1. Dream up your perfect day

2. Research & Logistics

3. Decision making & start booking

4. Finalize & get ready

5. Start the adventure of your life with the adventure of your life

Step 1 Dream up your perfect day 

Start with visualizing your perfect weddingday including the place and time of the year.
Sit down with your partner in a comfortable and relaxed athmosphere, take a piece of paper and write down all the ideas that come to mind if you think about the most perfect day of your life’s. 
If you could go ANYWHERE in the world, where would you go?

Imagine your day from start to finish: 

where would you wake up?
In a hotel or in an Airbnb? 

Where would you say your vows? 
Would you like an epic view from a mountain into the valley or over the ocean? Would you like to see a city

What kind of activities would you do? 
(There are endless opportunities for unique activities that perfectly fit you and your partners interest and needs like hiking, relaxing on the beach, swimming, paddle boarding, helicopter rides, motorcycle rides… there are no limits, have fun imagining it all.) 

What would you eat? 
What is your favorite date night food? Could you hire a privat chef to cook it for you, do you like seafood from beach restaurants, would you prefer a picnic in nature? 

How would you like to celebrate after you say “I Do!”?
Do you have a party with your loved ones, are you popping a Champaign bottle, are you celebrating in a club, are you celebrating on a yacht, are you desert boarding? 

Once you know how you imagine your perfect day, there are a few more logistical questions you should ask yourself

What is the number one intention of your day?
Is it just the two of you or are you including your loved ones? 

What does your surrounding look like?
Beach, waterfall, Desert, Mountain, city, lake? 

What season is it?
Do you love snow or beautiful fall foliage or tons of flowers in the spring or a hot summer day? 

How long is your elopement gonna be?
Are you starting the night before with a fancy dinner or have a morning after party? Are you eloping at the place where you will be for your honeymoon? 

Is it just gonna be you two or who will attend?
Do you need a permit for a specific number of people, is the place accessible for the less fit attendees (wheelchairs or endurance) 

How will the ceremony look like?
Are there any religious or cultural traditions you would like to incorporate or have you always thought of doing something completely unique? 

What are you wearing?
Will you wear something traditional or unique, are the clothes comfortable enough for your activities around the ceremony, do you need to bring hiking boots and do you still want to bring high heels to put on on top of the mountain? Is it gonna be cold? Do you need to wear thermal clothes under your outfits and what do you use to stay warm? 

Step 2 Research & Logistics

Now let’s get to the nitty gritty of your elopement day and put your vision into action
At this stage you might contact your photographer first, they mostly have elopement planning experience, location suggestions and travel experience to guide you along the way. 

I would love to guide you: 

https://mariekatsoudasphotography.com/home 

If you found your photographer already who is not experienced in planning and traveling,, you might consider hiring a local elopement planner who is well connected with vendors in your chosen area. 

So don’t worry if you hate researching and planning, there are a lot of people who are here to help you. 

 3 Research tips: 

1. Research the location first, to inform yourself about certain weather conditions during the season you would like to elope and also have a plan b if your location might be effected by weather conditions like avalanches, wildfires, floods etc. 

2. Don’t give up and stay positive
   Sometimes things don’t turn out how we imagined, so don’t forget the number one reason you are doing this, it’s about you and your partner committing your love to each other, everything else comes after. 

The wonderful thing about elopements is that they are flexible and spontaneous.

3. Ask for help 
You can ask in elopement Facebook groups, your friends who have been to your dream destination before or even call local guides like park rangers. 

The most important aspects of researching 

1. Marriage liscense

What are the local marriage laws and requirements? Do you need an officiant and a witness? What paperwork do you need? 

(If it is too complicated, you might consider to just get married at your local courthouse to not run into any issues later on, and if you complete the requirements and logistics before you leave for your elopement, you can spend all the focus on your elopement day without any stress, for you your weddingday doesn’t have to be the one on the paper, it is the day you say your vows and commit your life’s to each other in the way that YOU want. 

2. Permits & regulations 

As I said before, you can get married ANYWHERE in the world, however, there are a few places with an exception that have rules and laws that won’t allow you to have any types of events or places where an event is inapprooriate. 

