Elopement Essentials: What to Bring on Your Adventure Elopement

Elopement Tips

Maybe you’ve officially decided to elope and you’ve been crushing the planning so far. Yet as your elopement draws near, you’re starting to realize you are unsure of what to pack. Figuring out the packing list for your elopement can feel so daunting. You want to make sure you’re covering all of the essentials. But you also want to be sure you’re not overpacking.

Well, you’ve landed in the right place – here is the Ultimate List of Adventure Elopement Essentials!

elopement essentials for planning your elopement

1. A Hiking Backpack

This will definitely be the MVP of the day. You’ll stuff many of the items below into it! A hiking backpack will allow you to carry all the elopement essentials with the most comfort! Check out your local outdoor stores like REI or Backcountry!

2. Seasonal Items

If you’re planning your elopement during a month or time of day that can be more on the cool side, be sure to pack any seasonal essentials! Maybe a hat, scarf, rain jacket, or mittens will help keep you comfortable during your hike!

3. Hiking Boots

Hear me out here! If you’re planning to hike to your ceremony location, hiking boots, or at least shoes with tread are an absolute must. Hiking to your location will be made so much easier by good solid shoes with tread. If you’re not into the look of hiking boots or shoes in your wedding photos, no problem! You can bring a change of shoes in your backpack for the ceremony.

4. Compass

This is crucial for an adventure elopement! It will help ensure you stay on course and will help you find your way back if you’re lost! It’s never the plan and has personally never happened, but safety is of utmost importance! Other items like a headlamp if you’re hiking before sunrise or after sunset will make sure you’re able to see the trail on the way.

5. Vanity Items

Things like makeup, hairbrush, a mirror, or maybe some hair spray or gel. Things that you’ll find necessary to ‘freshen up’ after the hike to the ceremony location. These items will help make sure you feel your best before the ceremony!

6. Food & Drink

You’ll definitely want to make sure you have water, and snacks in your backpack. If you’re hiking to your elopement destination you never know when you may get thirsty or hungry! Plus, you could pack a mini bottle of champagne, and maybe chocolate-covered strawberries or a charcuterie board for after the ceremony. An intimate toast to your marriage and a little treat to top it off always makes for a lasting memory. (And great photos!)

7. Marriage License (and pens to sign it!)

You’ll want to check the local laws of your state to see if your elopement will be a legal ceremony or a ceremonial ceremony. If the ceremony will be a legal ceremony, you’ll want to make sure you bring your marriage license with you, and a pen so that you can get it signed by your witnesses! Oftentimes, your ‘minister’ and your photographer (me!) will be the ones signing your marriage certificate if your ceremony is a legal ceremony! elopement essentials

8. Ring Boxes

Storing your rings in a safe place is crucial! Especially if you are planning an adventure elopement where you’ll likely be hiking to your ceremony location. You’ll want to make sure you keep your rings in a safe spot, in a secure pocket of your hiking backpack!

9. Vows

You won’t want to forget these! Keep your vows in a secret spot to make sure your boo doesn’t read them before the ceremony! Still haven’t written yours? No problem! Check out my blog for a step-by-step guide on how to write your elopement wedding vows.

10. A Dynamite Adventure Elopement Photographer (THAT’S ME! ;))

Something that will be helpful for your family and friends who weren’t able to make it to your big day will be the photos you can show them of your special day afterward. It’s important to ensure that you hire a photographer that is dedicated to telling the true story of your day, someone who cares about documenting the little moments that made your elopement day so special. Lucky for you, you’ve landed here and found me! >> Contact Me Today To Start Planning Your Adventure Elopement! <<

Ensuring you have these 10 things on your Elopement day, the day is sure to go off without a hitch.

If you’re looking for more resources for planning your elopement, you’ve landed in the right place!

Check out more Elopement Tips ->

How To Make Your Elopement Special
Ultimate How to Elope Guide
How to Plan an Airbnb Elopement
10 Tips for Planning an Elopement
How to Plan the Epic Elopement Timeline of Your Dreams

Elopement Essentials: What to Bring on Your Adventure Elopement

comments +

You know you want to elope,

and you know you want it to be meaningful and adventurous, but where do you start?!

trusted by & seen in

Courtney has a very warm and bubbly personality that shows through her work! She made my husband and I feel SO comfortable throughout the whole day.

