How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement- Ultimate Guide | Iceland Elopement Photographer & Planner
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement- Ultimate Guide |
Iceland Elopement Photographer & Planner
It’s ya girl, Steph here! Bringing you another edition of ‘forget what the world tells you and do whatever will make you happy’. Your wedding is something you can create that makes it feel special, to you, no matter what.
**Clears throat and steps off of tiny soapbox**
Elopements have done a really cool shift in the past few years and I am HERE for it. The fact that they are whatever-you-want-them-to-be now is something I seriously get behind. One of my personal values that I base my entire brand off of is “go against the grain, don’t do things because you should, and have fun doing it”. If your version of fun on your elopement is NOT running away in secret and IS including some guests to not only witness you being a badass on your elopement but so they can also be included in this badassery-
then I say ‘heck yes’ and ‘let me help you’.
But, you more than likely have never eloped before, and furthermore, there really aren’t many resources on how to even go about adding in personal aspects that you want while still keeping the ‘adventure elopement feel’ to your day and trip. I’m here to help you gain some clarity on how to go about this, make everyone INCLUDING yourselves happy, and have the best time in your life.
Below is the ultimate guide on how to include guests in your adventure elopement, by yours truly-
your favorite elopement photographer & planner in Iceland.
(Hopefully. heh.)
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
01. Have your elopement ceremony somewhere that is easily accessible for everyone.
There are almost endless areas you can have your adventure elopement ceremony when having your elopement in epic locations. Something to consider is the accessibility for your guests so they don’t feel ‘left out’ if they can’t make it there. Some logistics to consider when picking out your ceremony spot with your photographer / planner:
Do you have any elderly guests coming?
Do you have any guests that have mobility issues?
How are your guests getting to the ceremony location? One big van or multiple cars?
I always try to make sure that if the ceremony location transportation doesn’t include your guests riding along, to make it a location to easily find, that is beautiful, and won’t have them driving there and back taking up their entire day.
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
02. Bring them along for some of the elopement adventure.
After picking out your ceremony location, you can bring your guests along for some of the adventure! If your guests are traveling for you to witness your marriage, it’s probably a safe bet to say that they are equally as adventurous as you are.
Work with you photographer and planer to include them in some of the location itinerary after the ceremony for some group photos! If they want to jump in some rivers while enjoying their time with you, I say why not.
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
03. Don't feel guilty if you adventure with your photographer for hours after the ceremony, without guests, for epic elopement photos.
There is a reason you are opting to get married outside of your hometown and traveling to a place with beautiful nature- which means you want to explore it! I’m sure part of the appeal of coming to Iceland, Scotland, Norway, Ireland, etc is because the landscapes are TO DIE FOR and you’ve seen elopement photos that made you drool.
Which means, you should take advantage of being in the nature that you traveled all that way for! Your guests will understand if after the ceremony you and your boo want to have some alone time with nature to bask in each other’s presence for the day. You can even bring them to a location or two with you after your ceremony before you take off on your own adventure!
Do not feel guilty about leaving your guests for a few hours, they will totally understand.
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
04. Have a multiple day elopement adventure instead of just one day.
Sometimes couples bring quite a few guests making their elopement more of a ‘micro wedding’ or ‘intimate wedding’. WHAT ARE ALL OF THESE TERMS, STEPH?? I know I know, industry lingo. And to be honest, it doesn’t quite matter. But both involve more than just a couple guests. They are somewhere between the ‘we are eloping with just the two of us on an adventure’ and ‘we are having a destination wedding with the same amount of guests as if we were back home’.
If your elopement is going to have a few handfuls of guests you might end up meshing the ‘elopement day’ timeline with a ‘destination wedding’ timeline. Can we make a name for this? Heck yeah we can, this is my own blog and here in Zakas Photography world- we do whatever makes us happy.
I dub it from here on out:
the ‘adventure wedding’ timeline.
During the newly dubbed ‘Adventure Wedding Timeline’, which I will go into detail below on an ideal structure, you will leave more time to be with your guests than an elopement that only has a few people joining. You might not take off on an adventure for as long with your photographer as you have some guests to get back to and spend quality time with. Because of this, you could make your adventure elopement experience be more than one day! You can plan an additional day of adventure, just you and your new spouse, to play in nature and get those insanely amazing photos of you in the landscapes together enjoying each other’s company.
On this extra adventure day, your guests can do their own thing as you both go out with your photographer for the day. It’s a great ‘meet in the middle’ option to get the feeling of freedom you are probably drawn to with adventure elopements AND giving your loved ones the attention that you want.
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
05. Planning the ‘Adventure Wedding Timeline’ to include your guests.
The ‘Adventure Wedding Timeline’ is still more flexible than a conventional wedding timeline. You still have less guests than a traditional wedding, you still want a taste of adventure in the country you’ve chosen to be married in, and you still want to party with your guests because they are your favorite people. Here is a basic ‘Adventure Wedding Timeline’, which of course, like all elopements, have the ability to be as flexible as you want!
