A BOAT, A DOG, AND THE RAINSimona & Marius
Simona and Marius drove down from Lithuania to elope in the Dolomites, and they brought Moka, their Australian shepherd, along for the whole day. It came in two very different halves: a still, green morning on the water at Lago di Braies, and a soaking afternoon up in the mountains. Moka was there for all of it.
Here is the honest thing about eloping at Lago di Braies: it is harder than it looks. The lake is one of the most photographed places in the Alps, so it draws crowds, and the rowboats and the old boathouse have their own rules and their own narrow hours. Getting the quiet, empty version you came for takes knowing when to be there and how the place works. That is the part where experience earns its keep.
If you are thinking about eloping here, or anywhere in the Dolomites, take this as permission to do it your way. Bring the dog. Chase a sunrise on the water and then drive into a storm because the day takes you there. I would love to help you plan it, so send me a note.
The lake, the boat, and Moka
The morning began on the water. Lago di Braies sits in a bowl of forest and rock, the water an unreal shade of green, with a wooden boathouse at one end and rowboats lined up beneath it. Simona and Marius took one out with Moka sitting between them, and for a while it was just the two of them and the dog on flat, quiet water. This is the picture everyone comes to Lago di Braies for. Getting it without a crowd in the frame is the trick, and that takes being there at the right hour.
Up into the mountains
After the lake, the day went up. Their drive carried them higher into the Dolomites, into thinning cloud and bare rock and the odd alpine hut standing alone in the mist. The green was gone, replaced by grey stone and old snow. It is beautiful up there in a harder, quieter way, and Simona and Marius kept walking into it.
And then it poured
By the time they reached Passo Gardena, it was pouring, hard enough to soak you through in under a minute. They could have called it a day. Instead Simona and Marius stood out in it and laughed, because nobody was made of sugar. A couple grinning in a downpour, soaked to the skin, tells you more about a marriage than any blue sky would. If that is your idea of an elopement, you know where to find me.
