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You've chosen to take the path less traveled. You're Eloping.

You have both made a deep and personal decision to value yourselves, your time, and your journey together. No matter what led you down this path, its an incredibly personal choice that I'm sure took some time to make. Some family or friends might not understand something so intimate, and that's perfectly ok. This part of your story together is for you.

Let's have a look at how to pick a location..

I’m a huge believer that the place you say your vows to each other is so incredibly important. The place where you exchange your vows with each other should hold so much importance for your relationship. Whether it's a gorgeous hillside with a stunning view, or an intimate secluded forest. It can be in a country you've always wanted to travel to together, or a special place you're sentimental about. This is your moment, let's have it somewhere meaningful to you both that helps you connect further and stay in the moment even more.

To help you find the perfect place to elope, here are a few common factors I think about as I help couples choose elopement locations:

•What significance does your location hold in your lives?

•What does travel look like to get there? Will you have a chance to relax together and enjoy the surrounding area beforehand?

•Does the location reflect who you both are together?

•Accessibility. Do we have anyone attending who has trouble with mobility? If so, we can take a look at locations with flat and easy trails, together.

Preparing for your day

If you're just getting started down the road of planning your elopement, you've probably got a few questions popping up. Maybe you've seen some posts on social media, or spoken with a friend who eloped. You have a kind-of-sorta- idea of what you want, but you're still unclear how to bring it all to life.

I’m here to help you help you bring your day to life and into perspective; I want to share all of this alongside you, and work with you to create an incredible experience for you both to cherish. I am here to work with you to bring your dream elopement to life, minus all the extra demands that a big wedding can bring. Instead of stress and timeline constraints, you’ll find new stamps in your passport and incredible memories with your partner and a select few, along with an amazing experience that keeps you and your partner as the sole focus from start to finish. That's precisely what this chapter of your lives should be all about from the start anyway. This day is yours.

So how do we officially start?

Step 1: Organize an Experience

When you really start to break down your day and how you want things to flow, I strongly encourage you to consider the experience and feel of the day before the actual logistics of everything. How do you two want to spend YOUR day? This day is just as unique and beautiful as you both are. You get to share what's meaningful to you for your elopement. This brings up questions like:

•When you're both traveling, what experiences do you two enjoying sharing together? If you two are avid hikers or just love the outdoors, spend the morning of your elopement exploring a lake or waterfall.  Maybe you'd love soaking in a hot springs, or playing on the beach together – whatever it is that your passionate about, do something that will leave you feeling alive and relaxed on the day of your elopement!

•Does your relationship have routines established?Do you read together, hike together, or share coffee in the morning? Whats your thing? Why not make that part of your wedding day?  Take a moment to think about ways that you both nurture each other, and your connection together, and dont hesitate to bring those elements into your elopement timeline. This day is more about creating a genuine day that's wholesome, and dedicated to what makes you both you. Logistics of the day take a far second place to your overall happiness.

Step 2: Identify only the key Timeline Aspects

Once your elopement vision starts to take shape, make a list of all the events and moments you want to experience on your special day. Common elopement timeline events include:

  • Adventure – hiking, kayaking, playing along the beach or taking in the morning views…Anything!
  • Getting ready photos
  • A First look
  • Ceremony + vows
  • Family portraits
  • Champagne toast
  • Celebratory dinner/dessert

    • Step 3: Assemble it all

    You know what you want out of your elopement day, now it’s time to put it all together! This is a great chance for me to jump in: I'm more than happy to suggest how much time to save for hiking to the location we've picked for your ceremony, how much time it takes to hop in a car and drive to a specific location to catch the absolute perfect light, along with what time of day is best to avoid crowds and find privacy. Especially if we're in a popular national park. I always gently recommend that you cushion extra time into your day for getting ready. It always takes a smidge longer than expected. I’ll work with you to create a timeline that allows to relax and stay present in the moment, knowing full well that you have more than enough time for everything you have planned.

    Your vows to one another..

    By eloping, you're giving yourselves the chance to be real and intimate with each other. Of course I’ll be present to capture each aspect of your incredible day, but I wholeheartedly believe in giving my couples the room to be vulnerable and honest with each other. I'll be at a distance most of the day, giving you the most out of your moments together.

    With the freedom to be genuine and honest with each other since you're not surrounded by a room full of people, you can fully express to each other your promises of commitment and trust. So where do you start? Your vows are unique and personal to you. There’s no wrong way to write them. That being said, here are a few things to keep in mind as you write.

