How to Plan an Elopement from a Washington Elopement Photographer and Planner

Guest post by Washington Elopement Photographer Allison Haley

When you decide to elope, you’re choosing to throw away the cookie-cutter wedding traditions and keep only what’s most meaningful to you. But that also means tossing out the helpful blueprint that comes with planning a big wedding too. Get a venue, confirm your date, send invites, hire vendors, and on and on.

But when it comes to eloping, it’s not so simple. There’s no roadmap for planning an elopement. If that feels overwhelming, let me write one for you.

I’m Allison, your Washington state elopement photographer and planning expert. Before I became an elopement photographer, I was a project manager, so I love a good color coded spreadsheet, time-blocked calendar and a written-out check-list. It’s this background that allows me to guide my couples to plan their dream elopement.

I believe that planning an elopement shouldn’t be overwhelming or stressful. So I wanted to share the six-step process that I use with you, to take some of the guesswork and stress out of planning.

#1. Get clear on your vision

When there’s so many options for your elopement day, you need to start with a clear vision of what you want. So, what’s most important to you for your elopement experience? Is there a specific time of year or date? A certain kind of scenery or weather you want for your day? An activity you want to structure your day around? A general vibe you’re going for? Start with what you want.

Example: We want to promise our lives to each other in the middle of a wildflower meadow.

#2. Find someone to help bring your vision to life (hire your expert)

This is where a lot of couples start to get overwhelmed trying to figure things out themselves. Trust me when I say hiring an expert (usually an elopement photographer) will make the planning process so much smoother and actually fun! Someone with local knowledge can give you quick answers to some of the most complicated questions, and can guide you to have the best experience possible.

#3. Make the big decisions first

Once you have an expert in your corner, focus on the biggest decisions first. Work with your photographer or other expert to figure out a general where and when that matches your vision. Then decide if you want to include guests and any activities you want during your day.

Example: We decide on a high-alpine wildflower location, which blooms in mid-August. We’ll do a private ceremony and picnic, and then we’ll meet up with friends and family later on in the day.

#4. Fill in the details

From here, it’s all just details! Finding specific trails or location options that match your vision, setting a specific date that gives us the best chance of avoiding crowds, and booking lodging and travel. Then purchasing attire that matches the wildflower vibes and is lightweight enough to hike in, ordering rings, hiring any other vendors and planning any other celebrations with guests.

#5. Make it legally legit

Learn the basics of Washington marriage laws – it’s simpler than you might think! You can do the paperwork before your trip, during your elopement, or after you get back home, depending if you think worrying about paperwork might add stress to your elopement day. All of my couples who have done the paperwork bit before or after their elopement have said it didn’t take away any magic of their big day.

#6. Have the celebration of a lifetime

Now you get to live out your wildest dreams and never once look at a clock or wonder what other people think. This looks different for every couple, because eloping allows you to customize the perfect day for whatever that means for you. Maybe that’s an epic hike to a fire lookout in the mountains, a quiet first dance after exploring the coastline, or getting lost in each other’s eyes in the middle of a forest. Whatever it looks like, your elopement day is exactly how it should be – spent focusing on you and your love. Because at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

I’M ALLISON, YOUR WASHINGTON STATE ELOPEMENT EXPERT

Oftentimes couples get lost in all of the possibilities of what their elopement day could look like, or they’re overwhelmed with trying to figure out how to bring their vision to life. If that sounds like you, I’m here to help! Find more free planning resources and photo package information on my site here.

About the Elopement Photographer Directory

The Legend Awards is an international elopement photography competition to recognize the best of the best authentic and storytelling images, and providing a platform and community of support and hype for each other.

Allison Haley is a member of the Elopement Photography Legend Awards directory.
Every photographer in the directory can write a highlight blog post to be featured here on our blog.