Getting ready for the ceremony with your guests involved in helping.
If you and your spouse-to-be are getting ready separately, you can schedule a First Look to have a private moment together before the ceremony.
Everyone travels out to the ceremony location, getting excited, and possibly popping some bottles of bubbly.
Have the ceremony, everyone cries, and everyone screams and claps when you have your first kiss!
This is where it gets fun! After the ceremony for some candid photos with everyone, you can: have a picnic with some bubbly with them, cut a cake, have a ‘cocktail hour’ type hangout, organize a beautiful lunch together, or just take them with you to a few more locations for some amazing photos together!
If you don’t have a lunch, after some group photos, you can go off with your photographer for those EPIC photos of you and your boo for a few extra hours.
Then come back, party with your guests at a nice dinner, go downtown for some dancing, have a hot tub party at the hotel, go to a dive bar or brewery together. You can do WHATEVER you want.
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
06. Have a romantic and intimate meal together after the ceremony.
This was mentioned in the timeline above, but, a good way to spend some quality time with everyone is to plan a really nice dinner together after your adventure photos are taken. You can even have a nice lunch or picnic directly following if you know you want to have the rest of the day dedicated to your adventure photo session.
Another option is having this dinner the night before or after your wedding as well. If you are in a remote area for your wedding, planning a nice intimate and romantic dinner with everyone at a delicious restaurant in the closest city would add an extra amount of festivities to your adventure wedding with guests.
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
07. Stay in the same hotel or cute AF huge cabin with your guests.
This sort of goes without saying, but, deciding on everyone staying the same hotel or renting out a big, multiple room cabin to stay together really helps your guests feel involved in your special wedding festivities. It also makes it easier to organize everyone in case you go on some group hikes, group excursions, or if you want to wrangle the troops.
Often you can call the hotel of your choice and rent out a ‘block’ of rooms in which they will give you a ‘group discount’ on the rooms. However, they usually only give you a certain amount of time to book the rooms then they will release them back to the public. This is a good way to get people to commit to coming and getting a good count on your numbers for the rest of your planning started early.
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
08. Adventuring with your guests on tours before and after your wedding.
Taking advantage of where you are should be a priority in your trip! There is no reason to travel so far and then not use as much adventure as you can!
Each country has it’s own ‘day tours’ that you can have everyone go on! Here are some ideas to invoice your guests on some adventure with you both before and after the wedding day:
You can hire a small van or small bus to have a private tour with just you and your guests.
You can all go on a self drive tour, together, and hop out at spots for those photo ops.
Having everyone go to a hot spring or geothermal pool together is always an amazing bonding experience.
Finding some all day or even MULTIPLE day hikes, depending on how adventurous your guests are, is a story no one will forget.
Taking a day to explore the nearest city together, grab some lunches, go into some museums or art galleries, shopping, and of course grabbing a happy hour drink.
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
09. Hiring someone who lives in the area you’re eloping to that can help you with ideas and logistics.
After reading the paragraph above are you feeling a bit overwhelmed with where to find excursions, what ones are even good, how to make a self-drive tour, and just not knowing where to start?
That’s a normal reaction and thats exactly why hiring someone who already knows the best places will be so helpful. Some planners or the photographer & planner, might cost a bit more or be an added expense. But, having someone who can save you endless hours of trying to find the best places and not being afraid of letting your guests down by picking something lame, is worth the spend.
Additionally, hiring a travel agent sometimes is the best choice! They have all the deals and can super easily get you everything you need when accommodating guests. And as I have recently come to find out, they are a fraction of the cost I always thought they would be! Win / win!
How to Include Guests in Your Adventure Elopement-
10. Having your ceremony with guests plus officiant, and then saying your mushy, private vows to each other on your adventure.
Something some couples have a bit of a push-pull with is wanting to have an elopement to have an intimate setting, not being in front of a room filled with people, and to be able to open up. However, some people still feel a bit reserved even if it’s only a few people and the people closest to them.
You can have your officiant take charge of the ceremony, making it absolutely beautiful and personal, without you actually having to say vows in front of your guests. You can say some words, some promises when exchanging rings, but you don’t have to spill your guts out to each other with an audience.
When you go out on your adventure with your photographer, let them know you want to say your mushy vows to each other in the privacy of the nature. I LOVE when my couples do this. Not because it makes me cry also, but because it is what I love SO MUCH about elopements. They allow you to just be without having to impress anyone else. So, when my couples let me know this is their plans after the ceremony, I plan out an extra epic and extra special location for them to say their vows to one another to get those emotions going and beautiful photos of their vows to one another.