Cassie Peterson, Winter Park, CO (2026)

I photograph elopements in Colorado and beyond, help you design a day that feels like you, and make being in front of the camera feel natural and easy.

05/13/2026

Everything you need to know before applying for a Rocky Mountain National Park wedding permit.
The process is not complicated, but it requires more lead time than most couples expect. Here is what actually matters.
📋 A permit is required for any wedding activity in the park. That includes elopements, vow renewals, ring exchanges, vow readings, and signing your marriage certificate. After your ceremony you are free to move around the park and take photos anywhere without any additional permit.
📅 Applications open one full calendar year before your desired ceremony month. Popular months fill fast on a first come basis.
🚫 As of right now, May, June, August, September, and October 2026 are fully booked. There is no cancellation waitlist. If a month is full, your only option is an open month.
📍 Your application must name a specific date, location, and two hour time window before it can be processed. You cannot apply for a general date and pick the location later. Do your location research before you submit.
💰 The permit fee is $300 and it is non-refundable. Do not pay until the park emails you instructions after reviewing your application.
The good news: your finalized permit counts as your timed entry reservation. And the permits office is genuinely great to work with.
Full breakdown including location details and what couples most often wish they had known is on the blog, link in bio.

05/05/2026

There’s a reason couples fly in from all over the country to elope in Rocky Mountain National Park. The park sits at elevations up to 12,000+ feet, spans over 400 square miles, and somehow manages to feel completely wild and completely intimate at the same time. Whether you’re chasing golden hour on the rocks, a snow-covered lake at sunrise, or an alpine meadow in the soft light of early fall, RMNP delivers in every season. It’s two hours from Denver, permit-friendly for elopements, and endlessly photogenic around every corner. This is the kind of place where your wedding day becomes an actual adventure.

04/29/2026

Should you elope? The real pros and cons.

The pros:
1️⃣ You are fully present all day. No crowd to manage, no timeline to keep. Couples who elope say this is what surprised them most, how present they actually felt.
2️⃣ Every decision is yours. No guest list that keeps growing, no vision that slowly stops feeling like you. You make the calls, full stop.
3️⃣ It can solve real logistical problems. Families in different countries, a budget that doesn’t stretch, an engagement you are ready to be done with. Eloping can solve things a traditional wedding just can’t.
4️⃣ You can be married in weeks, not 18 months. If you know, you know.
5️⃣ The photos feel quieter and more like you. No crowd, no timeline pressure, no performing. Just the two of you.

The cons:
1️⃣ Some people in your life will have feelings about it. That’s real and worth preparing for. Most come around when they hear the story and see the photos.
2️⃣ You won’t have that shared memory with your community. That’s a real trade and worth sitting with before you decide.
3️⃣ It still takes planning. Permits, timing, location logistics. It doesn’t just happen on its own.
4️⃣ It won’t fix a complicated family dynamic. Eloping gives you the day you want, it’s not a substitute for a harder conversation.

Full breakdown is on the blog, link in bio.

04/28/2026

Some people spend years searching for the one. Drew & Peter just had to survive a pandemic together to figure it out.

What started as fraternity brothers became best friends, and best friends became this. Surrounded by the red rocks of Garden of the Gods, with the 12 people who love them most, choosing each other in one of the most breathtaking places on earth.

Colorado has a way of making everything feel bigger and more certain at the same time. Maybe it’s the scale of the rocks. Maybe it’s the sky. Maybe it’s just that when you’re standing somewhere this extraordinary, everything else falls away and it’s just the two of you.

If you’ve been dreaming of a wedding that actually feels like you, Colorado is calling.

Garden of the Gods, Colorado elopement photographer Colorado Springs, Colorado wedding photographer

Address

Winter Park, CO
80482 (PO BOX)

Website

https://cassiepeterson.com/

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