Epic Skiing Mammoth Lakes Elopement

Goodness, this elopement. It has it all. A gorgeous sunrise, sweet family time, skiing in July (yes… July) a beautiful built out van (Rhonda shout out), Taylor Swift, and a true off the charts sunset. This Mammoth Lakes elopement had it all.

But let’s start at the beginning. When R + M reached out to me they initially inquired after a desert location, but in their inquiry offhandedly mentioned that Mammoth Lakes was their favorite place in the world but knew it wasn’t on my travel schedule. 

Which is a beautiful and considerate thing to say, but Mammoth isn’t *that* far from me (as an elopement photog who drives to 75% of the locations I go to, I have a truly skewed perspective what’s “close.”) So when I talked with them, I said that if it was their favorite place, we should make that happen. 

So we shifted gears! I remember also on that first call that R+ S said they were huge skiers and would LOVE to ski on their elopement day, but that the odds of their still being snow in late July was quite low. So they were happy to just be in their favorite place, and skiing would be a totally bizarre bonus.

Well. I’m not sure if you know anything about what kind of snowfall the Sierra Nevadas got in 2023, but in case you don’t know… it was a lot. Like *a lot*. 300% of typical annual snowfall. I remember watching the snow fall and fall and fall over the winter, thinking of R + M’s elopement and sometime I think in April I was like…. I think they will be able to ski. 

And you know what? They did. 

Even better, the road to the place they really wanted to say their vows opened, quite literally, two days prior to arrival. The stars really aligned for this one. Their Mammoth Lakes elopement dawned warm and beautiful, and after dousing themselves in bugspray, said sweet and meaningful vows as the sun rose and lit up the mountains behind them brilliant shades of pink. 

We met up with their family for some after, and then? R + M, along with M’s sons, took a gondola up to Mammoth Mountain, and skied. On their wedding day. In late July. It was so amazing. 

For sunset we met up were we started for a relaxing end to the day, full of listening to Taylor Swift and sipping Rose out of camping mugs. The sky was a little gray, but that kind of whispy gray that can sometimes mean sunset is pretty mild… OR the sky totally goes off. 

I’ll let the pictures do the talking, but I definitely recommend scrolling to the end. Top tier sunset for SURE. Maybe top three of my career. 

R + M? Thank you so so much for having me be a part of your day. It was perfect from beginning to end- I’ll never forget your Mammoth Lakes elopement 🙂

(Like epic elopements in the Sierra? Check out this two day Glacier Point elopement. Or want to know more about where to elope in Cali? Check out my blog on Epic Places to Elope California.)