About This Guide

We're an international couple planning to legally marry in Colorado: just the two of us, a marriage license, and no officiant or ceremony logistics to arrange. What we didn't expect was the paperwork, which turned out to be far more specific and far less documented than we'd hoped.

Most of what's written about Colorado elopements comes from local wedding photographers talking to couples who already live in the US: where to get the best light at golden hour, how to pick a ceremony site, which florist to call. That's useful if you're driving in from Denver. It's mostly useless if you're flying in from another country and need to know whether your marriage will actually be recognized when you land back home, and what document, stamped by which office, you'll need to prove it.

So we're documenting the process ourselves, as we go through it: the self-solemnization rules, the apostille process at the Colorado Secretary of State, national park fees for non-US visitors, what to do when your travel eSIM can't receive a text message from a government office. The boring, specific, load-bearing details.

A note on accuracy: we're not lawyers, and rules change. Where something is genuinely uncertain or worth double-checking with an official source, we've flagged it in the post rather than stating it as settled fact. Always confirm current requirements with the relevant county clerk, the Colorado Secretary of State, and your own country's consulate before you travel.