Lily Lake Wedding & Elopement Guide
Lily Lake Wedding & Elopement Guide
A Lily Lake wedding in Estes Park, Colorado is unlike any other ceremony associated with Rocky Mountain National Park because it is actually located outside of the park. It is still managed by the National Park, but you don’t have to go through the entrance process of the park. This allows you and any guests to not have pay the entrance fee to access Lily Lake.
From Lily Lake, you can see Longs Peak, Lily Mountain, and Twin Sisters Peak in the distance. Also within sight is the Mummy Range, which boasts Hagues Peak as its tallest point (13,560 feet). There is a nearby parking area, which makes it highly accessible for anyone. In this guide, learn more about Lily Lake ceremony sites, wedding permits, RMNP ceremony rules, best times to get married, elopement packages, & more!
Lily Lake Wedding Ceremony Permits
If you want to have a Lily Lake wedding in Estes Park, your first step is securing a Special Use Permit. Lily Lake permits cost $300 with the ability to make your reservation up to one year in advance.
Lily Lake has three different ceremony sites, each of which can be reserved depending on the number of people in your party. Keep in mind that each ceremony site has it’s own unique features and views, which are described below. The number of people a permit allows is the total number of people including you, your partner, your guests, and any vendors.
Lily Lake Dock Wedding Site
The Lily Lake Dock Wedding Site is comprised of a small wooden dock with rocky mountains over Lily Lake. This site can host a total of 10 people with 3 up to vehicles. The dock is pretty small. Thus, any guests or wedding party should stand on shore to participate. The Lily Lake Dock is the closest ceremony site to the parking area and easiest to access. This site is less private so we suggest a sunrise ceremony for less traffic around Lily Lake.
10
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3
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30
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10
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Lily Lake Southside Picnic Area Wedding Site
The Lily Lake Southside Picnic Area Wedding Site is the largest ceremony site at Lily Lake. It can accommodate 30 total people and up to 10 vehicles. It is tucked back a bit from the main trail and offers stunning views of Lily Lake and the Rocky Mountains. This site offers two wooden benches with picnic tables for guest seating. This site is accessible by a 0.25 mile walk around a gravel trail from the parking area.
Lily Lake Trail Wedding Site
The Lily Lake Trail Wedding Site offers a variety of ceremony sites along the trail with mountain views overlooking Lily Lake. It is recommended that ceremonies take place at one of pull off from the main trail that have a bench. This site allows for 20 total people and up to 5 vehicles.
20
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5
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Lily Lake Wedding + Elopement Rules
For a ceremony at Lily Lake, you must follow all of the Rocky Mountian National Park ceremony rules. These rules align with Leave No Trace guidelines such as:
- no decorations, arches, or chairs
- no amplified sound
- no dogs
- no scattering of confetti, seeds, rice, lavender, bubbles, etc.
Pro Tip: A permit does not grant you exclusive access to the area. Other park visitors are still allowed to explore the area.
How to Get to Lily Lake
Lily Lake is located just off of Highway 7 on the east side of the National Park roughly 6.5 miles from the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center. There are no gate entrances to access Lily Lake. The parking areas are two small gravel lots on either side of the highway. Lily Lake is found on the west side of the highway.
Pro-tip: If you want to visit other sites of Rocky Mountain National Park such as Bear Lake or Trail Ridge Road, you will need to purchase a day pass or annual pass and enter through the main National Park entrance.
When to get Married at Lily Lake
Lily Lake offers a variety of seasons and colors throughout the year so consider which aesthetic you desire when deciding on your date. Lily Lake is quite lush and mostly warm during June and July with vibrant green landscapes and lovely water. On the other hand, Estes Park gets extremely busy in the summer and is worthy of consideration. During winter, Lily Lake freezes and the landscape is covered in snow. The fall colors are less prominent here than in other places with more colorful vegetation.
Lily Lake Wedding Photos
Seeing the raw emotion, love, and beauty in your Lily Lake wedding photos will bring you right back to memories of that day. These cherished moments are priceless, which is why we’ve spent almost a decade guiding couples through the process of creating, planning, and immortalizing their adventure wedding in colorful portraits. Excitement, adventure, and fun are the core ingredients of our work. Reach out to us, and we’ll aid you in etching an extraordinary experience into your heart!
Lily Lake Elopement Packages
Eager to experience a Lily Lake elopement? Leave the details to us! With close to ten years of experience, our elopement packages provide not just remarkable photography, but complete planning assistance from start to finish. Our Rocky Mountain National Park elopement packages simplify the process by securing necessary permits, delivering reputable vendor suggestions, crafting a personalized timeline, & more! Let us help you transform your dreams into reality.
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