A Lake Dillon Elopement for Cassie and Rami

Cassie and Rami’s Elopement at Lake Dillon

cassie and Rami's Lake Dillon elopement

Cassie and Rami came to Colorado from Irving, Texas to elope at beautiful Lake Dillon. When they first contacted me, like many couples, they didn’t know where in Colorado to elope. They were able to articulate their vision to me, however, and that’s half the battle.

From Cassie:

The backdrop is important to us. We are looking for a natural look with mountains and maybe water. Something intimate and that would make great pictures.

Choosing the Best Place to Elope in Colorado

Breckenridge is by far the most popular area to elope in Colorado. Its proximity to Denver (about 90 minutes from downtown) and stunning mountain views, makes it the perfect area for an intimate wedding. And if there are guests invited, as was the case for Cassie and Rami, there is an abundance of places to stay and things to do (oh yeah–and places to eat!) in and around Breckenridge.

Since we specialize in lesser known, out of the way outdoor wedding venues, I suggested our secret lakeside elopement venue nestled against several “Colorado fourteeners” (that’s what we Coloradoans call our 14,000+ feet mountain peaks). After showing them video footage as well as photos of weddings we’ve done there, they were sold and we started planning their September wedding there.

But you know what they say about the best laid plans! One of the downsides to performing elopements at lesser-known venues is that they can sometime present a challenge to access. While we’d never had a problem getting to our lakeside site in the past, that all changed in the summer of 2020 when everyone and their brother was either out of work or working from home. This resulted in a lot more people getting out and about in nature (the one thing that we were actually encouraged to do during the pandemic!), which caused the dirt road to the site to become horribly potholed and pitted by summer’s end. I drove up to check it out a week or so prior to their elopement and deemed it impassable. No kidding–some of the holes in the road could have swallowed up a small SUV.

The Elopement – Plan B

Okay, it was time for a quasi-last-minute location change. The group already had lodging in Breckenridge, so we had to stay within the area. Luckily, there are a ton of elopement wedding venues in Breckenridge if you know where to look.

The biggest body of water in Summit County (which is where Breckenridge is located) is Lake Dillon (a.k.a. Dillon Reservoir). It borders the towns of Breckenridge, Dillon and Frisco and it’s a perfect four-season elopement venue. So when I talked to Cassie and Rami and told them about the need to pivot, I didn’t hesitate to recommend one of the sites we love on the shores of Lake Dillon. With a late-September wedding, they’d not only have the shimmering waters of the lake and the Ten Mile Range of the Rocky Mountains as their backdrop, but there would be golden aspens in full bloom as well.

So the transition to eloping at Lake Dillon was fairly seamless. As if to compensate for the change, Mother Nature gave us a picture perfect Colorado late-summer day.

Rami and Cassie’s Lake Dillon Elopement Ceremony

We started them out with a first look.

first look - Lake Dillon elopement

Cassie and Rami's first look - Lake Dillon elopement

Rami's reaction - first look

The look of pure delight on Rami’s face is priceless. And who could blame him? Cassie was rockin’ it in her midnight blue gown.

first look

pre-wedding kiss

Rami and Cassie's Lake Dillon destination wedding

dancing on the shore Dillon Reservoir

pre-elopement dance on the beach

The Ceremony

First looks and pre-elopement dancing out of the way, we proceeded to actually getting them married. With their family gathered around, the two exchanged their vows.

beginning the ceremony

elopement on the beach - Lake Dillon

the ceremony

looking for the vows

wedding guests

Dad in tears

Cassie and Rami exchanging personal vows

Saying I do on the shores of Lake Dillon in Breckenridge

the newlyweds

first married kiss

married

married on the beach in Colorado

guests on the beach

family on the beach

groom and his family

after the ceremony

Rami and Cassie

hand in hand

beautiful bride in a blue dress

Dillon Reservoir elopement

sunset

Services included in Cassie and Rami’s Lake Dillon Elopement Package

into the sunset

bride and groom

Please visit our Elope in Colorado page if you’d like more info on planning your own Colorado elopement. If you’re ready for more info, send us an email and we’ll get right back to you with a custom proposal.

More Breckenridge elopement inspiration