Everything you need to know about planning an intentional, stress-free elopement from start to finish.
If you’re here, chances are you’ve decided that a traditional wedding doesn’t quite feel like you.
Maybe the idea of spending your wedding day hiking to an alpine lake sounds more exciting than a reception space. Maybe you’d rather exchange private vows on a mountaintop at sunrise than stand in front of hundreds of guests. Or maybe you simply want a wedding day that feels more meaningful, relaxed, and focused on your relationship.
No matter what your vision looks like, you’re in the right place.
Planning an elopement can feel overwhelming at first. Between choosing a location, understanding permits, building a timeline, and figuring out what you actually want your day to look like, it’s easy to wonder where to start.
The good news? You don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
This guide will walk you through the biggest pieces of planning your elopement. And if you’re looking for even more resources, timelines, worksheets, and planning tools, be sure to download my full Elopement Planning Guide at the end of this post.
What Is an Elopement?
An elopement is an intentionally crafted wedding experience centered around your relationship rather than tradition or expectations.
For some couples, that means exchanging vows in a national park with nobody else around.
For others, it means inviting a handful of loved ones to a private Airbnb for a weekend celebration.
There isn’t one right way to elope.
Your day can be adventurous, luxurious, laid-back, intimate, spontaneous, or a little bit of everything.
The beauty of eloping is that you get to create a wedding day that feels completely your own.
Step 1: Dream About the Experience Before the Details
Before choosing a location, venue, or even a date, spend some time thinking about how you want your wedding day to feel.
Ask yourselves:
- Do we want guests or just the two of us?
- Do we want adventure, relaxation, or a mix of both?
- Are we drawn to mountains, deserts, forests, coastlines, or somewhere else entirely?
- Do we want a sunrise ceremony, sunset ceremony, or an all-day experience?
- What activities do we naturally enjoy together?
The answers to these questions will help shape every decision moving forward.
The best elopements aren’t built around a pretty backdrop. They’re built around an experience that feels true to the couple.
Step 2: Research & Logistics
Once you have a general vision for your day, it’s time to figure out what will actually make that vision possible.
This is the stage where you’ll start researching locations more deeply, looking into travel logistics, understanding permit requirements, and learning what different seasons look like in your destination.
Sometimes this stage confirms exactly what you were hoping for. Other times it reveals opportunities you hadn’t considered yet.
Maybe the location you originally wanted is incredibly crowded during your preferred season. Maybe a nearby location offers the same views with fewer people. Maybe moving your date by a couple of weeks gives you access to peak fall color or wildflowers.
The goal isn’t to find the “perfect” location. It’s to find the location that best supports the experience you want to have.
Step 3: Hire Your Elopement Photographer (and/or Planner)
This might surprise you, but one of the first vendors I recommend booking isn’t a venue. It’s your photographer and/or planner.
Unlike traditional weddings, elopements are often built around a location, an experience, and the best possible conditions for your day. Your photographer or planner can help guide many of those decisions before anything else is booked.
An experienced elopement photographer can help with:
- Location recommendations
- Choosing the best season and date
- Permit guidance
- Timeline creation
- Activity suggestions
- Travel logistics
- Local vendor recommendations
Many of my couples come to me with a few location ideas but aren’t sure which one is the best fit. Together, we narrow down options based on weather, accessibility, crowd levels, lighting, guest considerations, and the overall experience they want to create.
Sometimes the perfect location isn’t the one they originally had in mind, and often ends up being even better.
Booking your photographer or planner early can save countless hours of research and help you avoid common planning mistakes.
Step 4: Make Some Choices & Start Booking
At some point, the dreaming and researching turns into making decisions.
This is where your plans begin to feel real.
You’ll start narrowing down locations, choosing a date, booking accommodations, securing permits, and building the vendor team that will help bring your vision to life. Whether that’s a private chef, florist, videographer, cozy cabin, or mountain Airbnb, this is the stage where all the pieces begin coming together.
For many couples, this can also feel like the most overwhelming part of planning. There are a lot of options, and it’s easy to wonder if you’re making the “right” choice.
This is one of the ways I support my couples throughout the planning process. From location recommendations and timeline creation to vendor suggestions and permit guidance, I’m there to help simplify decisions and make sure everything comes together in a way that feels intentional and true to your vision.
The goal isn’t creating a perfect day. It’s creating a day that feels like you.
Step 5: Finalize the Details & Get Ready
As your elopement gets closer, planning starts shifting into preparation.
The big decisions have already been made. Now it’s about making sure everything feels smooth and intentional.
This is when timelines get finalized, travel plans get confirmed, and all those little details begin falling into place. It’s also the point where having a planning guide and checklist becomes incredibly helpful because you don’t have to rely on memory alone.
Instead of wondering what you’ve forgotten, you can focus on getting excited for what’s ahead.
If you’re looking for a step-by-step roadmap through this stage, I’ve put together a free Elopement Planning Guide & Checklist that walks through everything from timelines and packing lists to permits and location planning.
Step 6: Have the Best Elopement Day
And then, finally, the day arrives.
After all the planning, researching, and preparation, your only job is to be present.
Watch the sunrise. Read your vows slowly. Take in the view. Let yourselves linger a little longer during dinner. Soak up the quiet moments that happen in between.
The beautiful thing about eloping is that there’s no pressure to rush from one event to the next. Your day gets to unfold naturally, giving you space to actually experience it instead of simply moving through it.
At the end of the day, that’s what elopement planning is really about. Not checking boxes or creating the perfect timeline, but creating a wedding day that feels genuinely like you.
Download My Full Elopement Planning Guide
This blog covers the foundations, but I’ve created a much more detailed planning resource to help you every step of the way.
Inside the full guide you’ll find:
- Detailed planning timelines
- Location selection exercises
- Sample elopement timelines
- Activity inspiration
- Packing lists
- Permit resources
- Vendor guidance
- Questions to ask before booking
Download the full Elopement Planning Guide and start planning a wedding day that feels completely like you.
