Lake Trail: a short trail to a stunning lake that takes you past smaller lakes, jaw-dropping trees, and ample wildlife
- Long Lake Trail: a scenic trail to two beautiful lakes, Long Lake and Lake Isabelle
As a Colorado elopement photographer, I work with couples to find the best location. Since Brainard Lake gets busy, it’s best to be open to exploring the area to find an intimate wedding spot to exchange vows. Best of all, this is the perfect way to enjoy the day with your love and take pictures along the way.
How to Elope at Brainard Lake
To have the best Brainard Lake elopement experience, follow these steps:
- Book your photographer
- Pick a date
- Choose your location
- Get your Brainard Lake permit
- Book your trip
- Plan your ceremony
- Enjoy your elopement
Book Your Photographer
Booking an elopement photographer at the beginning of your planning process is the way to go for a stress-free experience. This ensures you have someone to capture all the special moments on your big day.
Many elopement photographers, like Among the Pines Photography (that’s me!), also help you plan the details leading up to your elopement.
Not only do I take pictures of your elopement ceremony and adventures, but I also help you choose your dream location, pick your wedding day attire, and plan day-of activities.
Pick a Date
The best time of year to elope at Brainard Lake is summer or fall. Otherwise, you risk a snowy elopement, which can make the adventure challenging.
Weekdays at Brainard Lake are also best for a more intimate experience. And you can’t go wrong at sunrise or sunset for epic scenery.
Choose your Location
As I mentioned, there are several beautiful areas around Brainard Lake. Having a few in mind for your elopement is nice, but flexibility is important for ensuring a stress-free day.
Get Your Brainard Lake Permit
The Brainard Lake Recreation Area has a timed entry system to ensure parking and accessibility are available.
You can reserve your pass online for $16. If you have an annual national park pass, parking is $2. These are prices as of August 23, 2023.
Book Your Trip
If you’re traveling to Colorado for your elopement, you’ll need to book your travel and accommodations.
The Denver International Airport is about an hour away. There are a few small airports nearby, too.
There are also several excellent places to stay near Brainard Lake. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Pawnee Campground: a campground next to the lake ideal for adventurous couples who enjoy camping
- Nederland: a charming mountain town twenty minutes from the lake
- Boulder: a city in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains about an hour from Brainard Lake
- Denver: a larger city filled with fun activities and unique places to stay just over an hour away
Plan Your Elopement
Here are some planning details to consider for an amazing wedding day:
- Wedding rings and attire: Comfortable shoes are important. You can always bring other shows with you.
- Your vows: Use this guide to help you!
- Wedding day activities: Make your elopement day special with meaningful experiences.
- Celebrate with loved ones: Even though you’re eloping, you can include loved ones by celebrating before or after your elopement day. You can also invite them to write letters you and your partner can read together.
If we work together, I’ll also send you a planning questionnaire that helps us get creative to plan meaningful activities. There are so many fun things to do around Brainard Lake, including hiking, kayaking, and picnicking.
Enjoy Your Elopement
Finally, the best part – enjoying your elopement experience!
On your elopement day, it’s best to be in the moment with your love. I recommend making the entire day about you and your partner.
Instead of worrying about a rigid schedule, go with the flow. Enjoy spending time together and exchanging your vows to share your commitment to eachother.
When I eloped, my husband and I did a sunrise hike, relaxed in a hammock, and went to a coffee shop together.
I always encourage couples I’m working with to be flexible and embrace the small moments of their wedding day, as this makes for the most authentic experience and best memories.
Other Tips for Your Brainard Lake Elopement
Here are a few more details important to be aware of when eloping at Brainard Lake:
- Marriage license: Many couples prefer doing the legal stuff in their home state. That said, getting a marriage license in Colorado is easy because you don’t need a witness or officiant to legally get married.
- Guests: It’s best to keep your Brainard Lake ceremony intimate, given the available space and the nature of an adventure elopement. That said, if you’d like to invite a few close loved ones, don’t forget to focus on you and your love for your big day.
- Leave No Trace: As a Leave No Trace Aware Photographer, following the principles is important to me to ensure we preserve the area.
- Bring your pet: Pets are welcome, but there are moose in the area, so it’s required to keep them on a leash and close by for safety.
Brainard Lake Elopement Packages
As a Colorado-based elopement photographer, I offer adventure elopement packages for a memorable Brainard Lake wedding.
While packages vary based on your dream experience, they all include:
- An initial phone consultation
- Location scouting
- Timeline planning
- Vendor recommendations
- A 100-page guide with elopement planning resources
- Outfit planning help
- My travel expenses
- A custom online gallery with all edited high-resolution images
- 24-hour sneak peek photos
- Rights to printing
Let’s Plan and Capture Your Elopement at Brainard Lake
Brainard Lake is stunning and romantic, making it an incredible Colorado elopement location.
If you’re ready to start planning, I’d love to help you! I work with adventurous couples to plan and capture an unforgettable elopement experience.
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."
