Documenting love stories and wedding days in wild places around the world
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Somehow we got lucky enough to see the Aurora Borealis twice in two days 🤯
and - we are endlessly grateful to the two of you for inviting us to join you for this once in a lifetime experience...and for braving -25° temperatures at 2am with us. You both are truly the best.
Can you picture a more serene spot for your first kiss??
There's just something extra special about capturing your bestie in love
Koma Kulshan at her finest 😍
Yes she's barefoot. And yes we were frolicking in the mountains through an atmospheric river. Can you say badass???
Forever and always dreaming of our favorite Oregon Coast gem 💎
Dreaming of snowy alpine lakes and elopements that require handwarmers and hot cocoa ❄️
It is a tragedy that images from this day haven't made it onto our feed yet 😍
Special shout out to the most stellar vendor team that made this incredible day come to life:
babbitt
co
The perfect ✨️starry✨️ ending to a phenomenal elopement day
Lil throwback to the most beautiful morning spent at one of our favorite local waterfalls!
6 years together, 2 years married, and a whole bunch more adventuring ahead of us.
I've gotta say, wedding dresses are just made for mountains
Fairytale forest vibes ✨️
If you're not afraid of a little rain on your elopement day, might I suggest getting married in Olympic National Park? It's my favorite park for late fall and winter elopements - I swear the landscape here is made for moody days.
"Crying: Acceptable at *weddings* and the Grand Canyon."
- also Ron Swanson, probably
Get married in the PNW, we said. It'll be fun, we said.
The PNW - How about an atmospheric river?
Can you envision a more epic vista for your elopement ceremony?!?
This spot is less than an hour from Portland and situated near some of the very best waterfalls in the state! Perfect for a day of adventuring.
Soooo ready to run off into the mountains
Pro tip - if you plan to invite guests to your elopement day, make sure you still carve out some time for an adventure with just the two of you!
The Oregon Coast - truly one of the most beautiful and diverse landscapes to explore for an elopement day
Your ceremony spot isn't the only place you should put some time and care into selecting for your elopement day.
Make sure when you book lodging that you get a place you love! You'll be so much more relaxed while getting ready, plus a cute airbnb can make the perfect setting for a first look (or a backup ceremony location if the weather is totally wild)
Have you noticed a trend in the photos I've been sharing lately??
If you guessed more wide landscapes, you'd be correct! Or, as I like to call them, Tiny Couple, Big World images.
These are some of my absolute favorite ones to take on an elopement day, because it feels so important and special to capture what it really feels like to say 'hell no' to a boring venue where hundreds of other people have had (basically) the same wedding and say yes instead to an adventure.
And where better to do that in Alaska, am I right?? 😉
We love elopements at this beach SO much for so many reasons:
This view is nothing short of ✨️iconic✨️ and believe it or not that rock is not nearly as sketchy to climb on top of as it looks from here (especially compared to some other, truly dangerous insta-famous spots in this area)
It's a relatively easy hike - just a mile and a half round trip, although to be fair the hike back uphill always feels so much longer than the hike down 😅
However, we are coming to terms the fact that this beach is no longer living up to its name. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. As long as the space is being cared for, we love to hear that more people are falling in love with this place like we did. But it is some important information when planning your elopement. If you're planning on getting married here in the summer, plan to be sharing the space with another couple or two (and their photographers) who are celebrating their elopement day as well.
If your heart is set on privacy for your vows, you could consider:
➡️ Getting here for sunrise! The light is so soft all morning before the sun finally crests the forest
➡️ Elope in the 'off season!' Brookings is known as the 'banana belt' of Oregon and gets milder weather year round compared to the rest of the coast. Plus, like we said yesterday, there's just something special about moody weather and the story it tells in your images
➡️ Have your ceremony elsewhere and just do photos here. That way you don't have to worry about any onlookers listening in on your vows or another couple itching to use The Spot before the sun goes down
➡️ Ditch what's popular and elope at a spot that isn't insta-famous 😝 We've got so many more ideas for you, we promise!
Maybe this is the Oregonian in me but I am obsessed with shooting in cloudy weather. Give me moody vibes over golden hour any day 😅
#
🎵 My house of stone, your ivy grows
And now I'm covered
I've gotta say, I think this abandoned castle is still the coolest first look location we've ever photographed. What do you think??
Still can't get over how special it was to document this elopement in the first place Michael and I ever explored together 😍
Best reason to become a morning person for your elopement day -getting the trail all to yourself!
The millenial urge to caption this with 'Say you'll remember me, standing in a nice dress staring at the sunset' 🙃
ELOPEMENT GUEST APPRECIATION POST 💕
We spend a lot of time gushing on here about how amazing our couples are (and for good reason). But we have a special place in our hearts for the friends and family our clients choose to bring with them for their elopement day.
While many of our couples elope just the two of them, others choose to bring a few trusted friends or family members along on the adventure. When traditional weddings with long guest lists are the norm, it can be easy to forget what an honor and a PRIVILEGE it is to be invited to witness and share in someone’s wedding day.
Often, our couples are the only people in their circles to have eloped, and this holds extra true for elopement guests – often family members haven’t even HEARD of an adventure elopement before, let alone attended one.
So this one’s to the friends and family of all the wonderful people we’ve had the opportunity to work with over the last six years. To the best friends and parents and siblings who have flown across the country, set 2 am alarms, braved the elements, made us feel welcome and appreciated, and climbed mountains for the ones they love.
The last couple of weeks have been jam packed with the last elopements of our summer season, in practically every corner of the PNW. And with just two elopements left for 2022, I've been reminiscing on all the incredible love stories we've had the opportunity to document this year.
I think I have the coolest job ever, for a lot of the obvious reasons. Elopements have taken me all over the world. My work days usually involve mountain sunsets, bare feet in the ocean, and national parks. I get to make art for a living. And I get to work with my best friend.
But what is truly understated is just how special it is for Michael and I to often be the only two people in the world to witness our couples get married. To be invited into the quiet, vulnerable moments as our couples are simply themselves. What a beautiful kind of magic, and what a privilege it is to document it.
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