What is an Adventure Elopement?

 

Wondering what an Adventure Elopement looks like? Look no further!

If you’ve made it this far into our site, you’re most likely not the type of person to just follow everyone else and stick to tradition. You’re looking for something a little different, something that feels more you, more comfortable, more FUN. Enter adventure elopements. What is an Adventure Elopement, you ask? It’s your chance to do whatever the heck you want on your wedding day! That’s right. Picture yourself and the love of your life, atop a cliff overlooking the ocean waves in Ireland, an epic mountainscape in Patagonia, or a sandy desert in South Africa. It’s YOUR wedding day – make it an adventure!

 

mariel+stephen

 

WHAT IS AN ADVENTURE ELOPEMENT?

An adventure elopement is a chance to plan out your perfect day. We believe this day deserves more than just a ceremony and a “few quick pics”. This day should never be just about the photographs; it should always be about you two, your commitment, and your experience. Planning out the whole day for our couples to allow them time to slow down, enjoy being together, and have the best day of their lives is what we do best! Every part of this day is important; you are eloping, yes, but it’s still your wedding day. The time you spend getting ready is important. What you do after your ceremony is important. Every moment you spend with each other on this day deserves to be documented.

As your photography team, it’s our job to guide you through this entire adventure. Not just as elopement photographers, but also as elopement planners and guides – we’re with you every step of the way! There is no idea too crazy for your elopement day; we’ll help you make it happen. Want to hike a mountain? Float in a hot air balloon? Get married on a boat? Jump off a cliff into a waterfall? We’re here for it, and we can help you plan it.

 

 

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN THINKING ABOUT PLANNING YOUR DREAM ADVENTURE ELOPEMENT:

TIME OF YEAR

Considering the time of year can help make your special day more comfortable. Do you hate being cold? Or maybe you can’t stand the thought of being sweaty? Keep these things in mind as you choose your date for your adventure elopement. Since it’s YOUR day, you can literally do anything you want. You can hike, bike, take a helicopter tour, brewery-hop, cliff jump, skinny dip, or camp out under the stars. The main thing is making the day what YOU want it to be. Be sure to keep in mind weather limitations, so you can best prep for your day!

In some months, certain trails or roads might be closed, and, in other months, water levels might be too high for safe swimming or boating. Spring comes very late here in WNC at our higher elevations, and the mountains don’t get fully green till late May; an early April elopement will still look a lot like winter. July and August it tends to thunderstorm every day. Think about what sort of experience you want to have and how you want things to feel, and use that as the first guide point in selecting your date. We’re experts on weather patterns and temperatures in varying locations in the Asheville area, and can help you figure out the best time of year to elope in Asheville!

 

 

GUESTLIST

One of the biggest myths when it comes to eloping is that it has to be a secret, almost shameful thing. And that couldn’t be further from the truth! An elopement is an intentional CHOICE, by you, the couple, to take back your wedding day from the chaos of the wedding industry and ONLY include the things, traditions – and people – that mean the most to you. You can totally run off, just the two of you and invite no one, but an elopement doesn’t just have to be you and your spouse (unless you want it to be); you can also include a handful of your favorite people to celebrate with you! It’s all about making the day what you want it to be, not what others tell you it has to be. Whether you choose to have your family present for an intimate ceremony or you want to exchange your vows privately and then meet up with your best friends for dinner that night, we can help make that vision a reality. It’s all about what you want and who you want to share your wedding day with. An elopement doesn’t have to be guest-free; it’s all about how YOU define elopement.

 

 

LOCATION 

If you’ve been planning, or even thinking of, an elopement for you and your partner, you’ve probably done some quick searches online of elopement locations. Deciding on your location is so important because it can affect many factors of your day – getting ready and travel time, decor and guest limitations, and more. Do you want to hike 10 miles and end the day sweaty, sunburnt, exhausted, and ecstatic? Or would you rather a short walk to gorgeous views and a slower, more luxe experience? Do you love mountains or do sparkling ocean waves make your heart sing? Do you want to get dirty and soaked and maybe jump off a cliff into a waterfall or would you rather rock fairytale princess vibes with hair and makeup on point in the middle of the wilderness? Your location should be as much a reflection of who you two are as a couple as any other decision about your elopement day; pick a spot that makes you and your partner’s heart sing!

Once you pick a general location (country, mountain range, island, etc), you’ll want to hone in on your actual ceremony location. That’s where we come in! We can help you figure out the logistics of actually getting married in the spot you’ve dreamed up. When researching locations, you want to choose a spot that can host your guests and events with ease but also ensure you’re not running into large groups or other elopements happening. (Yes, this happens! You’d be surprised how many people are hiking up to their elopement to find another couple eloping in this same spot.)