We were very confused on how to start planning our adventure and she was there to answer a lot of our questions in the beginning and honestly with a very short time frame! We planned and got married in 6 weeks, because we knew we really wanted her there for our day and that is what she had available! It was a challenge well accepted for all three of us.

Our day was perfect. She captured our true essence of love and laughter and each photo shows it. There weren't very many set up photos unless we asked for them. She just gets you in the moment!

You can absolutely tell that Courtney loves what she does and wants your day to be perfect. She listens to you and really tries to understand you as a couple first and then uses that within her photography skills.

If you are looking for an adventure/elopement photographer I would highly suggest Courtney Lynn. We will be looking at and reliving our elopement forever thanks to her amazing photos. You won't be disappointed!

Amber & Ryan

Courtney was so helpful during the whole process! She helped put together a wonderful day! She really wanted to make sure our wedding was just right for us. She made our elopement perfectly formulated for us, and I can't think of a more beautiful day!

One of our concerns going into an elopement was wanting to have pictures that let us remember the entire day. Courtney was there from start to finish and captured the whole day! Because of her outstanding work, we can share it with our loved ones, and they can experience the event almost as if they were there. We also really appreciated that she captured genuine moments between us instead of making it a photoshoot.

It felt like we were hanging out with a friend, and we think that helped us enjoy our day to the fullest.
If your dream wedding is an adventurous elopement day, I couldn't recommend Courtney more. She went above and beyond and was such a joy to work with throughout this whole experience.

She made us feel at ease and relaxed. Some wedding photographers are all about capturing posed moments that can be really awkward; that's NOT Courtney's style at all. Not only was she down to do whatever we wanted and go on little side adventures, but she made us feel comfortable.

She captured our true personalities and who we are as a couple! When looking at our gallery, our love for each other and our personalities can be seen in each image! She is extremely talented and did a phenomenal job of capturing the beauty of our wedding location. If you hire her, you will not regret it!

Sadye & Matthew

We are SO happy we decided to go with Courtney for our wedding photos! Originally we were supposed to elope in Italy, and she helped a TON with planning things like travel and what our day was going to look like.

Then the pandemic hit and we realized we probably weren't going to be able to go to Italy. So, we decided to change locations to Glacier!

She made it super easy and stress free, and helped plan what our new day in Glacier was going to look like!

Courtney was super easy to spend the entire day with, very friendly and fun to talk to! Even though our day didn't go exactly how we planned due to the weather, we all just went with the flow of it and it still turned out to be an amazing day!

If you're in doubt, just hire her!! You won't regret it one bit and you will get so many incredible photos to look back on your day!!

robbie & Aryton

When my now husband and I started planning our elopement, we were confused to the max. We didn’t know where to start or how to go about planning anything. We knew we wanted to get married in Ireland, but had too many options on exactly where. After doing some research of elopements, I was scrolling on Pinterest and came across some BEAUTIFUL photos taken by Courtney!

Courtney made the process so easy! She is organized, professional, sweet, and so so funny!! Courtney does more than just photograph your day, she cares about you having the BEST day! She helped us plan EVERYTHING! Even down to the little details, like what type of shoes to wear! She helped us narrow down where, giving us her informative opinions on each of our options! She gave us cool ideas that we could incorporate into our special day. No idea was too big! When the day came, we had the absolute best time exploring and getting married! After we exchanged our vows, we went to celebrate at a local pub (Courtney’s idea ;) ). It was a blast!!

Our elopement was an absolute DREAM COME TRUE! I will never be able to thank Courtney enough for making it happen. So for anyone on the fence, swaying back and forth about whether or not work with Courtney on your big day, SWAY NO MORE! You’ve found your person!! My day couldn’t have been any better and my pictures are beautiful and capture the fun we had!!! I can’t wait to work with her again!

Taylor & andrew

"Planning for our day and the day itself would have been completely different without Courtney. We only knew that we wanted to share our vows in the Tuscan countryside and have beautiful photos, and Courtney planned the perfect agenda for that to happen.

