3:30am
My alarm goes off. I woke up in my van, parked behind CJ & Jacob's van at the campsite. We all bundle up and drive down the mountain, to the parking lot of the Great Sand Dunes.
CJ opens the back of their rental van, and pours coffee for them to share as we venture towards the dunes for some stargazing. After taking my favorite star photos EVER (you can see the milky way!). We retreated back into their van for a break from the cold, they wrote their vows and prepared for our sunrise hike.
6:30am
Sunrise was approaching, the alpine glow in the mountains had started, and we grabbed Buddy & Shadow and headed up the dunes. The October morning was very cold, The Great Sand Dunes have the harshest conditions out of anywhere I've shot. I've never made it to the top of the dunes, the wind is so fast it whips up the sand and can cut your skin like knives. We climbed a few dunes, and found a spot with an excellent view of both the dunes and the mountains, shielded from the wind.
One thing I love about elopements is the “go with the flow” relaxing energy. Something may go wrong, and that is okay! Upon starting the ceremony, they realized they did not bring the bag with the rings or the vows, and since it was so cold and the light was moving quick, they decided to go off memory and say what came to them in the moment.
They exchanged vows, had a sand ceremony, pronounced themselves married, and kissed!
9:00am-8:00pm
So many beautiful things have happened already, and we were only a few hours into the day! After the ceremony was sand sledding, signing the marriage license (with Buddy's pawprint making him the witness), a hike to a waterfall, picnic lunch, hot springs, a completely unplanned stop at an alien watchtower, sunset at the dunes, and finally more sand sledding in the moonlight!
This elopement easily could have taken all weekend, I'm so happy to have spent 17 hours with them on their elopement day (my full day package is very full day!), but genuinely we could have spent a couple more DAYS in this area having fun and making memories! Alamosa county is a severely underrated place to elope, I am so happy CJ & Jacob chose this location from my recommendation list!
If you want to know more about eloping in Great Sand Dunes National Park, contact me here and I would be happy to share information with you!