  • Share vows that celebrate your story together. Your love. Your elopement is such a special day of celebrating everything you've been through, so relive your story. Celebrate the moment you first knew you loved each other, or the memories you cant wait to make together. These moments deserve to be spoken and cherished.
  • Vows that are meaningful are commonly hopeful, honest, sensitive, and grounded. There will always be tough times in any journey together, but what will you do beyond that to show each other unconditional love, faithfulness, and unrelenting willingness to be committed to each other in these moments frustration and tiredness? Go into depth on what drives your love for each other, and share how you'll overcome these obstacles together.
  • Your vows are a crucial moment. They are a moment that separates the before from your future. As you write your vows, seeing them from the standpoint that your lives will be completely different together after your promises gives perspective. Make your vows to one another concrete, and don't be afraid to go into depth with your partner on how you’ll love them in the ups and downs of married life.
  • You’re choosing to dedicate yourself to and love this person no matter what life sends your way. Remind them the qualities about themselves, or memories you have shared together that give you both the confidence to commit to working towards a better life together. Do you love the way they love your difficult relative, or how they work with you despite past hardships? Are they your stability? Tell them. This is the time.
  • Lastly, write it all down. Every word. These vows will be beautiful, and flawless because they are YOURS. To each other – they’re just as unique to your relationship as you both are. Regardless of the laughter, commitments, and memories you weave into your vows, make sure you take time to write them down. As the years pass, you'll be so thankful you have a physical copy of your words together.
    • Romantic intimate elopement in Salt Lake City, Utah

    Letting it all come to life

    As your elopement day gets closer and closer, it’s totally common to start feeling overwhelmed and nervous by all the logistics of planning your wedding. It's a very normal thing a few weeks before an elopement date to have brides asking questions like:

    “If it's just going to be us, who's going to be our witness?”

    “What do you think, should we hike in to our location in our normal clothes, then change?

    “What's an ideal time of day to have our ceremony?”

    All of these questions are very important, and that’s where I happily come in: I’m not your average photographer. I’m not just here to just simply take photos. I spend countless hours into scouting locations (both by scouring the internet, and then scouting in-person in the weeks leading up to your elopement), creating day-of itineraries that factor in elements like abrupt weather, ideal time frames of when to leave, when the bets lighting is for your portraits, etc., Additionally, I help you creatively incorporate ways to add extra special meaning to your day, along with answering any questions you may have (like should we hike in our wedding attire or change there?)

    All of this is designed to make your mutual dream of what you want your amazing wedding day to feel like into a complete reality.

    In an effort to help you prepare, here's a few frequently asked questions I get from couples as they lock in the logistics for their special day:

    “What do you think, should we hike in to our location in our normal clothes, then change?

    This has a lot of variables. It totally depends on the overall length of the hike, and your comfort! I absolutely love to use the days before your elopement scouting out any and all locations that we’ll visit together so I can accurately judge the length and difficulty for any hiking you’ll perform on your elopement. In the past, it’s been an absolutely amazing experience to trek in to elopement locations with my couples in comfortable hiking clothes, and then have my couples ready at the location together. I have multiple portable changing tents that fold up into small, convenient to carry sizes.. Or we can just hang up blankets. Whatever is easiest!

    “If it's just going to be us, who's going to be our witness?”

    If you're in need of witnesses, I can always count as one! I work with a variety of assistants throughout each elopement, and one of them is ALWAYS happy to share in your day and and participate as a witness.

    “What's an ideal time of day to have our ceremony?”

    This all depends on the location we picked out for your elopement! Are we going somewhere that's well known for its fog, that would be better for a sunset elopement? Or is the privacy you two will have a top priority, and you'd rather share your elopement at sunrise when it's most private? No matter what, I’ll spend my time scouting your elopement site a couple days before your big moment in an effort to get a good sense of prime visitor hours, the absolute best natural lighting, etc. From there, I’ll work very closely with you both to plan your ceremony time around what’s most important to you.

    “Can we still have a first look?”

    You bet!! Even if it's just the two of you sharing this amazing day together, there’s something so intimate and wholesome in the anticipation that grows as the two of you get ready, head to an intimate location, and then share a genuine moment of just admiring each other. I’m more than happy to help find first look locations and organize an absolutely seamless, genuine experience.

    “What all do we need to bring for our elopement?"

  • Make sure your rings, gifts for each other, and other special items are packed and ready to go for your elopement.
  • Be mindful of the weather for your elopement location. Taking a look at the forecast and make sure you’re full ready for whatever weather we encounter!
  • Bring notebooks and pens for you to write out your vows if you haven’t already.
  • Make sure your luggage can hold everything you'll need to bring. Practice packing it well!