How to Plan a Colorado Helicopter Elopement
Eloping on a helicopter tour is the adventure of a lifetime! Found out more about how you can plan a helicopter elopement in Colorado in this post!
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My experience eloping on a helicopter adventure
As a Colorado based elopement photographer, I’ve seen so many beautiful location options and different types of adventurous experiences. So it was tough to choose what we wanted to do for our special day!
In the end, we decided on a helicopter elopement in Alaska, and I can honestly say it was the best decision ever! Neither of us had ever taken a helicopter ride before, so it was truly a special experience.
Since then, I have been eager to tell my couples what a great option it is. I highly recommend considering it for your elopement here in Colorado, or anywhere else for that matter!
Pros of Colorado helicopter elopements
Having had personal experience with helicopter elopements, I wanted to share some of the pros and cons of choosing this adventure for your wedding day.
A truly unique experience
One of the biggest appeals for me about doing a helicopter elopement was the uniqueness of the experience. Your wedding day is something you only get to do once (hopefully ha!), and so I wanted to have a day that felt extra special!
If you’ve never ridden in a helicopter, it may be something you only do once as well!
The views!
Obviously one of the biggest benefits to helicopter elopements is the amazing views you will have from the air, as well as potentially any landing spots.
No hiking required!
Even though I love hiking, for me personally, I didn’t want to do a long, difficult hike in my wedding attire. But I still wanted to have amazing views of course!
The other benefit was that we were able to land in a remote location, which meant that there were no other people around at all! It was so special to have these unique, stunning locations all to ourselves!
Self solemnizing
Colorado is unique as the only state where you can truly self-solemnize your marriage, meaning you don’t need an officiant or any witnesses to get married. This makes it a great state to have a helicopter elopement, since you don’t need to worry about bringing an officiant with you as you do in other states.
Cons of Colorado helicopter elopements
Of course, there are some drawbacks to consider, which I’ve outlined here from my experience.
Cost
Depending on the type of tour you choose, it can be costly. Our tour was 4 hours with up to 4 landing locations, and the cost was approximately $1,000 per person. Keep in mind this cost will vary greatly by which tour you choose. Doing a shorter tour and/or one that doesn’t include landings will cost less (a lot of this has to do with the cost of fuel).
Difficult to bring guests
Obviously one of the limits for a helicopter elopement is the limited seating, which impacts your ability to bring guests.
If having guests for your elopement is non-negotiable, you might consider having a multi-part elopement, where you spend part of the time with family and friends, and the other part on your “just us” helicopter adventure. It’s becoming increasingly common for couples to have a 2 day elopement for purposes such as this.
Extra planning
Planning a helicopter elopement often means that you’ll need to work around the tour times, which means you may have to move around other parts of your elopement day. Our tour was at 8:30 AM to give us the best chance of weather, so we worked around this.
Landing limitations
Although every state is different, here in Colorado there are some limits as to where the helicopters can land. Generally, it needs to be at an airport or on private property. For some tour companies, this means that their flight options do not include landing spots. This is definitely something to consider when you’re comparing options!
Colorado Helicopter Elopement Options
Gateway Canyons Air Tours
Gateway Canyons Air Tours is based out of Gateway, Colorado, on the western central border of the state near Utah.
They have several tour options that work well for an elopement, including around Arches National Park and one with a landing on private property near Gateway.
For the Gateway tour option they can set up a picnic at the landing site. In addition, some couples choose to have a ceremony with family and friends at nearby Gateway Canyons Resort, before embarking on their private helicopter adventure.
Colorado Vertical
Colorado Vertical offers several scenic flight (no landing) tour options in the Pikes Peak and Royal Gorge area which is near (and a bit south of) Colorado Springs.
Zephyr Helicopter
If you’re planning an elopement near Steamboat Springs, you’ll definitely want to check out Zephyr Helicopter which offers scenic flights in the area.
Alpine Heli Tours
Alpine Heli Tours is based out of Durango in southwest Colorado and offers scenic flights over the San Juan mountains.
Colorado Heli Ops
Colorado Heli Ops offers scenic flights from the Denver area, with several options of varying lengths.
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Hi I’m Kim, a Denver, Colorado based photographer specializing in Adventure Elopements in Colorado and worldwide! Photographing couples on the most special day of their lives is a true honor for me. But I’ve made it my mission to take it one step further than that. When you work with me, you’re getting more than just a photographer. I’m here to help you with all of the planning resources you need to have the most amazing elopement day ever! That includes everything from assistance with location ideas, timeline planning, and lots more free resources. So you can forget the work, and focus on having fun!