She coordinated our timing around sunset, and not only were the photos breathtaking, but the actual evening was too. I remember looking out over the vineyards as the sun set, the view becoming more and more stunning by the minute. There were no moments that felt forced or posed, every shot was comfortable and fun and full of love.

Courtney is such a sweet, kind, fun person and we truly enjoyed spending the day with her. Courtney helped us to turn our dreams into reality, and we hardly had to do a thing. She allowed us to be in control of our day but gently took all of our wants and needs into consideration while making everything happen. Lastly, our pictures are just magical. Courtney is an incredibly talented photographer, and I feel so lucky that we were able to work with her. I would recommend her over and over again to anyone eloping."

Ellie & Zac

"Let. Me. Tell. You. It's not the technical aspects of photography that are the most difficult. It's the human aspect. Remembering that as a Photographer, you may be behind the lens but you are still a human, in front of other humans, in some of the most raw and intimate of moments.

Courtney balances both of these necessities (but rarities) with poise, great direction, and an overall kind calmness that just makes you breathe a sigh of relief. If you've come across Courtney's page and see what you like already, BOOK HER NOW. Don't spend another second looking for another Photographer that doesn't bring anywhere near the amazing light and spirit that this girl brings right here. Thank you again Courtney for allowing my husband and I to marry each other all over again! The images are stunning and I can't wait to blow them up and hang them in our home."

Shannon & Brandon

"Working with Courtney was an extremely easy experience, seamless, positive and obviously fun. My wife and I went on our honeymoon and wanted to surprise her with a surprise honeymoon adventure session.

Courtney worked with me to make that dream gift for my wife a reality. Meeting and posing for a photographer for the first time can be intimidating, but with Courtney it was anything but that.

Courtney is extremely positive and helpful and made us feel very comfortable in front of the camera. She played some of our favorite songs and before we knew we were just having fun and she was catching them every second. Perhaps the best part of our session was that Courtney knew all the characteristic and peaceful places of where we were, which made our photos even more extraordinary.

She kept the focus on my wife and me. When we shared our images with friends and relatives, everyone complimented on Courtney's aesthetics and the emotion she was able to capture. I can't thank Courtney enough for exceeding all our expectations with this photo shoot!!"

NINA & JASON

"Pick her -- she's the best! Courtney is amazing! Seriously! If you're thinking about eloping you should snatch her up to capture your day. She makes the entire experience fun and relaxed plus the pictures just blew us away. I will never forget our magical time in Venice and I'm obsessed with the gorgeous photos Courtney took of us. She's so so good!"

Jami & Tim

Courtney is not only a talented photographer, but she makes you feel so comfortable even though being in front of the camera can be nerve-wracking! She did such an amazing job with our day and if I had to pick my favorite photo it would take FOREVER, because I love so many! Definitely consider her if you want adventurous and beautiful photos coupled with an amazing experience!

walker & mac

PR
EV

NE
XT

Don't take it from me,
Take it from my past couples!

You’re in the right place!

I’m here to guide you through EVERY. SINGLE. STEP.

Let’s toss that’s confusion out the window and focus on how you want to get married!

Let me relieve those feelings of being lost, save you time, tell the story of your day and let’s get started creating a day that you’ll never forget!

So, if you know you want to elope,
but feel unsure on where to start,

contact me & let's get starting creating your dream elopement!

...and you want an amazing storyteller to document your day

SUBMIT

Give me your thoughts on your elopement!*

Tell me about the best adventure you've been on!*

date & location*

Where do you currently live?*

Phone Number*

How'd you hear about me?!*

email*

You & your fiance's full names*

Let's freaking do this!!

Elopement Essentials: What to Bring on Your Adventure Elopement

1. A Hiking Backpack

2. Seasonal Items

3. Hiking Boots

4. Compass

5. Vanity Items

6. Food & Drink

7. Marriage License (and pens to sign it!)

8. Ring Boxes

9. Vows

10. A Dynamite Adventure Elopement Photographer (THAT’S ME! ;))

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You know you want to elope,

and you know you want it to be meaningful and adventurous, but where do you start?!

Don't take it from me,Take it from my past couples!

So, if you know you want to elope, but feel unsure on where to start,

Don't take it from me,
Take it from my past couples!

So, if you know you want to elope,
but feel unsure on where to start,