Garden of the Gods Colorado Elopement

Thinking about eloping at Garden of the Gods?

Garden of the Gods is undoubtedly the almost pop place to elope in Colorado Springs. By no coincidence, it’s as well one of the busiest tourist attractions in the area. An estimated iv million people per year visit this gorgeous park to enjoy the one-of-a-kind sandstone rock formations that are surrounded by mountains (the most famous being Pikes Tiptop–which is some other great place to visit while you’re in town).

Garden of the Gods Park is a registered National Natural Landmark in Colorado Springs. Too–in case you’re not familiar with it–it’s not a “garden” in the traditional sense of the word. Think dramatic rock spires and dramatic views, 300-human foot towering sandstone formations against a backdrop of Pikes Peak and vivid Colorado Rocky Mount blue skies–not flowers and botanicals. There is no access toll and your elopement site must remain open to the public at all times. In other words,
you tin’t reserve a private place to elope at Garden of the Gods.

How do you elope at Garden of the Gods?

The virtually stress-costless fashion to elope at Garden of the Gods is to have Blue Sky Elopements handle everything for yous. To that cease, ship us an email and nosotros’ll send over a custom proposal and price quote.

At present, Garden of the Gods is non requiring any fees or permits to have a modest wedding there–equally long every bit they are brief ceremonies without props (defined equally chairs, arches, altars, tables, chuppahs, floral décor other than hand-held or pin-on flowers, or signage). It’due south not possible to reserve a place to elope within Garden of the Gods, so your elopement in that location would be on a first come/commencement served basis.

Garden of the Gods is open up for weddings 365 days of the yr. There was some talk a couple of years ago about requiring reservations to get married here, just then the Covid-19 pandemic hit and that got derailed. We’ll keep this page updated if things change regarding permits to elope at Garden of the Gods.

Where can you elope at Garden of the Gods?

According to the Garden of the Gods website, there are six sites within the park where you can have a wedding.

• Jaycee Plaza
• Sentry Plaza
• Three Graces Plaza
• High Indicate
• Scotsman Picnic Area
• Southward Jump Canyon Surface area

How many guests tin can we accept at a Garden of the Gods elopement?

While these sites can technically accommodate anywhere from 25 to fifty people, note that we don’t propose Garden of the Gods for weddings this large unless you plan to elope in winter. At any other time of the year, attempting to discover parking and any level of privacy for a ceremony for more than than the two of you and a handful of guests is going to be virtually incommunicable. (Also annotation: the max number of guests that Bluish Heaven can adapt at whatsoever location is thirty.)

The best number of guests for an elopement at Garden of the Gods is naught. That allows our photographer to bring the two of you all around the park to capture an astounding array of jaw-dropping backdrops for your intimate nuptials photos. With just the two of yous, we can tuck in anywhere for a brief ceremony and then spend the residual of your time touring all 1,367 acres of beauty that Garden of the Gods has to offering. Also, without guests, if nosotros show up to your predetermined anniversary venue within the park, but to discover it’south crowded (or fifty-fifty occupied by another wedding party), it’s no large deal. We merely motility to a unlike, equally-beautiful spot and come up back to the original venue for photos later.

If it’s more then only the two of you, that’s perfectly fine. Elopements are all nigh doing what’s best for y’all and yours. If you accept more a couple of guests, we’ll demand to concur your bodily ceremony at one of the Garden of the Gods’ designated ceremony sites. Then you could transport your guests off for some pre-arranged post-ceremony refreshments while our photographer takes you and your new spouse to all the prime spots within the park for your photos.

What’s the best time of day for a Garden of the Gods elopement?

That’s going to depend on the time of year that y’all go married here. Before we get into that, here’south a tip about wedding photography at Garden of the Gods.
Information technology requires an avant-garde level of photographic skill to capture gorgeous images at Garden of the Gods. Particularly in summer, the lite from the lord’s day can really bounciness off the rocks and reflect back onto faces. This tin can cause you to expect like you lot’ve used some cheap self-tanner (i.e. it volition plow your skin–and your white wedding dress–orange in photos). If your lensman doesn’t utilise the correct lighting, camera settings and proper employ of reflectors, your photos will not turn out well. Editing pictures taken at Garden of the Gods tin can also be tricky. Be certain you hire a hymeneals photographer that is experienced with the site. (All of our photographers must have a minimum of several years experience in photographing couples at Garden of the Gods before they provide services for Blue Sky Elopements.)

So, assuming your lensman knows what they’re doing, the adjacent thing to factor in regarding the best time of mean solar day to elope at Garden of the Gods is the time of year. In late spring to mid-fall, you’ll desire to time your anniversary and photo shoot to coincide with the “gilt 60 minutes.” This is the terminal couple of hours in the day prior to sunset, where the sun is lower in the sky and the light is softer. If you opt for a late fall to winter Garden of the Gods elopement, you lot might aim for early to mid-afternoon. Since the sun is lower on the horizon in winter anyway, the need to wait for the aureate hour isn’t as critical. That fashion, we can get you outside during the warmest part of the solar day.

Other things to know nigh eloping at Garden of the Gods

• Dogs are allowed on a ternion.
• In addition to their “no props” rule above, Garden of the Gods also forbids the throwing or release of anything. So, no confetti, birdseed, flower petals, balloons, butterflies or doves tin can be tossed into the air. The natural beauty of Garden of the Gods is then stunning, you won’t need any enhancements.
• Most of the designated wedding ceremony spots are wheelchair-attainable. Even so, many of the out of the way spots for your couple-only photos are non.
• If you’re coming from ocean level, exist on the lookout for distance sickness. Colorado Springs sits at an altitude of over 6,000 feet (a trivial higher in elevation than Denver, but non equally high as mountain locations such as Breckenridge). Hydrate well a week or so earlier you go far in Colorado and continue to do so after you lot get here. Cutting dorsum or eliminate the caffeine and if you offset to feel light-headed, hands drawn or headachy, kick your feet upwardly and remainder for a while.
• In order to legally marry at Garden of the Gods, you’ll need to present and sign a Colorado marriage license. Yous may obtain the wedlock license anywhere in the state of Colorado; there are 3 offices in Colorado Springs, one of which allows you lot to obtain your license on a Sabbatum morning. Yous need to make an engagement and you may submit your preliminary application online. Click here for an online wedlock license application for El Paso County. Colorado does
  
  not
  
  require witnesses’ signatures on the wedlock license.
• Bathroom facilities at Garden of the Gods are located but in the visitor center and the main parking lot. Your ceremony venue may be far away from restroom facilities.

Nosotros’re husband and married woman team Maureen Thomson & Jeremy Myers and nosotros beloved elopement weddings. (We had one ourselves!) Nosotros and our crew of talented local wedding professionals have been putting together elopement weddings filled with laughter and happy tears at Garden of the Gods since 2002.

Watch a video of one of our Garden of the Gods elopements.