Where To Elope?

Do you want to elope somewhere meaningful to the both of you, or do you want to travel and explore somewhere new that you both want to scratch off of your bucket list? Once you have decided on the location for your intimate wedding you are in love with, you should then see if it matches your original vision and budget. Also, it is completely okay to change your elopement vision as you go through the planning process of your micro wedding.

I personally love elopements because what I have found, is that couples usually pick magical locations with gorgeous views that fill their special day with tons of meaning and love.

Because you’ll be out in nature, you should choose a date in which you feel comfortable outside. If you want to get married in the mountains, but hate cold weather, opt for a summer wedding. If you love the idea of a desert adventure elopement but don’t want to break a sweat, choose a fall or winter date when the temperatures are a bit cooler. When doing your research on seasons in specific regions, be sure to look at the average temperatures, the rainfall averages, and so on. While nobody can guarantee the weather on your elopement day, you’ll have a better chance of getting ideal weather if you plan ahead!

Research the best time to visit.

Beyond making sure you’ll have nice weather, you’ll want to check things like peak tourists seasons and local holidays. If you’re going to a remote location, crowds might not be much of a concern, but local holidays–especially in smaller towns or villages—could make it harder to find accommodations, food, and so on. If you’re going to a place that’s guaranteed to have lots of adventure-loving tourists, I recommend looking into a date in the shoulder season so that you will have a better chance of securing the location—and  tourist-free photos—you want.

Have a vow exchange spot in mind.

I recommend having at least one spot for your vow exchange scoped out so you and your photographer know what to expect. Even better–have two or three spots picked ahead of time so you can make a spontaneous decision.

Some things to think about when choosing the location for your Elopement

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1. Accessibility of the Site

Once you’ve thought about what type of scenery you want to be surrounded by when you say your vows, another important consideration is how far you want to travel to get to that dream spot. Certain types of scenery can only be found in specific parts of the world, which may require a lot of travel. Do you want to go to the Faeroe Islands to get married next to a waterfall that flows straight into the sea? What about Milford Sound in New Zealand? Or do you want to have the impossibly jagged peaks of the Patagonia mountains be witnesses to your vows? Or a massive glacier in Alaska? In addition to international flights, some locations may require driving 4-8 hours from the nearest airport, taking a ferry, bush plane, helicopter, or a long hike to reach. Knowing how far you’re willing to travel, and what adventure you want to undertake to get to your destination, will help narrow down your options.
Also, if you or any guests you hope to invite have difficulties with strenuous terrain, you’ll want to think about whether a place should be considered, even if it technically can be reached. Be honest with yourself about your priorities and abilities. For example: if you live at sea level and don’t enjoy hiking regularly, Everest base camp shouldn’t be your elopement destination. Mobility and accessibility go hand in hand, and while we’re guilty of enjoying quite a bit of type 2 fun, we acknowledge there’s a line between adventure and sufferfest. We’d like to ensure you remember your elopement fondly!

Ask yourself these questions:
How accessible do you want the location to be?
Do you two like to hike? Or would you prefer an elopement spot that doesn’t require hiking at all, but still has great views?
What forms of transportation would you consider to get to an elopement spot? (4×4 road, helicopter, gondola, ferry, boat, etc.)
How far are you willing to travel from the nearest airport?

2. Experience & Activities

You’ve got a whole day, maybe even a whole weekend or longer, to celebrate getting married to the love of your life – what are you going to do? Yes, you’ll share vows and take photos but this is your chance to get truly imaginative and make a to-do list of dream elopement activities! You can go drive 4×4 back roads, summit a mountain you’ve always wanted to climb, jump out of an airplane, go swimming with sharks, get matching tattoos, plant some trees, or go deep into the back-country and set up camp. When we say the possibilities are endless when it comes to your elopement – we mean it!
Whether your elopement is a single trip or being combined with your honeymoon, we highly recommend that you first and foremost let your imagination run wild! What are some activities you’ve always dreamed of doing? Once you’ve considered all the possibilities, narrow it down to a handful of do-able things and be sure to plan buffer times. Don’t make the mistake of trying to do too much in one trip – instead, make sure what you do is enjoyed at 110%!

Ask yourself these questions:
Besides saying your vows, what other activities do you imagine doing on the day you get married?
How long are you planning to make your trip when you go to elope? Is it combined with a honeymoon?
Besides your elopement experience, are there other things that you want to do as a part of your larger trip (if you’re having one)?

3. The Guests

Bringing along your loved ones can change the vibe of your elopement – but there are still many ways to include guests without feeling like you’ve sacrificed the intimacy and privacy of an elopement experience. If you are inviting guests to the ceremony itself, plan a time away afterward to enjoy the immense commitment you’ve made to your partner. If you want to say vows in privacy, but still want to share the moment with family and friends, return from your ceremony to a reception. The number of guests you bring will significantly affect your options for ceremony locations, and that definitely needs to be considered. But, having guests doesn’t mean you can’t elope in a stunning place! We’ve photographed elopements with up to 25 people present that felt just as intimate and special, while also somewhere with a mountain backdrop.
Some locations will have very specific limits when it comes to the number of guests you can invite. Some backcountry trails limit groups to 10 or less, whereas other locations in national parks say they will accommodate up to 50! We only photograph small weddings, with up to 25 people present, and we’ve found the biggest limiting factor to be the willingness and ability of guests to access the space. That said, we’ve witnessed grandparents hike miles up a trail to witness a cliffside ceremony. We’ve also found ways to drive guests in via backroads to reach a summit that a couple hiked to. If you want to invite guests to your elopement ceremony for it to be the perfect day – we will find a place where everyone can be present!

