An elopement isn’t just a ceremony in a beautiful place. It’s a chance to build a day that feels like the best one you’ve ever spent together.
And that’s usually where couples get stuck.
They start with the location. Where should we go? Which overlook, which trail, which view? What is everyone else doing?
Those questions matter. But they’re not where I think you should start.
Before we talk about where you’re wanting to elope, I want to know what makes the two of you feel most like yourselves. Maybe that’s waking up before sunrise to say your vows as the sun rises over the mountains. Maybe it’s a hike to a river, a scenic drive with the windows down, a campfire at the end of the night.
Your wedding day doesn’t have to be a series of beautiful photo locations. It should feel like a really, really good day together, one that just happens to also include getting married, with photos to help you hold onto it.
That’s the philosophy behind how I plan elopements. I don’t start by handing you a list of places and asking you to pick one. I start with you: what you love, how you want to spend your time, what you want to remember years from now.
Then we build from there.
So how does that idea turn into an actual day? It starts with defining what that feeling is.
Start With the Feeling, Not the Location
It’s easy to start planning an elopement by searching for the most beautiful places. I get why people do that. There’s no shortage of places that will make you stop scrolling and think, that’s where we should get married.
But here’s the question I want you to ask first: what do you want your wedding day to actually feel like? Relaxed and slow, or full of activity? Just the two of you, or your closest people woven into part of it? There isn’t one right answer, and that’s the point.
This is where my questionnaire comes in, but it’s really just the start of a bigger conversation. I want to know what you love doing together, what makes you feel most like yourselves, what would make you look back and think, that was so us. And just as importantly, what you don’t want. Maybe standing in front of a crowd makes you cringe. Maybe you don’t want to spend the whole day taking photos. Maybe you couldn’t care less about a first dance or cutting a cake. Tell me that too.
I’m listening for the small details that make your relationship yours, because those are what lead to the best ideas for your day. The more I understand about you, the less your elopement has to rely on a template. Instead of starting with what couples usually do, we get to start with what would actually be fun for you two?
Once we know that, the day starts to take shape. And shaping the day well means giving it enough time to actually hold everything you want in it.
Give Your Day Room to Breathe
I always encourage couples to give their day more time than feels necessary at first, not for more photos, but so the day itself has room to actually happen. You shouldn’t have to rush through your own wedding day.
When an elopement is built around a short ceremony and a few portraits, every minute starts to feel accounted for. Somewhere to be. Another shot before the light changes. And the day you’ve been looking forward to turns into a schedule you’re trying to keep up with.
I want something different for you. Time to stop because you found a view you love. Time to take the long way. Time to sit down and eat or enjoy a cup of coffee on a log at sunset. Time for your hair to get windblown and your dress to get a little dirty. Time for an impromptu game of tag or to cuddle your dog. Time for the moments you couldn’t have planned for even if you tried.
And yes, time for beautiful photographs, without spending the whole day performing for the camera.
Some of my favorite moments aren’t the ones we planned at all. Five minutes on a rock after a hike. The laugh when something goes slightly wrong. The quiet in the car between stops. The way you reach for each other’s hand when you think no one’s watching.
Those moments need space to happen. A longer elopement isn’t just more photography time, it’s more room for your day to unfold the way it actually wants to.
You don’t have to rush from one beautiful place to the next. You get to actually be there.
One Elopement Day, Imagined Two Ways
There’s no single right way to spend an elopement day. I wanted to give you tangible examples of what’s possible when the day isn’t limited to a ceremony and a few hours of portraits.
Sunrise to Stargazing
6:00 AM — Meet for sunrise
7:00 AM — Explore + portraits
9:00 AM — Picnic breakfast + letters from loved ones
10:00 AM — Scenic drive + exploring
12:00 PM — Downtime + rest
3:00 PM — Getting ready + first look
4:00 PM — Ceremony
5:00 PM — Explore + celebrate
7:00 PM — Dinner
8:30 PM — Sunset portraits
9:30 PM — Stargazing
Easy Morning, Midday Adventure, and Sunset Vows
9:00 AM — Slow morning together
11:00 AM — Getting ready separately
12:00 PM — First look
1:00 PM — Picnic lunch
2:00 PM — Beach adventure
3:30 PM — Coastal drive + explore a coastal town
5:30 PM — Vows on the beach
6:00 PM — Celebrate + sunset portraits
7:00 PM — Dinner + drinks with close family and friends
When it comes to your own timeline and the activities you build into the day, take what fits, leave the rest. Yours doesn’t have to look like either of these examples. It just has to feel like you.
The Best Day of Your Life Isn’t About the Perfect Plan
Strip away all the expectations around a wedding, and what’s left is simple: two people choosing each other.
The location matters. The photographs matter. The details matter. But years from now, I don’t think you’ll remember whether the timeline went exactly as planned.
You’ll remember how it felt to stand next to the person you love. Laughing on the trail. The nerves before you read your vows. The way you looked at each other when it finally became real. The quiet moments nobody else saw.
That’s why your elopement doesn’t need to be the most elaborate or adventurous day imaginable. It just needs to be yours.
And that’s where I come in. My job isn’t just to photograph what happens. It’s to help you think through the experience, protect space for what matters to you, and make sure you have a wedding day you actually get to live, not just one you have beautiful photographs of.
Because the best wedding day isn’t the one that looks best on paper. It’s the one you never want to stop remembering.
Ready to Plan a Day That Actually Feels Like You?
You don’t have to have every detail figured out before you reach out. You don’t even have to know where yet.
If you know you want something intentional, adventurous, relaxed, and completely your own, let’s start there.
Tell me what you’re dreaming up, what you’re excited about, and what you definitely don’t want. We’ll figure out the rest together.
Your vows. Your rules. Your day.
