Echo Lake Engagement Photos | Donnie + Caroline

Posted On | April 22, 2020

Couple walking with water and mountains in the background during Echo Lake engagement photos

Caroline and Donnie’s Echo Lake engagement photos are full of a dreamy sunrise, golden fall aspen trees, and some fun aerial yoga that these two love to practice for fun. Donnie and Caroline live in Kansas City, but their favorite place to visit and just hang out has always been Colorado. They hope to move here someday and make the Rocky Mountains their backyard. That’s why they chose Echo Lake in the Colorado mountains for their engagement photos.

How They Met

Caroline and Donnie met each other in college at the University of Kansas. They worked together int the greenhouse on campus. Technically, their first date was at the movies. They saw Jurassic World in 3D. Donnie paid and they held hands the entire time but neither of them can remember or agree on what happened before or after the movie. However, their first real first date where they were both on the same page was sometime later at The Melting Pot. This is where they both discovered that they care more about eating good food than having long conversations at dinner.

How They Got Engaged

Caroline and Donnie had been dating long-distance for a little while. One October, Donnie asked Caroline to make the 5-hour drive to come to visit him so they could carve pumpkins together. Caroline had a good feeling that something was up because Donnie had never wanted to carve pumpkins with her before this weekend. That Saturday, they headed to the pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkins to carve. After carving pumpkins at Donnie’s house, he took Caroline to The Melting Pot (if you have been following along, this is where they had their first official date). Upon arriving at home after dinner, a pathway of flower petals and candles lead Caroline to the front door and back to the deck. With the light-covered deck and a picture of them, Caroline spotted a pumpkin with the words “Marry Me” carved into it. Then, Donnie said the sweetest words and asked Caroline to marry him. Caroline definitely said “yes”.

Their Echo Lake Engagement Photos

On a chilly October morning, Donnie and Caroline met me just before sunrise at Echo Lake near Idaho Springs. With hand-warmers in our pockets, we set out on a little adventure. Echo Lake is the trailhead for one of my favorite backpacking trails in Colorado. After we explored the lake and watched the sunrise over the mountain ridge, I took them on a mini hike to one of my favorite viewpoints or Mt Evans. Afterward, we drove around Squaw Pass to a gorgeous field I had spotted on a camping adventure a few weeks prior. With fall leaves turning late that year, there were still some golden, glowing aspen trees as a backdrop for their Echo Lake engagement photos.

Enjoy the photos from the day!