A Denver Hot Air Balloon Elopement with Private Vows
Abbi (she/her) and Trinity describe their lives as one giant adventure, so when they decided to elope, a hot air balloon made a lot of sense. They left Texas for Denver, Colorado, started getting ready around 3 am, and exchanged personal vows 4,000 feet in the air.
The rest of the day was just as relaxed. There was a first look, a picnic and photos, followed by a nap and dropping off their marriage licence to make things official. With Vows and Peaks helping plan and photograph the day, they had the privacy they wanted without giving up the adventure.
How did your story begin?
We met in the summer of 2022 through the very classy app that is Tinder. We are both from Texas and were living there when we met.
We have always kept our relationship pretty close to our chest, and that choice has made us stronger and closer. We got engaged after two years together and decided to have an epic elopement less than a year later.
Why did you choose Colorado for your elopement?
We wanted something intimate and private, so Colorado really appealed to us because we could get married without witnesses or an officiant. It meant we could be as vulnerable as possible with each other without feeling like anyone else was watching.
Our lives are also one giant adventure, and we wanted our marriage to start the same way.
Once we found out we could exchange our vows in a hot air balloon, there was no stopping the idea.
How did your families feel about your decision to elope?
Our families were very hurt at first, so we found a compromise.
We planned a Happily Ever After Party in our hometown for around 100 friends and family members. We also hired Embr Films to capture the elopement and surprised everyone at the party with the video.
There were endless tears. Everyone got to see this really raw side of our relationship that we do not normally share. It worked perfectly because we could still be completely ourselves during the ceremony without having everyone there watching us in person.
Tell us about finding your elopement outfits.
I found out about Anthropologie’s return policy, so I ordered a few options online, tried them on at home, and returned the ones that weren’t right. It was honestly such a fun way to find my outfit, and I’d do it exactly the same way again.
My wife had a custom suit made by Indochino in one of our favourite colours. She wanted something that made her feel beautiful and confident without feeling too girly, and the suit gave her exactly that.
What did your Denver hot air balloon elopement day look like?
It started very early. Our hair and makeup artist from Wild Brides Backcountry arrived at around 3 am, then we travelled separately to the launch site.
We got ready together, then did our first look once we were in our outfits.
Then came the big part. We exchanged our vows 4,000 feet in the air during the hot air balloon flight.
Afterwards, we finished the celebration with a picnic and a photo shoot so we could remember everything. The rest of the day involved a nap and dropping off our marriage licence to make things official.
It was incredibly relaxed, with very few time constraints.
What was it like writing and sharing your vows?
We sat down a few days beforehand and wrote incredibly personal and intimate vows.
There may have been a little help from ChatGPT for spell checking, but every thought was completely our own.
How did your vendors help bring the day together?
I spent a long time researching different companies and elopement locations before finding Sean from Vows and Peaks online.
The vendors really made the day.
Sean helped us plan the whole day and put together the timeline. He also introduced us to our videographer, hair and makeup artist, and chef. He had never photographed a hot air balloon elopement before, but he was quick to start researching how we could make it happen.
The whole process ended up being so easy because of the team around us.
How did the legal side of eloping in Colorado work?
We handled the ceremony ourselves.
Colorado does not require an officiant or witnesses, and that was one of the biggest reasons we chose to elope there. We picked up our marriage licence a day or two beforehand and dropped it off that same afternoon after the ceremony to make everything official.
The process was really simple.
What would you tell other couples thinking about eloping?
Do it!
You can always plan a party afterwards.
For us, we wanted the first day of our marriage to be about the two of us, not about trying to make everybody else happy.
Throughout the planning process and on the day itself, the person I cared about was my wife. You are the ones building a life together and making the decisions that affect that life.
Starting our marriage in a hot air balloon in Colorado gave us the space to focus completely on each other, and that was exactly what we wanted.
Captured by Vows And Peaks
Hair & Make Up Artist Wild Brides Backcountry
Suit Indochino
Videographer Embrfilmco
