If you’re here you’re probably considering or have decided on an elopement for your wedding. Congrats! But now you’re probably wondering… How long is an elopement? What do we do all day? What does an elopement even look like? There are tons of resources out there for planning a timeline for a traditional wedding day, but not as much info about elopement day timelines. That’s where this resource comes in. After being in business for over ten years, I love helping guide my couples through their planning journey of crafting an amazing elopement day.
How Long is an Elopement Day?
Your elopement day is more than just a ten minute thing – your wedding day and commitment to partnership deserves celebration! Even if you’re shy and hate photos, you’ll want to remember such a special day in your life. I encourage my couples to start with a visioning exercise:
Close your eyes and imagine yourself with your partner. Imagine it’s the most wonderful day you can think of. The weather is perfect, you’re comfortable and happy, and you are looking at a day spent doing what you love ahead of you. You are committing yourself to this person today. Where are you? What will you be doing? Are you by a lakeside? In the desert? At a coffeeshop? Around a fire? Are you hiking? Is there an afternoon nap planned? Just take a minute and dream a little bit.
You deserve to celebrate your love and this next step, even and especially if you’re eloping.
You deserve to enjoy your day with no stress in planning.
You deserve to have no one else’s opinions dragging you down.
You deserve to spend a day doing what you love.
You deserve to have time to relax in the day.
So with all that in mind…
What Does an Elopement Day Look Like?
A lot of an elopement day timeline can have a similar structure to a wedding day timeline. At the end of the day, though, each and every elopement is totally unique! The point of eloping is creating a wedding day that is enjoyable to plan and enjoyable to experience. If that looks like a hike, helicopter ride, or swimming in a lake – awesome! If that looks like a Bed & Breakfast private dinner, accessible mountain views, and coffee and shopping at the bookstore – that is great too! (Click here for more ideas for what to do on your elopement day) Overall, here’s what to expect for your elopement day:
Getting Ready
This is the ice breaker of the day, where we meet (sometimes for the first time in person!) and you can get used to me being around. You’ll have butterflies and a lot of emotions going on as you finish up writing out your vows, do your hair/makeup to finalize your look for the day, tie up your laces. This part of the day especially flies by as the anticipation builds and the realization that you’re getting married sets in.
By capturing getting ready, I get to show you parts of the day you don’t even get to witness, so you can live them vicariously through the images. If you’re not helping each other get ready, it’s fun to see how the other person spent this time of the day too! Your partner and their loved one getting the final details on. The lifestyle images of your important details you’ve selected for the day. Facetiming those who can’t be there in person. Your parent helping you do up the buttons on your attire. There’s so many tiny memories that may seem unimportant at first glance, but that mean the world to you when you look back on them.
Capturing getting ready helps tell the full story of your wedding day for you to relive later on.
First Look
If you’re not getting ready together, doing a “First Look” moment – where you see each other for the first time in your wedding attire – is a pivotal moment to include in your coverage.
Especially if you have guests at your elopement, using this time to connect just the two of you before other people get involved in the day is so special. If you are having guests, some couples will use this first look as a chance to exchange private vows as well, before a more public ceremony later in the day.
Your first look gives you space to hug, connect, tell each other how great the other looks, and really let it sink in that you’re about to marry this person.
If you’d prefer to have a more traditional route and see each other at the ceremony for the first time, think about writing each other a letter or doing a “first touch” on either side of a door or corner in the building.
Ceremony
This is the most essential part of an elopement day! Whether you’re having a legal wedding ceremony or a commitment ceremony without the government involved, this is the part of the day where you make your vows and promises, and take this next step in your relationship. You can include unity ceremonies like a ring exchange, handfasting, matching tattoos, or other personalized and symbolic activities. In Colorado you won’t need an officiant, but if you want to hire one they add a beautiful level of pomp and circumstance to this part of the day. They keep your ceremony organized, official, and tell the story of your journey to this day and the adventure that lies ahead of you.
Group Photos
If you’re having any guests, get some photos with them if you want! It’s nice to remember who was there that day, plus how often are you all dressed up together in such a beautiful place? I’ll help you create this list so that everything flows well and no one is forgotten. Make time for your guests to get their own photos in this beautiful place, too!
