two grooms toast to their elopement in the back of a helicopter at Durango Colorado helicopter elopement

Wes and Brad’s Colorado Helicopter Elopement

When Wes and Brad first reached out about eloping in Colorado they knew they wanted to go on an epic adventure with two of their besties … but didn’t quite know how to make it happen. After tossing around some ideas they decided that taking to the sky would be the PERFECT way to do this thing and thus their Colorado helicopter elopement was born!

Wes and Brad live in Texas and had been together for TWENTY YEARS. We immediately bonded over our mutual love of dogs (Wes and I were texting each other pictures of our pups before we even had their Zoom consult!), camping, and whiskey. I knew this day was going to be so much fun and I was SO RIGHT!!

Planning a helicopter elopement in Colorado is more challenging than you think due to a limited number of operators and restrictions in where they are able to land. I was determined to make this happen for them though (you mention the word “helicopter” and I am so in – I will NEVER get tired of helicopters) and was lucky to come across the good folks at Colorado Highland Helicopters who became my partners in crime for this elopement. They asked if what kind of area we wanted to land in – mountains? deserts? And the decision was … all of the above.

I met up with Wes and Brad at their hotel where they were getting ready with their buddies and then hopped in the car to head to the heli. We flew out to the desert with them and their two besties where they had their ceremony under a beautiful arch. They did the thing, popped some champagne, and called one of their friends back in Texas who gave a toast via Facetime. It was pretty much perfect!

Then we dropped their friends off and flew waaaaaaaay up high to a beautiful meadow near the tops of the mountains where they had more champagne and read letters from their friends and family. We enjoyed the views and the company (and the bubbly, obviously) and took some photos before heading back to the helicopter, and back to the hotel where a picnic dinner was being set up.

Honestly this Colorado helicopter elopement was everything I love about planning and photographing elopements – beautiful places, big adventures, and the BEST people.

Here are some photos from their day!