ESTES PARK, Colo. – A couple getting married in Rocky Mountain National Park on Monday got the best wedding gift they could have hoped for.
The couple from Illinois spent months planning to elope in Colorado.
“They got their wedding permit for Sprague Lake and we had grand plans of mountain views and beautiful May spring weather and then we get a snowstorm,” photographer Sarah Goff told KDVR.
She says the bride and groom were a little disappointed at first because the mountains weren’t visible because of the snow.
The ceremony was still beautiful with large fluffy flakes falling from the sky. It was just the couple, the officiant and the photographers.
“My husband, who was assisting me at the time said, oh we have a moose!” Goff said.
An adult female moose was standing in the lake watching.
“And I thought I can get a shot with the bride and groom and with the moose,” Goff said.
She captured photos of the couple with the moose in the lake and with the moose behind them on the trail.
“They were so excited and I think terrified of this moose. They ended up just watching her cross and so that was the shot we got,” she said.
Goff, who says she specializes in mountain photography for couples, has encountered moose, elk and deer during engagement shoots, but never during the actual wedding.
It’s a once-in-a-lifetime photo of a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
“I think they’re very special and this couple will have those memories forever,” Goff said.