Couple’s Photos
These are the photos that you’ll put on your holiday cards, the gallery wall in your home, and on your desk at work. All in all, though, the great thing about an elopement day is that it’s not an 8 hour photoshoot where you stand and smile for the camera in stiff poses. We’ll be doing things you love throughout the day, and I’ll be there to document every joyful moment. Which brings me to my next point…
Exploring & Activities
You deserve to make a big deal out of your wedding day. Even if you’re eloping, this next step in your relationship deserves to be celebrated! Crafting your dream day can and should excite you. Think about what you love to do together, or dream of one day doing together, and plan your day with those things in mind. Are you hikers? Tandem bikers? Book nerds? Lego lovers? National Park collectors? Skinny dippers? Whatever your day looks like to you is great! Capturing how you spend your day, and whom you spend it with, will help you relive this incredible day you have planned; however you choose to spend it! Click here for a full list of elopement activity ideas too.
Sample Elopement Day Timelines
Just the Couple – 8 Hours (Sunrise + Sunset)
5:00am – We meet at your vacation rental as your hair & makeup artist is finishing her magic. I’ll capture some sweet scenes of the two of you prepping for the day and you’ll begin to realize just how real it’s beginning to feel!
5:30am – After the car is packed we’ll head to the desert – you’re still in your sweats so your attire stays fresh in the 30 minute drive to our location.
6:00am – We meet at trailhead for getting ready. You help each other get dressed in the total privacy as the sun rises over the canyon
6:20am – You exchange vows as the sun rises and floods the cliffs around us with bright pink and orange light
6:40am – We get epic photos with the views of the canyons below and the layered red rock walls around the area
7:40am – You sign the papers and enjoy some coffee and donuts, taking it slow for the morning. You’re not morning people but both admit it was totally worth it — just this once.
8:00am – We part ways for awhile as you head back to rental for a nap and brunch
BREAK
4:30pm – You get ready (again) and head to the Food Truck Park where we meet back up for dinner
5:00pm – After dinner fuels us for the evening we head to the best park for sunset photos
5:45pm – We find a private spot to where you sit together and read letters from loved ones wishing you well today and throughout your marriage.
6:15pm – As the sun sets we explore around the rim trail for photos and marvel at how the setting sun’s light changes the canyons from red to pink to purple as we enter blue hour.
7:30pm – Blue hour photos with the last light of the day become your new favorite time of day here and you’ll see why I insisted on them.
8:00pm – Once it’s too dark to continue we enjoy some rest time to warm up (it’s surprisingly chilly in the desert after the sun’s down!) Maybe you brought a camp stove to light up a s’more or two while we hang out or you packed some hot cocoa to keep it cozy.
8:50pm – I’ll set up for star photos as the milky way rises while you two are laying in the truck bed looking out for falling stars.
9:00pm – We take epic photos with the stars, the two of you illuminated by headlamps
9:30pm – End coverage
Just the Couple – 4 Hours
3:00pm – We’ll meet up and have our introductions as you get ready together at the vacation rental. Your partner will help button up your attire while I snap away, and you’ll both realize you’re starting to get the jitterz!
3:30pm – Then we’ll drive to the trailhead for a short hike to the ceremony location on the edge of an alpine lake.
4:00pm – The mountain roads were clear and we arrive at the lake where you exchange vows to each other (and the witnessing camp robber birds) and slide the rings on each other’s hands.
4:20pm – Following a kiss and a cheer from me, we’ll get out the papers and make this thing official. (Yes, your dog can sign as witness in Colorado!)
4:30pm – Pop some champagne and enjoy the view for a little bit while it hits you — you’re married!
4:50pm – We explore the area to take some photos with the lake & views.
5:20pm – You’re getting a little hungry now so we unpack the grazing board for snacking (I can’t say no to charcuterie!)
5:40pm – You share some cupcakes, and we drive a few minutes up the road to take some waterfall photos nearby, enjoying the sunset on the peaks around us.
6:30pm – We hike back a short way back to the car so you can head in to town for dinner reservations at a local restaurant.
7:00pm – You head to your dinner reservations and I head back home.
With Guests – 9 Hours
4:00am – Wake up! Greet your hair & makeup artist and drink the coffee your partner made you while the team makes you feel glamorous. You already packed the car last night, so there’s nothing left to worry about. Hang out in your sweats – you’ll get dressed at the location.
5:00am – Leave for first look at a desert overlook – get dressed on either side of your truck in the total privacy of pre-sunrise.