Do you need a permit?

In the last couple of years more and more areas & parks require an event permit and or a photography permit. 
Always assume you will need a permit! do your research on the exact location you would like to have your ceremony and figure out how to get it. 
These rules and restrictions can change at any time without having to notify you. 
Some places also have restrictions on alcoholic beverages.
And of course at any location in nature, be mindful about your environment and bring your trash with you. 

3. Busy seasons and slow seasons

Research if your location is less or more crowded in certain times of the year, you might save money on lodging etc. if you consider eloping at a season that is less crowded by people. 

How is the weather during the season? 
In certain locations, the different seasons can be affected by heavy rains, floods, avalanches, wildfires, tornadoes etc. 
have backup locations for those occasions.

4. Activities& celebration

Do you any to do a first look and is there a location for it? 

Are there great restaurants in the area you would like to try out?

Should you bring a picnic or snacks with you?

What activities do you want to incooperate in your day? 
Do you want to ride through the desert on an ATW or get soaked in a hot spring or jump from a cliff into the ocean (at a safe spot to do so)?

Step 3 Make choices and start booking 

Now that you did your research, you can make your decisions and start booking

1. Pick your Date 
Is there a date that’s important to you? Are any dates more convenient with the availability of your lodging or your photographer? 
Can you elope on a weekday instead of a weekend to avoid crowds and costs in lodging? 

2. Pick your location
What is the general area you would like to elope in? 
You can pick the exact ceremony spot later or make spontaneous decision the day of. 

3. Book your nearby lodging
Check Airbnb, booking.com and other sides to find lodging, the closer to your location, the more streamlined your day can be, but it is not uncommon for lodging to be 1-2 hours away from your ceremony location. 

4. Book your transportation

How do you get to your destination? Do you need to book a flight or can you drive there
Will you need a rental car or can you get around with public transportation like shuttles or ferries.

Step 4 finalize and get ready 

Keep things organized

Have everything together in one place so you don’t loose anything, loose trackers and checklists. I created some simple checklists with the most impotprtant pieces for you, of course you can add other details that are important to you.

Wedding attire and accessories 

• Dress & suit 

Bridal boutiques are stricter with their timelines and some require 6-12 months notice 
If you don’t want the wedding gown price tag or you are too worried an expensive dress would get ruined, there are great choices of online shops with great dresses like lulus or asos
The suit can be easier to be fitted and can be ready in as little as a few weeks.
You might also consider renting a suit for example at men’s warehouse 

• Shoes

When you are out adventuring all day inputs crucial to wear good quality comfortable shoes, you can always carry your heels and his dressshoes in your backpack. 

• Layers

How will the weather be? For winter elopements I highly recommend to wear thermal leggings under your dress and bring a warm coat or scarf that would also look good in the pictures. 

• Jewelry and accessories 

• Gear 

Will you need a good hiking backpack with great back-support

• Vowbooks 

Vendors

• Photographer 

• Hair& Make up

Will you have someone doing your hair and make up for you or will you do it yourself? 

• Flowers

Can you find a florist close to the location and pick your bouquet up the day before? Or are there other details that are more important than flowers?

• Officiant 

Do you need an officiant or are you doing your paperwork beforehand? 

• Private music or private chef or booking of special activities

Finalize your ceremony 

• Purchase your wedding bands 

• write your vows

• Plan your ceremony structure (plenty of time to relax, eat& drink, observe your surroundings. no rushing!) 

• Create playlist with songs 

1 week before

Get packed! Don’t forget your rings or vowbooks and prepare everything you will need for the ceremony like surprises for each other 

Make sure you have all attire and accessories

Check the weather 

Make necessary adjustments and review backup plan options 

Make sure your location isn’t closed from previous nature events, call a person in charge of the location. 

Review and confirm your timeline with vendors 

Pick up your marriage license and legal documents 

The day before 

• Relax

• Hydrate 

• Sleep 

Step 5 Have the best elopement day ever

Enjoy the time spend together, don’t worry about things, even if things go wrong literally one hour before your ceremony, it’s not important anymore! The most important thing is that your partner is with you and you are making a great decision.

Great photos will follow.