Ultimate Adventure Elopement Planning Guide

Ultimate Adventure Elopement Planning Guide

Welcome, welcome to all things adventure elopement planning! This is an exciting time to be getting married in the great outdoors because there’s so many cool opportunities out there :) From rock climbing at sunset in Rocky Mountain National Park or just going on a little hike to your elopement spot, I’m here to help you through it all. As a videographer, I’m big on making videos. Obviously… So if you’re jam is watching a video instead of reading then you came to the right website. I have a vid right here for you to check out that has all the information that’s below. Don’t worry if you don’t want to be caught watching a smiley well-dressed young man talk about elopements at work because all the info in the video is in this article as well! Alrighty, let’s dive in! 

First off, let me introduce myself:

My name is Roo Smith and I'm an outdoor adventure elopement photographer and videographer based out of Colorado. I came at elopements from the adventure and documentary space so I’m well-accustomed to telling stories in the beautiful outdoors. Even before that I even worked as a guide leading trips for people in the outdoors so planning trips is what I was made to do. Funnily enough, planning an adventure elopement and planning a backpacking trip is remarkably similar so I have some tips today that will help you out in planning the adventure elopement of your dreams!  Now, let’s dive in to tip #1…

FOlLOW YOUR PASSION

This piece of advice is referring to elopement planning but also applies to life in general. Anyways, this step is where I like to start people off that book with me and want to begin planning their elopement. I always recommend couples to choose an experience or a passion or a hobby that they love to do and incorporate that into their elopement somehow. This can take the form of any sort of experience (rock climbing, yoga, surfing, hiking, camping, etc.) but you can really start to narrow down your location this way. If you’re thinking “our passion as a couple is rock climbing” then you may be better suited to find an elopement spot near the mountains. This is a pretty abstract stage of the process but important nonetheless. If your passion isn’t as adventurous as hiking peaks of huge mountains, don’t worry because you can still carry this into any other part of your day. If you’re passionate about food, have your favorite restaurant or meal as a picnic before your ceremony! There’s something in this step for everybody so take the time to figure that out and we can make it happen :) It will create a more interesting and engaging experience for the both of you. 

WHERE COMFORT MEETS CONFIDENCE

I get a lot of questions from couples about what to wear for your elopement day and I also say where comfort meets confidence is their best bet. Let me explain, comfort is super important when it comes to elopement wedding attire. Unlike a traditional wedding, you may be hiking multiple miles in your wedding dress or suit so making sure you have something that you feel comfortable enough and allows for some movement is fantastic! But you’re maybe thinking, “Roo! Hiking pants are also comfortable and good for hiking, but I don’t want to wear that on my elopement day!” I would respond that’s where the confidence piece comes in. If you feel confident in your wedding dress and feel like it’ll allow you to move in the way you want, then you’re jamming! For dresses, having a train that can bustle or going train-less may be your best bet. For suits, breathable fabric is a total game changer too. Tuxedo’s definitely look super fly but you will probably sweat through it by the time comes to recite those vows so having something a little lighter could be a good piece of clothing to look into. Alos, breathable suits can be repurposed for future formal gatherings too, which is a bonus :)

One last piece of advice for elopement attire is making sure you feel comfortable getting it dirty. When we’re kids we were so fine trashing clothes in mud but seemed to grow out of that when we grow up. Make it playful and don’t worry if your dress or suit gets a little dirt on it, that’s part of the experience (which I think is totally awesome)

CHOOSING LOCATION + BOOKING LOCAL VENDORS

The reason I put location and vendors together is often your vendors can help find your location with you. So, as an elopement photographer and videographer and just general outdoors lover here in Colorado, I know dozens and dozens of elopement spots here. If you're coming from out of state and don't know their region very well, a local vendor such as myself can definitely help bring you to where you want to be. Circling back to that “Follow Your Passion” section,  the activities you want to do around your elopement can help pick your location and help narrow down specific spots.

If picking your location all seems very overwhelming, don’t worry. I have an elopement map that you get access to after booking that allows you to shop around for specific locations that make it as easy as shopping for hotels in town. Also, check out my post about eloping in Colorado if you want specific elopement locations too! *click that sentence (or this one) and it’ll take you there :)

Don’t Book Based on Price alone!

Now, for vendors. One thing I will say about choosing vendors is you don't want to book your vendors solely based on price. Your local photographer or videographer may serve as a guide, help plan your elopement, provide other vendor recommendations, give you a ceremony outline and itinerary and can really tailor the whole elopement experience. So, if you're just trying to book a cheap photographer because you think their photos are gonna be fine because they own a camera, it’s important to understand what you’re getting out of your vendors. For an elopement, we end up doing a lot of the work for the overall elopement planning as well. So make sure you're booking somebody that you feel confident in their skills and not just because they're cheap.

CREATING YOUR TIMELINE

If you’re looking for my specific packages, CLICK HERE

Now that you have your overall experience in mind, you may have an activity like rock climbing or yoga picked out for the day, you have your specific location and you have your vendors booked; it comes to identifying your timeline for the day! Personally, a lot of the elopements that I do are full-day elopements. A lot of vendors will have half-day and full-day options. 

Half-day is essentially just showing up to your ceremony, capturing it and heading out. You don't build very strong connections with your vendors that way and, as a result, the experience just feels a little more artificial. If you just want your ceremony photographed and not the whole day, this is a fine option but I always recommend for couples to opt for a full-day package.

This way, your photographer/videographer/officiant are there with you for as long as you want them to be. This screenshot from the video above outlines what a full day elopement timeline may look like:  

AFTER THE ELOPEMENT

Finally, as the elopement day starts to wind down, just make sure you have accommodations booked. That can be a campsite, AirBnb, hotel, motel or tiny house in the area :) In addition to accomdation I would also recommend exploring some other activities in the days after your elopement. That could be going out to a fun restaurant, hit the trails for some biking, grab the stand up paddleboards for a nice lil’ paddle or exploring the town near your elopement site. One of the most beautiful things about an adventure elopement is it can partner together with your honeymoon so plan some things to do to have some fun! Start your marriage off with some great memory making :) 

I hope you enjoyed this ultimate adventure elopement planning guide! If you are recently engaged or starting to plan your elopement, I would really love to help guide you through planning your dream elopement and be a part of such a special day! You can contact me >HERE< for a free consultation and talk about how you envision your elopement! I always love talking to new couples so please reach out, even just to say hi :)

So, Should I elope?

This is a great question and definitely an important one! I would say that if you have an adventurous spirit and desire to have an intimate experience with the focus on you and not your guests on your wedding day then eloping is the perfect choice for you! It’s a tough question to think through but eloping is all about having a meaningful and stress free experience all the way from the planning stage to the signing of your marriage license  Starting your lives together on an epic adventure and committing your lives together in a place you’ve always dreamed of can be an extremely positive and liberating experience for a lot of people. 

If you’re looking for an elopement videographer (and photographer AND planner, we do all of it!) then we would be so incredibly honored to be a part of your special day!

You can contact us >HERE< or at hello@castlehousevideography.com and we cannot wait to talk to you about your elopement!