{ Real Mountain Wedding } Beth + Mark in Breckenridge, Colorado

{ Real Mountain Wedding } Beth + Mark in Breckenridge, Colorado | photo[briankraft.com] Breckenridge Wedding Photography, Breckenridge Wedding Planner, Colorado Wedding Blog, Rocky Mountain Destination Wedding Beth and Mark eloped and were married in Breckenridge, Colorado. This is their story. What' s yours?

{ Bouquet } Blue Hydrangea + Seeded Eucalyptus

When I used to hear that someone eloped, certain images would come to my mind. Elvis, Las Vegas, Niagara Falls, maybe, a small town justice of the peace. Before my eyes, flashes of two star-crossed young lovers sneaking out of their bedroom windows, running away in the middle of the night from everything they've ever known to get married, real quick like.

But, everything changed the other day when I saw the stunning photographs of Beth and Mark's Breckenridge Elopement. They had a real wedding ceremony at Rounds Point in Breckenridge with an officiant and even an acoustic guitarist.

It looked like a wedding with lots and lots of guests, but no one was there except Beth, Mark, the officiant, the photographer and the musician.

But let's back up. The ceremony, to me, wasn't even the best part of the wedding (although, it's a close second). After looking through hundreds of their photos, I noticed a genuine tenderness between them. A quiet bond, and a genuine love.

In so many weddings, you see the groom pulled one way, the bride pulled another. You'll read in a lot of wedding books and magazines that say to "make sure you schedule in time to spend together."

It seems so obvious, but to anyone who has gotten married in a traditional way with lots of invited guests, it seems you spend a lot more time talking to and making sure your guests are having fun than spending time , just the two of you together.

Beth and Mark spent the entire day together. Just the two of them. No outside distractions. The most romantic part of their day, for me, as I was re-living it through their photographs was that they dressed each other.

How sexy is that? I mean, him zipping up her dress, and her fastening his cuff links. That's the way a real married couple would get dressed for a special night out together.

Under Beth's gorgeous lace dress, she wore classic cowboy boots which is not only a sassy, stylish statement but in Colorado, in the mountains, it's just plain sensible.

They stayed at One Ski Hill Place in Breckenridge which is located at the unrivaled location at the base of Peak 8 where luxury and location meet. It's an ideal location in a perfect destination. Travel magazines everywhere agree: One Ski Hill Place in Breckenridge is where the memories of a lifetime are made.

Dina Sanchez, the Flower Maven at Petal and Bean created Beth's beautiful, something blue, hydrangea bouquet and Mark's boutonniere. With the stunning mountain back drop, and the love in each of their eyes, they didn't need much to decorate their day.

After their ceremony, they walked down Breckenridge's quaint Victorian main street to their favorite little outdoor food cart, Crepes Ala Carte in their full wedding attire. Usually, when I pass by the Crepe place, there's a line down the steps and out to the sidewalk, but in October when Beth and Mark got married, they had the place to themselves.

Colorado based wedding Photographer, Brian Kraft, captured Beth and Mark's day in a way I'm not many photographers could. He brought a fine art quality to his approach of documentary style photographs. I fell in love with Beth and Mark and their wedding through his lens.

On Brian's photography blog, he writes,

"I had the great pleasure of photographing a most intimate wedding up in the mountain town of Breckenridge this fall. Beth and Mark contacted me earlier in the year from their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma and wanted me to join them as they came to Colorado, just the two of them to tie the knot. In person, I was just so amazed at how sweet they were. Just incredibly genuine, welcoming folks."

One of my favorite photos, was this one above. The two of them dancing alone in the yard at Lomax Placer in Breckenridge. It still gets the hopeless romantic girl in me (even after looking at these photos dozens of times). It makes me think that these are the moments that will make up a life together. It's the dancing alone in the middle of the day, the dressing each other before a special occasion, the little bites to eat at a favorite place in between going from here to there.

It's not the kiss that will sustain the marriage, but the tender embraces strung together day after day. I have a whole new respect for elopements and think that it makes a lot of sense. There is just something so intimate and quiet about the whole thing. It doesn't have to be a hurried, middle of the night escape. You can plan it all out just they way you two want.

If you are wanting to head for the Rocky Mountains for your elopement, and need help planning your Summit County wedding, contact us for a custom made elopement package!