Eloping may seem like all fun and games… and it absolutely is! But there is some planning and preparation you may not think about before getting started. If you want to Avoid Crowds On Elopement Day… keep on readin’. Don’t fear because Sam & Bryt are here! LOL y’all we are here to make sure the day of your dreams goes according to plan – and a plan is how it all starts!
We’re going to walk you through The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day. We’re going to share all our tips and tricks of the elopement trade with you throughout this blog. Our years of blood, sweat & tears have set us up to be experts in this kind of thing. Get ready to learn about The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day!
1. CHOOSING THE RIGHT ELOPEMENT LOCATION
Behind the scenes, your photographers (us!) will be working hard to research the heck out of your elopement spot. You will not regret putting your trust in us to choose the right elopement location. We follow The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day and thus do our best to get know the location(s) like the back of our hand by the time of your elopement. It’s important to us that you chose the right location for you.
Our typical go to is a nice secluded spot. We know the popular spots are hot spots for a reason – but hidden gems exist y’all! It’s possible to find a picture perfect spot anywhere – let us and google get after it haha! Spots off of the beaten path are going to be your best friend when it comes to your elopement.
We can’t share all of our secrets here for finding the “hidden gem” spots, because that is reserved exclusively for our couples 🙂 So if you want help finding a hidden gem spot, don’t hesitate to reach out!
2. THE TIMING OF YOUR ELOPEMENT
We aren’t the first to use this phrase, but holy cow does it apply. Timing is everything! Selecting the time of day for your elopement can make it or break it crowds wise. There are studied and documented peak travel times at most big parks and are relatively easy to get ahold of. Make sure you’re taking a peak at those records or asking your photographers to so that your elopement is crowd-free!
What we’ve found time and time again is that sunrise is one of the best best best time to elope. If you’re not a morning person… stick with us here. Optimum privacy, some of the best light of the whole day, and being able to avoid those pesky afternoon storms (especially in mountainous areas!) make convinced you to set your alarm clock for a morning elopement!
3. WEEKDAY VS. WEEKEND ELOPEMENTS
This tip of our The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day may be the most straight forward. On the weekends, what are you doing? Finding ways to unwind or do something fun! For a lot of people, the outdoors is where they turn to.
The benefits of a weekday elopement are bountiful. There are limited people (because everyone is at their day job lol) and the parks/nature areas are clean and untouched from the week. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays have been studied as the best days to elope when keeping crowd management a priority. Elope during the week to save yourself the headache of people everywhere, all at once!
4. SHOULDER MONTHS AKA OFF-PEAK MONTHS
Shoulder months… a fancy slang term for the slow months. The off-peak months of a park are the months to shoot for if you’re looking for an easy going, people-less elopement at your favorite nature spot. Discovering the advantages of off-peak months is the acceptance phase of elopement planning…
OH okay… I don’t have to have a bunch of tourists in the background of my photos! LOL it is so true. Imagine that! Planning your elopement during quieter times of the year leads to less stress day of and more doing whatever you’d like. Who would’ve thunk it.
5. ELOPEMENT SIZE & GUEST LIST
Halfway through The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day and our next tip is a big one. Limiting the number of guests may seem obvious when planning an elopement… it’s basically what this whole thing is all about (avoiding crowds LOL)! Haha, but to be fair.. an elopement can technically include a small number of guests.
The pros outweigh the cons here. We understand the con of not having your favorite people there may be a stinger… but we’re looking at it from another perspective. The pros here are being able to have endless options as far as the location you are choosing to elope. For example, some parks only allow a maximum amount of people to gather together in one place at one time. So they might put a limit of 10 people in one location. Or they might say, if you have X amount of guests, you HAVE to choose one of THESE designated spots.
So when it is just you, your lover, and us, our options are more endless!
6. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE & INSIDER TIPS
Locals know best- use ’em to your advantage! The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day is full of “use it to your advantage” kind of tips, lol. Tapping into the wisdom of locals is how you’re going to get far in planning an elopement in a place you may have not been to before. SO get ready to make fast friends!!
Finding hidden gems and less-known locations is also and insider tip. Not all that shimmers is gold and sometime you gotta do some digging for the real deal! Don’t be afraid to walk and take a hike to find your dream ceremony spot, take a leap for a location, or reach out to someone you maybe didn’t think about (wink wink* back to the local part of our conversation!) and take advantage of all of it.