Ask yourself these questions:
Are you bringing other people along to your elopement or is it just you two?
If you’re bringing guests, how many?
Do any of your guests have accessibility or health needs to consider when finding the right spot?
How far are your guests willing to travel from the nearest airport?
Is your whole elopement experience going to be with your guests or will part of it just be the two of you?

4. Meaningfulness

Of course your elopement will be full of meaning, as it should be. A way to add another layer of meaning and intention to your wedding celebration is to choose a location that means something to you. It can be a place you’ve already travelled to with your partner, a place you’ve always wanted to visit, a country or province that has family connection, a place that holds deep sentimental value, or it’s been the subject of a photograph that is currently hanging on your wall. Maybe it’s a place you never knew even existed until you started researching elopement weddings.

Incorporating meaningful importance to your elopement location also doesn’t have to come before the wedding! You could choose a place that later develops meaning because you are planning on travelling back to visit this location for years to come. The fact is, eloping somewhere you have intentionally chosen for its natural beauty will anchor you there, and its a space that you will always remember and remember all of those feels like you did on your weeding day. Outdoor elopements combine your love for your partner along with your love for the beautiful earth God created.

Some questions to ask yourselves:
Do we already have a place that means something really special to us?
Is there a location that we have always talked about or dreamt of going to together?

5.The Scenery

Obviously one of the major benefits of eloping is the option to be surrounded by the most incredible, jaw-dropping scenery in the world. So what’s your favourite type of scenery? Do you like the feeling of being on top of a mountain? What about a super old and magical forest with trees towering above you? You could also elope at the base of a powerful waterfall, the edge of a canyon, or cliff going straight into the sea. Think about the places that you two love and have enjoyed being the most—the places that inspire you, humble you, and make you feel happy and at peace.
Depending on the location, it’s also entirely possible to get multiple types of your favourite scenery in one day. Check out this helicopter elopement on Vancouver Island, B.C. that included a snowy mountaintop, a magical forest, and a private shell island, and a secluded rocky beach all in one day.

Ask yourself these questions:
Do you have a favourite type of scenery that inspires you?
What view do you want to be looking at when you say your vows?
What type of landscape would you feel happiest and most at peace being surrounded by on your wedding day?

6. The Season/Climate

Choosing a season you want to get married in – or, a seasonal quality (hot, cold, snow, etc.) actually doesn’t limit you to any time of year! How? Well, we photograph elopements ALL OVER THE WORLD! So, when it’s snowing in Colorado, it’s sunny in New Zealand. Whenever you want to elope, we can match that date with your ideal season! Choosing a season is an important part of elopement planning because it will determine what you wear, what activities you can do, and how accessible a lot of outdoor areas are. Though, if you don’t mind an unconventional mode of transportation, we can get many places year-round!
Being honest with yourself about seasonality can be the deciding factor for how fun your elopement is! If you absolutely hate extreme heat or cold, you’ll have a lot more fun if we put in the effort to choose a location and date with more mild weather. Also, seasonality will really affect the view from your location. If you’ve fallen madly in love with a photo of an alpine meadow covered in flowers, you’re going to have to plan an elopement for the exact same time of year that image was taken. But, if you love the beaches of Hawaii, they remain almost exactly the same year-round, and we’ll take those desires very seriously when choosing YOUR perfect destination!

Ask yourself these questions:
Do you have a specific time of year that you want to get married?
Is there a specific date that is meaningful to you?
Do you two have a favourite season?
Do you two prefer warm weather? Cold weather? How do you feel about wind, rain, snow, etc.?

7. Seclusion

Another extremely important consideration when picking a location to elope is seclusion. In this age of Instagram, where previously unknown beautiful spots are being geo-tagged, and subsequently flocked by tourists from around the world—privacy is becoming tougher and tougher to find. The ideal combination of factors in the perfect elopement spot is stunning scenery, easy accessibility, and seclusion—but these days, you usually have to pick two of those three.
We have found there is usually a direct trade-off between accessibility & seclusion. The farther you are willing to travel to an amazing spot (especially if you’re willing/able to hike), the better the chances are you can have it to yourself. For example, everything else equal, a location up a 5-mile hike at sunrise in Yosemite National Park, is going to be WAY more secluded than going to a popular overlook you can drive to. There are of course exceptions to this rule, and this definitely doesn’t mean you have to hike somewhere in order to get seclusion for your elopement. You can also find seclusion up 4×4 roads, by taking a helicopter, or simply going at a non-popular time of day (like sunrise on a weekday), and avoiding peak season.
A good trick to see how busy a place might be is to search the location on Instagram—if you find thousands of photos tagged to that spot, you’ll want to think about finding somewhere more secluded (or going at a very non-peak time of day/year).
Finding an incredibly beautiful secluded spot is probably the biggest challenge we help couples overcome—and it often requires deep digging and intense research to find those lesser-known, still hidden gems (which there still are plenty of in the world!). You likely won’t find a secluded spot on easily google-able, or pinterest-able lists like “10 must-see places in Iceland”.

Ask yourself these questions:
How private do you want your location to be?
Would you be comfortable getting married at a more popular overlook or do you want to have no one else around?
If a few other hikers were around would that be okay?
Do you want to be immersed in scenery or if you could see a road would that be okay?
Would you be willing to get up for sunrise to have a place all to yourself?

Summery

I occasionally get asked the question,  "Where is the best location for an elopement ?" To be honest, there isn't just one best place or best location. Sorry to burst your bubble, but there are truly are unlimited possibilities for elopements. The best elopement location in the place that will you make you and your partner happy. I hope that the above questions help you make the decision easier or at least make you think more about an awesome location for your perfect elopement wedding.

If you have any questions that was not answered, please leave a comment below or click on the Contact Me button below.

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