5:40am – First look where you see your partner for the first time, both of you all dolled up, on your WEDDING DAY at an incredible desert overlook that’s beginning to flood with the first light of day.
6:00am – Share private vows with each other as the canyons beneath you burst with light as the sun grows higher in the sky. Feel like the only people in the world.
6:30am – Explore for photos around the overlook and get those epic scenery images you’ll frame on the wall.
7:30am – You’re getting hungry, so we head back to the truck to light up the camp stove to make eggs and hashbrowns, your favorite meal when camping, and pour some more coffee. Enjoy the sustenance as you take in the insane views around us.
8:30am – We’ll part ways for now so you can meet up with your loved ones, take a nap, and spend the morning as you’d like.
4:00pm – Head to Dead Horse State Park for a more traditional ceremony with guests. Pass your rings around for a ring warming where all your loved ones bestow them with well-wishes. Enjoy a group toast with everyone afterward.
5:00pm – Group Photos with your family and friends so you can all post about what an incredible space you celebrated in!
5:30pm – You and your new spouse will take off with me as your guests head back to the rental, and we’ll take couples photos at Dead Horse as the sun sets – getting a totally different look than the morning had.
6:30pm – We head back to the timeshare for a dinner catered by a local private chef
7:00pm – Your guests give speeches that will make everyone cry, and I’ll try to capture it all while crying myself
7:30pm – You got a cake to cut and it looks so scrumptious now that dinner is digesting, so let’s cut that baby!
8:00pm – Just because you eloped doesn’t mean you can’t have any tradition. You share a first dance together in the living room, and dance with your parents after.
8:30pm – Now the main festivities are over you change into that “wifey” sweatshirt you bought and all play board games, make smores, and sit around the bonfire for the night.
9:00pm – End coverage
With Guests – 4 Hours
2:00pm – We meet up for getting ready photos at your VRBO where you and the family are putting on your final touches
2:30pm – You and your partner leave with me for a first look at a nearby aspen grove while your guests finish getting ready.
2:45pm – Your first look brings up emotions you didn’t expect, and there’s not a dry eye among us. You share a few quick private vows so you don’t have to do it in front of everyone later.
3:00pm – We take couple’s photos around the woods before getting back in the car to drive up to the lake.
4:00pm – After the guests arrive and set up the ceremony space you share more generic vows in a nice ceremony for your loved ones to be part of.
4:20pm – After you make the thing official with a kiss and signing the papers, everyone joins you in a champagne toast to celebrate!
4:40pm – We take Group Photos with your guests along the lakeside (using the list I helped you make so we’re quick but we don’t forget any combos!)
5:00pm – The guests head back into town to the restaurant for apps while we head to a second location finish taking photos
6:00pm – End coverage – You head to meet your guests at those dinner reservations
Elopement Timeline Tips
Be Flexible
The benefit of eloping is flexibility and less stress. If you show up to the lakeside you’ve envisioned and there’s some people there hiking through, we can take a break and let them pass before setting up the ceremony. If you get cold and want a break at the coffeeshop to warm up, we can do that! If there was a wildfire near the planned location, we’ll have backups that are just as amazing.
Have Extra Time
A big way you can be so flexible in your plans is by having extra time in your day. You may be tempted to cram as much as you can into 2 or 4 hours of coverage, but you will probably be pretty miserable and regret it. You’ll feel rushed, the day will fly by even faster than it normally would, and you’ll end the day wondering where the time went.
As a photographer, I also love having extra time for creativity. Creativity comes from having no pressure to move on to the next timeline point right away — and spontaneity. Some of my favorite moments captured happened because we had the flexibility and time to relax, think, dream, and explore. Allowing ourselves that extra time to embrace where the winds take us can create the most amazing experiences and images from the day!
Hire an Experienced Elopement Photographer
Hiring someone with experience in elopements specifically is a huge help in crafting your elopement timeline. They can help you pick locations, recommend professionals to hire, help you brainstorm ideas for things to do, and know how much extra time to build into the day to make it relaxed and enjoyable. Hiring not only someone whose work you love, but who you enjoy having around, is so important on such an intimate day!
Need a photographer? I’ve been at this for over ten years now, and eloped myself, so I know a thing or two about how to help you have the best day ever! Click here to see some featured galleries to get a feel for my work – or click here to get more info about my elopement packages.
