ELOPEMENT WEDDING: WHY WE THINK THIS IS THE MOST HONEST WAY TO GET MARRIED
Updated: 2 days ago
When we first started shooting weddings, we noticed something early.
The couples who seemed most present on their wedding day weren't always the ones with the biggest celebrations. They were the ones who had made deliberate choices — about who was in the room, what the day would feel like, what actually mattered to them.
Elopement weddings are the natural conclusion of that instinct.
TWO WAYS TO THINK ABOUT A WEDDING
There's a version of a wedding that's built around everyone else — the guest list, the venue capacity, the seating arrangements, what the family expects. A lot of couples spend more time managing other people's experience of their wedding than actually having one themselves.
And then there's the other version. Smaller. More deliberate. Built entirely around what the two of you actually want.
An elopement is the second version taken seriously.
WHAT IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE
Not two people standing in front of a camera holding pieces of paper.
A real trip to somewhere that means something to you both — or somewhere you've always wanted to go together. Days of exploring, eating well, slowing down. And then, somewhere in the middle of all of that, a ceremony. Small, private, real.
We've done this in Da Lat at sunrise. In Phu Quoc on a quiet beach. In Hanoi's old quarter in the early morning before the city woke up. The location is always different. The feeling is consistent: by the end of it, you've actually been somewhere together, not just photographed somewhere.
You can see what this looks like in an elopement in Bali and an elopement and prewedding in Sapa. If you're drawn to the coast instead, our Cam Ranh beach wedding guide covers the season, the light and the venues.
WHY YOU MIGHT WANT THIS
The reasons vary more than you'd expect.
Some couples are travelers — the trip was always going to happen, and the elopement gives it weight and meaning. Some are introverted and the idea of standing in front of 200 people for the most personal moment of their lives genuinely doesn't appeal. Some want to protect the intimacy of the day — to have something that belongs just to them, before the bigger celebration with family.
And some, honestly, just want to put the budget somewhere it actually matters. No venue rental. No catering for 150 guests. No decoration that gets thrown away the next morning. The money goes toward the experience — the destination, the photography, the dinner afterward.
All of these are good reasons. We don't think one is more valid than another.
WHAT YOU NEED TO PREPARE
Less than you'd think — and more than you might expect.
The logistics are simple. A destination you both care about. Outfits that feel right for where you're going. We handle the timeline, the structure of the day, and how to build the ceremony into the trip so it feels like a natural moment rather than a scheduled event.
What takes more thought is the conversation between you. An elopement ceremony — even a small, private one — asks you to actually say something to each other. Not a script. Something real. That requires a level of openness that not every couple is ready for, and that's okay.
The couples who get the most out of an elopement are the ones who come into it willing to be honest — with us, and with each other.
ELOPEMENT ISN'T FOR EVERYONE
We mean this genuinely, not as a disclaimer.
If you want your family around you on your wedding day — if their presence is part of what makes it meaningful — an elopement probably isn't the right choice. There are better ways to get what you're looking for.
But if you've been planning a wedding and keep finding yourself wishing you could strip it back — if the guest list and the logistics and the performance of it all feels like it's getting in the way of what the day is actually supposed to be about — this might be exactly what you're looking for.
If you want to talk through what an elopement could look like for you, we're easy to reach.
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