We recently connected with Bailee Ward and have shared our conversation below.

Bailee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

I (Bailee) had always dreamed of being a photographer. I started working for a big wedding company out of Denver in 2016 and in 2017, I started my own big wedding photography business. I knew I always wanted to work with couples because I love love and knew that the wedding scene is where I wanted to be. I photographed my first elopement in the beginning of 2018 and absolutely fell in love! I had no idea that there was this niche where I could combine my love of the outdoors with my love for wedding photography and from that point forward, I only wanted to photograph Colorado elopements.

During the 2018 year I worked really hard to make this dream of photographing elopements a reality. I invested in elopement specific education and booked more and more elopements during the 2018-2019 season. It was so important to me to soak up all of the elopement education I could. Being a big wedding photographer for a few years before niching down to elopements had its challenges for sure. Elopements and big weddings are so different from each other and there was definitely a learning curve. I had to completely shift my thinking away from the constant go go go of a big wedding and settle into a more laid-back, intentional approach that elopements have and that was a massive shift. For me, personally, I felt drained at the end of each big wedding I photographed but I felt completely energized at the end of each elopement I photographed. That’s when I knew that I wanted to specialize in elopements.

It can feel a little intimidating, and even a little risky from the outside, to niche down to something so specific, but I was so passionate and driven that I knew I just had to dive right in. At the end of 2019 I niched down to photographing mountain elopements in Colorado and have been specializing in Colorado elopements ever since.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Bailee Ward and my husband, Jake Ward, and I are a Colorado adventure elopement photography and videography team. I (Bailee) am the photographer and Jake is the videographer. I’ve had a passion for photography ever since I was a kid and had always dreamed of becoming a photographer. I worked for a wedding photography company out of Denver photographing big weddings for a couple of years, I then started my own wedding photography company in 2017 photography big weddings.

When I photographed my first elopement in 2018, my heart felt right at home. I was able to combine my love for wedding photography with my love of the outdoors and meet couples who shared this same love for the outdoors. I niched down to elopements at the end of 2019 and have been exclusively photographing elopements ever since. We offer elopement photography and videography services in Colorado and absolutely love that we get to call this our job!

We have the incredible privilege of traveling all over the state, meeting the coolest couples in the world, and photographing the most genuine and intentional weddings. It is never lost on us just how incredibly special it is that our couples invite us into that space with them. Oftentimes it is just us and the couple, and that honor is difficult to articulate.

Oftentimes, couples who choose to elope are taking on all of the wedding planning for themselves. Our goal as elopement specialists is to absorb as much of the stress that can come with wedding planning as possible. When a couple books with us, we send questionnaires, a location guide, vendor referral guides, wedding day timelines, permit information, and offer overall support.

We started our elopement photography and videography business when we realized that there were so many couples who wanted a totally different wedding experience. A wedding that is solely focused on them, one without expectations, one where they could do exactly what they wanted to do.

Confession: We did the big wedding. Planning our big wedding was so stressful. Everyone seemed to have their own opinion about what we should do, how we should decorate, what songs we should dance to, what we should eat, etc.

True story: Jake and I didn’t even write vows to each other because we were so busy the month before our wedding focusing on decorations, flowers, linens, cake flavors, lighting, invites, travel arrangements, and making sure everyone else was happy and taken care of. Writing our vows kept getting pushed aside because we were constantly getting pulled away to take care of less important tasks that “had to get done.” When it came time to say our vows, we just made them up on the spot.

We didn’t know that there were other options besides the big wedding. Now that we do, we help empower couples to choose a wedding that is a perfect representation of them. That is definitely one of our core beliefs: Helping couples plan a wedding day that is a complete reflection of their relationship.

Another core belief of ours, and this is definitely one of the most important ones, is that we believe that a Colorado elopement is for anyone. Anyone and everyone can elope in this amazing state and we help craft the perfect wedding day to fit whatever the coupe is envisioning for one of the best days of their lives.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I am so lucky that my business partner happens to be my life partner. When I first started photographing elopements, Jake and I toyed with the idea of adding video as an option for couples. I was hesitant at first because I had heard so many horror stories about married couples working together not going so well, but it was honestly one of the best decisions we ever made as a couple and as a business.

Your wedding images give you a physical representation of each moment captured in time. Elopement videos hit a little different.

While photos are the perfect accessory to decorate your walls or to create a gorgeous album, your wedding video allows you to look back on your wedding day in 10, 20, or 50 years in a way that allows you to viscerally
relive those precious moments.

Your wedding video has the power to transport you right back to your wedding day every time you watch it. Imagine getting the opportunity to relive every emotion you felt and each moment you had on your wedding day in real time! Not only that, but an elopement video is an amazing way to share your wedding experience with those you love, or keep it for yourselves to enjoy year after year.

For all these reasons and more, we love combining elopement videography and photography for our couples. We believe that each adventure elopement is a unique story that deserves to be documented in full HD 4k video.

It truly is so incredibly special to add this service to our photography packages.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an elopement photographer is getting to connect in such a genuine and raw way with our couples. Oftentimes it’s just us and the mountains that get to witness our couples weddings and that is incredibly special. But even when they include friends and family, the focus still remains on the couple which is such an important aspect of a wedding.

We form really strong bonds with all of our couples and that helps us to capture their wedding in such a genuine way. Being able to witness such real and heartfelt ceremonies is one of the most rewarding aspects of our job.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alpinevows.com
• Instagram: @alpinevows
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/alpinevows
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlpineVows

Image Credits
All images taken and edited by Alpine Vows.