Have you always dreamt about eloping or has the pressure of a big wedding started to distress you?
Eloping or having a small intimate wedding is an opportunity to have a totally different wedding day experience compared to a big wedding with tens or hundreds of guests.
Inviting just a small number of guests you can create a stressfree and relaxed wedding day that is memorable and meaningfull.
Marrying your loved one is the most important thing in your wedding day. The second most important thing should be enjoying the day without stress and hurry, spending time with those whose company makes you feel most comfortable and doing things you really love.
With these tips you can make all this reality and create your dream elopement day! Then that day will be a day you would want to relive again and again.
1. Have a Perfect Breakfast
Start your elopement day with a slow and delicious breakfast that has everything you could want. You can even have your wedding cake on breakfast if you want! Relaxed morning with perfect breakfast is the best possible start to your wedding day.
2. Choose Your Guests Carefully
You can elope without any guest but if you decide to invite family and/or friends to celebrate with you consider carefully who you really want to be there with you. You have no obligation to invite anyone. It is your day and your decision who you want to be there. If you want to have few friends and no family with you go for it! If you want to have your parents there but no one else do it!
Terhi and Ville had just two friends with them to witness when they eloped in a snowy park in Helsinki.
In Finland you need to have two witness at the ceremony but that doesn't mean you have to invite guests if you don't want to. Your photo- and/or videographer can be you witness or you can ask someone from street to be your witness. They just need to have ID card or passport to prove their identity.
3. Pick Your Dream Location
When you don't have a lot of guests you need to considere you can choose to get married where ever you want! On a mountain, next to a waterfall, at your backyard, on a rooftop, in a solitary chapel in the wilderness, on an uninhabited island, in your favorite park, on a beach, that place where you got engaged and so on. Basically your imagination is the only limit! Well ofcourse you have to ask where you can get your officiant to come.
4. Make the Day Special
Beside getting married what else would you love to do together on your wedding day? Again when you elope you don't have to think what your guests want. Instead you may start to think what you want. Because your wedding day is about THE TWO OF YOU!
You can do what ever you want on your wedding day! You can go adventurous and e.g. do canoeing, horseback riding or a hike and put up a tent for the night. Or you can do a city elopement and visit all your favorite attractions and cute cafes, pamper yourselves with a hotel suite and have a dinner in some awesome restaurant. It's all up to you!
Some years ago I photographed an elopement of a super lovely couple who loved sea, archipelago and sailing. They rented an old wooden ship for their elopement and it was so amazing!
5. Book a Photographer and/or Videographer
Last but not least. Book a photographer and/or videographer to document your day.
For many eloping couples booking photo- and/or videographer is the biggest investment for their wedding. Some couples want just photos from the ceremony and then some portraits but I recommend to book a photographer for the whole day or at least half day. Having a photographer around to document your precious memories from the day is the best decision you can make. Those photos and videos are something you can cherish years to come.
What comes to choosing the right photographer for you I suggest you to take time to go trough portfolios of potential professionals and then get to know those whose photos you like most personally. Photographer might be with you all day so it's super important you get along well and feel yourselves comfortable with them.
Meeting in person or having a videocall is a great way to find out if you and the photographer are a good match. I love to meet my couples before booking or at least chat over phone or Skype. That ensures that we are a good match and is the foundation for a smooth and comfy wedding day.
If you feel that I might be a photograher match for you take a look to my portfolio and drop me a line or two.
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