Intimate Elopement Guide
In this intimate elopement guide we will help guide you through everything an entirely personal and private elopement has to offer. A quick overview of everything this intimate elopement guide covers:
- The night before the elopement
- A slow morning of
- Getting ready options
- The clopement ceremony
- Elopement location options
- Post ceremony celebrations
- Photography and videography portraits
- First dance as married humans
- Dinner ideas for two
So you’ve decided to elope! We strongly believe that an elopement is so much more than just a simple “I do” ceremony, and we want to encourage you how to make it so much more than just that. With us (aka, The MacLeans), and this intimate elopement guide, we’ll walk you through how you can make your elopement a full on experience, the beginning of your chapter as married beautiful badass humans. This is your story, and we are here to help tell that story through photography, videography, and your official double date team.
Sit down with your partner, and ask yourselves, if we could go anywhere, do anything, for our elopement, what would that be? Ask yourselves, “what would be the most wicked way to begin our chapter, and have this day be forever special in our hearts?”
Let’s create an experience; a collection of memories together.
The Night before your Elopement
Let’s have a spicy session “people of the world, spice up your life”.
Spend some quality time connecting with your partner, release all the tension/stress/anxieties you’ve might be experiencing, crack open a couple of beers or a bottle of wine, and unwind together. Spicy sessions aren’t making a porno with us (yikes, we definitely charge extra for that hah), but a way to connect with your partner on such a deep level. From skinny dipping in the ocean, jumping into an outdoor shower together, or simply wining and dining in your under roos, let’s do this thang. Wondering WTF a spicy session is? It’s basically a sexy lil couples shoot with a little less clothing than would be approved of in the grocery store, a photoshoot that your mum would probably not approve of, but future you will be have the biggest smile when looking back on these.
Morning of your elopement ideas:
– homemade pancakes with extra whip cream, strawberries, and mimosas in bed
– order room service or have Uber eats drop off a bomb ass eggs benny or breakfast burrito
– venti coffees poured into your fav mugs, snuggle up together for another episode on Netflix
Getting ready
Where are you staying the night of the elopement (and maybe the night before)
Airbnb’s make for great getting ready locations & post elopement sleepover spots. We recommend filtering your airbnb search results to include a spot that includes the entire place to yourselves and a kitchen. Creep those photos to spot the places with big windows with epic views, the most comfy cozy looking bed, and a bathroom with enough wiggle room to get ready in. Depending on where you are getting married, Morg and I have stayed in some adorable cabins, bed and breakfasts, and airbnb’s at various Gulf Islands, Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island, and in the Okanagan.
If you’re hiring a hair and makeup artist, typically this will take 2-3 hours for brides, so schedule this accordingly for enough time for touch ups, and getting dressed before heading to the ceremony site.
An intimate elopement ceremony
Hand written vows THRIVE in an elopement setting. Let’s be real, handwritten vows always hit us with all the feels and we are huge fans of these, but they can be a little intimidating to say aloud at a large scale wedding, which makes them perfect for an elopement. Share inside jokes, spill your guts about what your babe means to you, what this day means to the two of you, and what your promise is to one another.
If you’re opting to have a very private elopement with just the two of you, in B.C., you’ll need two witnesses to make your wedding ceremony legit, and Morg and I are happy to do this for you if needed.
Here are some great British Columbia intimate elopement officiants we’ve had the pleasure of working with:
Elopement Location
Where you have your ceremony is entirely up to you and your partner!
When it comes to where you officially say I do, the world is your oyster! If you’re looking to elope in B.C., and are looking for somewhere that doesn’t require a venue, here’s a round up list of our personal recommendations: The Best Elopement Locations in B.C.
This all depends on what you and your partner want out of your elopement day, who you want to be there, and where you envision this day happening. Maybe it’s at sunset beside the Pacific Ocean? Or maybe it’s up a helicopter, on top of a remote mountain, with sweeping views of the city, lakes, and forest below you two.
Trying to figure out where in the world you should elope? This is a totally individual opinion, with the answer being unique to each and every single couple. To determine the best elopement location for you and your babe, we recommend you do the following: figure out a budget, a timeframe of when you’d like to elope, and list out your top 3 ideal locations individually then come together to see if any of those locations align with each other.
Post ceremony
If you are involving a small gathering of loved ones to be a part of your elopement, this is the best time to gather around, share some bubbly, and encourage some impromptu speeches.
If it’s just the two of you, we encourage you to pop some bubbly (if you’re into that kinda thang), and have a big bear hug together. It’s time to celebrate, because you two JUST GOT MARRIED! From here, Morg and I as your photographers/videographers will take you out for some portrait photography and video time, and help capture all those newlywed vibes for you two in such an epic location. Normally this happens right around sunset/golden hour, which makes for great lighting in photos and video, and gives everyone this delicious golden goddess glow, trust us, you’re going to look bomb. We can help you figure out the timing of everything for your elopement timeline so that this lines up just right.
First dance as married humans
Just because you’re eloping, doesn’t mean you have to skip out on a first dance as a married couple. We can bring our handy dandy portable speaker, pop on your song, and you two can dance away.
Dinner dinner chicken winner (elopement dinner ideas)
-
Charcuterie board on the beach
-
Dinner reservations at a fancy local restaurant
-
Head back to your airbnb, order take out, and change into your comfy cozies (ie your pajama pants) while you wait for a non-fuss, greasy and delicious dinner together
-
Pack a picnic including a picnic blanket and all
Here are some great local vendor recommendations for picnics and intimate elopement dinners options:
Learn about the maclean elopement experience
