Journal

The best thing about planning an elopement between Portland and the Columbia River Gorge is that the day can have range. It can begin with coffee and room-service breakfast in Portland, move into the forest for vows beside a waterfall, and end with an incredible dinner back in the city. You can include a hike […]

Crater Lake is one of those places that makes you stop talking when you first see it. The lake is SO blue, the cliffs are enormous, and Wizard Island somehow looks tiny until you remember how far below you it actually is. It is also not a place where I would plan one quick ceremony, […]

I used to live in Southern Oregon, and Mt. Ashland is one of those places that gives you WAY more to work with than people realize. You can read your vows on the mountain with Mt. Shasta in the distance, bring your dog, hike part of the Pacific Crest Trail, and still make it back […]

The best place to start planning your elopement isn’t a location. Before you start scrolling through photographs of Icelandic waterfalls, Oregon coast cliffs, or alpine lakes, I want you to think about something much more important: what would make this day feel unmistakably like yours? I’m not talking about what looks good in photographs or […]

The helicopter landed on the glacier, and suddenly the two of them were standing in the middle of Alaska with absolutely no one else around. No trailhead. No eight-mile hike. No backpack full of snacks and emergency layers. Just ice, mountains, a red helicopter, and the two people who had come all that way to […]

If you have been searching for how to plan an elopement, you have probably found dozens of articles about permits, timelines, vendors, and locations. Those things absolutely matter, and I will help you work through all of them. But after years of planning elopements with my couples, I do not think any of them determine […]

How to Elope in Alaska There is no place in the world quite like Alaska. Mountains rise straight from the water. Glaciers stretch into valleys you cannot reach by road. A helicopter can take you from a comfortable lodge to a place where there are no trails, buildings, or other people in sight. It is […]

Dogs and Beer elopement in Eastern Oregon. You don’t have to ask me twice. This Leslie Gulch Elopement in Eastern Oregon goes down as one of the hottest, most remote and most unique elopements I’ve ever shot.

Leslie Gulch reminds me of Arizona and Utah, only it’s located in Eastern Oregon in the Owyhee Canyon lands. It’s the most unique place and honestly, probably one of my top 5 places in Oregon to spend a weekend. With sandy washes, enormous cliffs, red rock formations, the Owyhee River running through and even secret hot springs, it makes for a one of a kind elopement location for the off the beaten path type.

When Joshua and Andrea said they wanted a ceremony tucked away in the trees, I knew just the place: a Jedediah Smith Redwood Elopement.

Their day took them from a sweet ceremony in the redwoods, to the dramatic cliffs and coastline of Samuel H. Boardman State park to the soft sands of Secret beach for the first dance as the sunset on the West Coast.

How to Elope in Bend, Oregon Bend is one of Oregon’s not-so-hidden secrets, and for good reason. You can wake up surrounded by high desert, spend the afternoon beside an alpine lake, watch the sun disappear behind the Cascades, and be drinking a very good beer downtown by the end of the night. For an […]

How to Elope at Cannon Beach, Oregon Cannon Beach isn’t exactly one of Oregon’s best-kept secrets. People come here from all over for Haystack Rock, miles of sandy beach, moody weather, tidepools, forests, and the kind of coastline that somehow looks good whether it’s sunny, foggy, raining sideways, or doing all three in the same […]

When you get married, you want your favorite people by your side… and sometimes, the most important guest has four legs. Dogs are truly the best kind of friend. They are part of your routines, your adventures, and the life you have built together, so it makes complete sense to want them with you when […]

How to Elope at Cape Kiwanda Cape Kiwanda packs a lot into one relatively small stretch of coastline. Massive sand dunes, yellow sandstone cliffs, long stretches of beach, views across the Pacific, and Pacific City right there when you’re ready for coffee, dinner, a beer, or a hot tub at the end of the night. […]

Secluded beaches, breathtaking views and dramatic rock formations line the multi-mile stretch of Samuel H. Boardman State Park, one of Oregon’s most beautiful sections of coastline and one of the most stunning places to elope. Here’s a complete guide to planning your own Samuel H. Boardman State Park elopement, from your resident Oregon elopement photographer.