That’s another place we come in; if you’re thinking about eloping in Asheville, we’re your people. We’ve lived in the Asheville area for 7 years and know the mountains well. We listen to your vision for your day, what you want to do, what you want it to look and feel like, and point you towards epic locations that will make your heart sing. And not just locations you can find by googling; as you’ve been planning your Asheville elopement you’ve probably found spots like Black Balsam, Craggy Gardens, and Max Patch. Those spots are all GORGEOUS, but you’ll never find them on one of our location guides. For one thing, elopements aren’t allowed by the Park Service anymore at Craggy Gardens and Max Patch due to overcrowding and trail damage, and we want to be good stewards of the land (practicing LNT is one of our core values). Also, we want you to have a private, intimate experience that feels special just for you two. If you show up at Black Balsam at sunset on a Saturday, you not only won’t be the only people there, you might not even be the only people getting married there. That type of crowding, in our opinion, takes away from the uniqueness of the moment. So when you get a location guide from us, it won’t have places you can find easily by Googling “where to elope in Asheville”. We spend our afternoons and free days in the mountains hiking, scouting, and vetting trails specifically for you. We’re a treasure trove of “locals-only” spots, secret waterfalls, and mountain vistas you’ll have all to yourself. So if you don’t know the area and you’re not sure where to elope in Asheville don’t stress! We’re the experts on that, and we have you covered.

Not eloping in Asheville? That’s fine! We’ve traveled extensively and have amazing ideas for epic locations all over the world. Even if it’s somewhere we haven’t been yet, we’re pros at location scouting and helping you choose the best spots to promise each other forever!

 

VOW EXCHANGE

An elopement is still your wedding day. It’s not just a quick event. It’s the day you are promising yourself to your partner and that commitment deserves more that just a quick ceremony and a few posed portraits. We love listening to what our couples are imagining as a location for their vow exchange and helping to make it come true. Remember, this ceremony is the moment you two promise each other forever. Make it meaningful! Go off the beaten path (literally, let’s hike into the mountains), and say your vows in the spot where it feels right. In NC you need an officiant and 2 witnesses to be legally married, but if the commitment and the vow exchange is what matters most to you you can fill out the paperwork the day before or after at the courthouse and have an officiant-free, totally private ceremony on your wedding day, just the two of you. That means you don’t have to pick your vow location ahead of time! We can set off into the wild on an adventure, and at some point in the day, when the moment and location feels right, you two can intentionally and privately promise to love, support, respect, and cherish each other for the rest of your life. Take total control of the moment you make that commitment and let go of schedules, time constraints, and finding an officiant who will hike 5 miles with you (though if you really want one, we know a guy!). Make your vow exchange personal and meaningful to you two; Write letters to each other, seal a time capsule, pop champagne, write your own vows. Maybe exchange vows at sunrise on a mountaintop, then exchange rings at a waterfall deep in the woods. Make your ceremony and commitment an all-day event. Make it personal, make it meaningful, and take all the time you want. This only happens once, so cherish it and give it the honor it deserves.

 

 

FOOD

If you’re going to be out adventuring all day on your wedding day you definitely need to think about how to keep yourself fueled and happy for the whole adventure. Hanger has no place on an elopement day. One of the coolest things about an adventure elopement is you can really think outside the box when it comes to what you eat; with a more traditional wedding you’re confined by budget and guest list. But with an adventure elopement, you don’t have to just settle for the traditional BBQ and mac n cheese (though dont get us wrong, mac n cheese is amazing and if you want to eat mac n cheese on your wedding day we are HERE for it). The sky is the limit! You can get takeout from your favorite restaurant and eat it by a mountain stream. You can pack a bougie charcuterie picnic and enjoy it on a mountaintop (cheese tastes WAY better after sitting in a backpack for a few hours. Really. It does.). You can make coffee on a camp stove at sunrise and enjoy vegan donuts as the sun breaks over the horizon. You could have a gourmet chef cook you a 3-course meal over a campfire, or treat your whole family to a private chef-cooked dinner in your airbnb. There are literally SO many options when you’re only feeding a handful of people. Have your pizza and bourbon on your wedding day and eat it too.

 

An adventure elopement is a chance to craft a day that is truly about the two of you, your love for each other, and your love of adventure. We help our couples plan and live out their dream elopement with our custom elopement packages and planning services. If you’re just engaged and asking, “What is an Adventure Elopement,” or you’re already five steps into the planning process, we’re here to help you make this one of the most memorable days of your life.

 

Looking for some out-of-the-box elopement inspiration? Check out this adventurous Roan Mountain elopement here.

Share :

Let's Have an adventure

Ready to get this show on the road? Schedule your free phone consultation and let us help your dream wedding day become a reality.

asheville wedding photographer 0014

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Adventures