MEET MAGGIE, YOUR COLORADO ELOPEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER
I moved to Colorado at twenty and within a few months had fallen in love with the state, met my now husband Derek, and discovered photography all at once. A friend introduced me to shooting and I was immediately hooked. Not because I had some deep artistic calling but because I realized pretty quickly that photography could take me places. And I was already obsessed with the place I was in.
That first summer Derek took me to Aspen to meet his family. I had no idea that trip would change everything and that those mountains would become part of my family story. For the past decade I have been hiking those trails in the summer, skiing those mountains in winter, and spending enough time there that those views feel more like home than anywhere else.
photos by Quincy Lee Photo
I DID NOT ELOPE. BUT I WISH I HAD.
My husband and I got married in Carbondale with eighty of our favorite people watching, our dog Finn's paw print on the marriage license, and mountains in every direction. I loved that day. But the months leading up to it were genuinely overwhelming and if I am being honest I barely spent time with my husband on our actual wedding day. We got ready separately, spent the reception being passed around from guest to guest, and by midnight I realized we had barely spoken since the ceremony.
A little while later two friends asked me to photograph their elopement on top of Aspen Mountain. No seating chart drama. No vendor parade. No timeline counting down in the background. Just two people, a mountain, mimosas at the restaurant on the summit, and a few ski laps after the ceremony.
I drove home thinking I was not even working today. I was just hanging out documenting the best day my friends had ever had.
That was it. That was the moment.
WHAT I ACTUALLY BELIEVE ABOUT ELOPEMENTS
Your elopement does not need to be the most epic day of your life. It does not need a helicopter tour or a ten mile hike or a carefully curated luxury picnic to be meaningful.
It just needs to be the most you day of your life.
A slow morning. Coffee on the deck. Getting ready together with your favorite songs playing. Vows somewhere so stunning it still does not feel real in the photos. And then the rest of the day completely yours, with nowhere to be and nobody pulling you in different directions.
That is what I am here to help you have. Not a production. Not a performance. Just the two of you, in one of the most beautiful places on earth, documented honestly by someone who genuinely wanted you to have the best day possible.
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME
I am what I would call semi-adventurous, emphasis on the semi. I love hiking but I am not peering over any cliff edges. I ski blues and greens and leave the black diamonds to my husband. I have stood in the Utah desert at sunrise and felt completely alive without ever needing to summit a 14er to feel that way.
That perspective shapes everything about how I work. I genuinely believe some of the most stunning places in Colorado are completely accessible without extreme adventure. You should not have to earn your wedding backdrop with a brutal hike. The right location is breathtaking AND reachable and finding that combination for each couple is honestly one of my favorite parts of this job.
I also just really want you to have fun. I will crack jokes when nerves creep in, fix your hair when the wind has other ideas, and make sure you are actually present and enjoying the day you spent all that time planning. The couples who are relaxed and laughing are always the ones with the best galleries. That is not a coincidence.