How to Plan an Epic Mountain Elopement Without Flaring Your Chronic Pain: The Ultimate “Spoonie” Guide
How to Plan an Epic Mountain Elopement Without Flaring Your Chronic Pain: The Ultimate “Spoonie” Guide
Let’s get one thing straight right out of the gate: you do not need to haul your body up a 14er or suffer through three miles of brutal elevation gain to get those jaw-dropping, epic mountain elopement photos.
I’m going to say that louder for the people in the back: Sufferfesting is not a requirement for adventure. It is absolutely possible to have a spoonie-friendly elopement without flaring your chronic pain.
I know this in my bones—literally. I’m a photographer, an outdoor enthusiast, and a fellow spoonie who lives with severe endometriosis. That means I am right there with the 10% of people with uteruses who spend a non-zero amount of time dealing with crippling pelvic pain, flare-ups that feel like a barbed-wire knife fights inside our torsos, and an absolute baseline shortage of energy spoons.
So when I tell you that you can have a drop-dead gorgeous mountain wedding without wrecking your body for the next three weeks? I mean it. Here is how we pull off an epic, low-spoon elopement that honors your boundaries, preserves your sanity, and keeps your body out of the danger zone.
Step 1: Ditch the “No Pain, No Gain” Bullshit
Outdoor culture loves to fetishize suffering. “Earn your views!” they scream.
No, thanks. You don’t need to “earn” a view when paved overlooks, high-alpine mountain passes, and stunning scenic turnouts exist. The West is packed with locations where you can literally park the car, walk twenty feet on a flat surface, and look out over a sea of jagged, dramatic peaks.
We structure your day around high-impact views with minimal physical tax. You get the dramatic backdrop; your body gets to stay in one piece.
PRIME EXAMPLE – The Estes Park Tram. It take you tot he apex of the peak that overlooks the town and RMNP. As long as you can handle the heights – there is NO hiking involved to get to an epically gorgeous spot. More info about the tram can be found HERE.
Take a peal at Hannah and Kevins full gallery.
Step 2: Build a Timeline That Cares About Your Spoons
If you have chronic pain or fatigue, an eight-hour continuous blitz of standing, walking, posing, and smiling is a fast-track to a massive flare-up.
We build your timeline using the 1:3 Rest Ratio:
- 15 minutes of active walking or posing.
- 45 minutes of built-in chill time, driving between spots, sipping hydration drinks, or just sitting in a camp chair wrapped in a warm blanket.
We schedule buffer time for everything. Need to take your meds? To lie down in the back of the SUV for twenty minutes? What about to just exist without someone shoving a camera in your face? It’s already on the schedule. Zero guilt allowed.
Step 3: Hack Your Outfits and Gear
Who decided wedding clothes had to feel like medieval torture devices?
- Footwear: Wear the damn hiking boots, Hokas, or custom Doc Martens. Nobody is looking at your feet under a dress anyway, and ankle support is non-negotiable.
- Warmth & Heating: Underneath that dress or suit, we are packing heat. Portable USB heating pads, rechargeable hand warmers, and thermal leggings are standard wedding attire for spoonies.
- Mobility Aids: If you use a cane, crutches, or a chair, we make them part of the aesthetic. Custom florals on a cane? Leather-wrapped grips? Hell yes.
Step 4: Work With Vendors Who Get It
There is nothing worse than having to constantly explain your physical limits to a vendor who keeps asking, “Can we just hike up this one little hill for the light?”
No means no. You deserve a team—photographer, officiant, hair and makeup artist—who understands chronic illness. You shouldn’t have to apologize for needing a break, feeling exhausted, or pivoting the plan on short notice if your body decides to act up on the day of.
Your wedding day is about celebrating your love, not testing your pain threshold. Let’s get you married in the mountains—without the flare-up.
Let me take the reigns and plan you the most, epic, ideal, dream worthy elopement in Colorado. Without having to worry about your spoons. Lets chat!
