How To Plan Your Skiing Elopement
Skiing Elopement & Snowboarding Elopement
5 Tips For Planning Your Skiing Elopement!
Skiing elopements and snowboarding elopements are taking off! It seems like ever year there’s people getting married in more adventurous and creative ways and as an elopement photographer, elopement videographer and planner for some pretty legendary skiing elopements and snowboarding elopements, here are some tips to help get you started in planning your special day…
#1 Decide How Much You Want to Ski
This may be an obvious question to ask yourself but it’ll help guide your whole elopement experience. If you just want to ski for a bit, you may only want to hit the slopes for a couple hours in the morning and do some other hiking, snowmobiling, dogsledding or snowshoeing activity for sunset.
“There are no rules…”
There are no rules here so if you want to recite your vows in the woods of one of your favorite runs or have a separate ceremony location at an overlook near the ski resort, there’s a world of possibilities! It’s just up to you on how you much you want to be on the slopes for your skiing elopement but there’s no obligations to go all day, only go for the amount of time that seems fun for you and your partner.
#2 Plan Around THe Best Snow
FOr the best snow, go between January - April (location/weather dependent)
As a general rule of thumb, typically going before the new year may not have the best conditions for your skiing elopement or snowboarding elopement. For a Colorado skiing elopement, we often see our best powder around early February. If you’re wanting some warmer weather and sunnier “bluebird” days, try spring skiing in March and April. Some European ski resorts hold snow into the summer months so make sure to check the conditions page of the resorts you may want to visit.
Here are a few of my favorite ski resorts and their weather / snow forecasting sites below…
#3 Dress warmly
Even though you’re wearing your wedding attire, there are a few hacks to keep yourself warm as you fly down the mountain!
Layers, layers, layers!
Make sure to check the weather on the day because some days can get pretty chilly for a skiing elopement but having some thermals, long underwear or tights can really help keep you nice and toasty.
For layering tips, skin colored tights or long underwear (depending on your dress style) will help. Most dress shops probably won’t be able to help much in getting you sorted here since most people don’t wear a wedding dress in this way so it’s up to you to try on some different layering options at home before you hit the cold.
For dresses, you often have to get more creative but there’s ways to make it happen! A couple of small items that make a difference are linked here: hand warmers and body warmers. The body warmers you can place anywhere on your body and it’ll heat you right up.
Having a coat is Okay!
Depending on how cold it is, you may be able to get away with a fur shall for your snowboard elopement. If you ski, just make sure you get a fur shall that clasps shut because you won’t have the hands to hold it because you’ll have ski poles. If it’s too cold with just a shall, you might have to cave and get a coat to cover you up. The good thing is that white coats look super dope anyways so you’ll still be getting some great looks on the slopes! Plus, your dress will be visible under the coat so you’ll still have the “you look beautiful” compliments from others.
Suits have a bit of an advantage here but you can really stack on layers under your dress clothes. For the upper body, put on a moisture-wicking synthentic material first as a base layer then go for really anything else you can get for warmth. A light fleece vest if you have it can do wonders for keeping your core warm since that part is often missed by your blazer.
#4 Hire People Who Can SKi/snowboard
Make sure you hire a photographer or videographer That CAN PHOTOGRAPH SKIING ELOPEMENTS!
This is a important tip!!
Just because your elopement videographer or elopement photographer takes amazing pictures while hiking or doing other activities, that doesn’t mean they can do it while skiing. Even if they ski make sure they can film or photograph skiing! Having to handle camera gear, balance gimbals and compose a shot all while moving down a mountain is a pretty niche skill and there’s only a handful of us that can do it.
It’s Different Than other forms of Elopement Photography & Elopement Videography…
You have to be a pretty advanced skier or snowboarder in order to film others skiing while you do it yourself so if they don’t have any experience doing it either ask for them to send reference shots they got of their friends skiing / snowboarding or hire somebody who you know can capture it. It’s just a very different form of filmmaking and photography than the rest of the adventure elopement activities so it’s good to have somebody who knows what they’re doing so you don’t get blurry photos or overexposed videos.
#5 Have fun!
Maybe not that helpful of a tip but still, have a blast! This will absolutely be a fun, exciting and meaningful day for you and your partner so just get after it. Once all the logistics are in place just settle into your day of skiing or snowboarding.
Hit Me Up To get STarted…
If you have any questions or anything I can help with please let me know! I’m always stoked to get people out there and celebrating in a way that’s true to them so fill out the contact form below and let’s get started!
Let’s Plan Your Skiing Elopement Today!
We’re here to support you in your journey. Whether it’s just the two of you eloping at the top of the run or with your family out on a backcountry skiing elopement experience, we’re here to help make it happen. To provide truly authentic experiences and the highest quality elopement films, we only accept a very limited number of intimate weddings and elopements each year.
This isn’t just an contact form, it’s the potential start to an awesome friendship.
For that reason, we read every inquiry and respond within 24-48 hours to get started as soon as possible on making your dream skiing elopement a reality. The more information you give us here provides us with an opportunity to craft a more meaningful film, personalized experience, and overall awesome relationship with you and your partner :)
Some of my favorite ski photos I’ve taken :)