7. WORKING WITH AN ELOPEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER
This is our time to shineeee! We probably don’t have to tell you too much about how utilizing the expertise of professionals is a good move. Think about! You talk with someone first before adding a pool to your backyard. You want a professional to do your first tattoo… Let the professional photographer(s) – right here y’all! – do their job too! We want you to have the day of your dreams and it’s literally in our job descriptions to help achieve that! 😉
As elopement photographers we also add “planners” to our job description. We help you see your vision come to life! Your photographer should be a vita; part of your planning process, in fact, you can kind of leave a decent amount of the day in their hands! They are in charge of the photos but in reality, they are in charge of lighting of photos (elopement timeline) and who is in the photos (management of the people at your elopement). We also find those secluded spots you’re gonna be obsessed with and help play along with The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day !
8. BE WILLING TO HIKE
Nothing safe is worth the drive (as Taylor Swift says in Treacherous lol) and that has some power to it here in this scenario as well! Hiking to your elopement spot or just extra photo opportunity spots may sound… less appealing to some. We think we can convince you it’s worth it! With The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day – we think of it as the road less traveled by.
Hiking to your spot may mean a few more hours, and out of breathe moments in time (LOL), but these iconic photos last forever. Hiking to a more secluded, less populous area means more intimate moments not feeling like you’re being watched, and more epic backgrounds! Wooohooo!! Like we said, take the road less traveled by – it makes all the difference!
9. SEEK ADVENTURE – USING A 4WD VECHICLE
ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE. The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day is big on adventure and getting out there to find it! Seek adventure during your elopement day – you’r’e freaking doing the dang thing! It takes guts to elope, it takes guts to seek adventure! You’re halfway there.
Imagine this… 4WD vehicles or maybe even jeep rides to get where you’re going on your elopement day. These heavy duty babies can get you to secluded spaces and in record time! For example, cut out the hikes we talked about and rent a Jeep. Get to the sweetest, most awesome lookout spot in town with your rented elopement day vehicle. Getting from one end of the beach to another, driving up a mountain in no time at all, having the option to get back to the Airbnb to get something you forgot – Anything is possible.
10. CONTINGENCY PLANS
Preparing for unexpected situations. You’re not renting out a venue (and keep in mind- if this is how you want it!) and so things pop up. You may have to shift things around to get the elopement location of your dreams. Sometimes weather steps in, sometime Mother Nature herself and a beach is shut down for damage, and sometimes human disruptions! Back up locations are a must.
Having a backup location is crucial for these cases of unforeseen circumstances. Like we’ve mentioned many a times before in this The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day blog. People do their people thing and crowds may be overwhelming and not so picture perfect. That’s okay! Just have a solid backup plan you are happy with.
BONUS: STAYING FLEXIBLE & ADAPTING
Staying Flexible and Adapting is the name of the game. Embracing the unpredictability of the outdoors is a luxury you only get to worry about when you elope! Eloping is so special and Mother Nature is often in control of how the day goes… Keeping a positive attitude throughout the day is so important y’all!
Remember your WHY! Why are you here doing this? You are in love and you want to do something just the two of your… somewhere adventurous and one of a kind! Don’t let that get away from you.
And we LOVE a little rain on your day, it really can be magical!
BONUS: AFTER YOUR ELOPEMENT – LEAVE NO TRACE – THE LAND WILL THANK YOU!
Using Discretion on Social Media might sound strange… essentially signing an NDA with nature? What?! LOL it’s not quite that extreme, but there is some merit to this idea. The importance of sharing responsibly is a key factor in elopement before and afters. Making sure to leave the land better than you found and it and doing your best not to make a new hotspot where people will flee to and to put in nicely – disturb.
Protecting the privacy of your elopement location is something we feel like it not talked about all that much! But it should be. Do Mama Nature a favor – give her the favor of putting on Do Not Disturb when it comes to sharing your elopement. Photos and videos? Share away! If you learn anything from The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day, limit the amount of tagging direct locations or giving away too much about where you trekked too and from.
The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day: Conclusion
WOWZA! The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day vary from big to small things, ideas, and rules. Who knew?! We hope you found this informative and found something that resonated with you here – we pour our heart and souls into our couples and their elopements, but protecting this planet and the spaces we use are a close second!
Protecting the land we use for your elopement and photos, keeping love and adventure are the forefront of your day, be willing to try new things and letting the locals and/or professionals show you the way are some of the tips of The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day we want to emphasize the most. The value of a peaceful and intimate experience cannot be overlooked. Making sure you do your part to know The 10 Best Ways To Avoid Crowds On Your Elopement Day and to do your own research on the side is the most important way to achieve the day of your dreams.
XOXO
Sam & Bryt
