How to choose the perfect location for your elopement wedding
You fell in love with the idea of getting married differently, you made the brave decision to choose a different path and opted for an elopement instead of a traditional wedding with venues and ball rooms. You want to get married somewhere epic, somewhere outside with stunning scenery all around you. But now comes the difficult, how do we find the perfect location for our elopement wedding?
It is easy to google “best wedding location in xyz” and get thousand results and blogpost that you can go through and have a look for yourself, which venue is best suited for you traditional wedding but with an elopement wedding this is probably not as efficient as with big weddings. But why?
Simple, by choosing to elope you open up the possibilities to get married everywhere you want which makes it super exciting but also gives you almost endless possibilities. That's why choosing your elopement photographer/planner matters so much as they usually give you a few options depending on the kind of elopement wedding you want to celebrate. But at the end of the day, it is your choice where you want to elope, where you want to celebrate this special day and where your adventure should take place. To make it easier for you, we have put together our best tips and experiences that we gathered over the years of photographing, filming and planning elopements.
Table of Contents Show
1. What is important to us?
We start with the most obvious thing to consider - what do you actually want. Do you want epic mountain scenery, alpine lakes or are you more looking for something relaxed like an alpine meadow or a forest? But not only what kind of landscapes do we want to have as our backdrop but also how we want our day to look like greatly determines where your elopement wedding is going to take place.
For example, if you want to include certain activities like a picnic or sitting around a bonfire at night you might have to look into permits that allow you to do this, as lighting a fire is only allowed at certain designated locations. This can affect your final decision in where your elopement is going to take place.
2. Do we have guests?
Having guests or no guests on your elopement day can also change your final location decision as there are a few things you have to take into account when planning your elopement.
If you are planning to invite a few guests to your elopement and want them to be present during your symbolic ceremony for example, chances are high that you cannot have this ceremony at a location which is too remote or a location that includes hiking for several hours as not all of your guests might be comfortable with doing that.
If your guests are only going to be part of a specific activity on your elopement day, you have to look for an accommodation in which they can stay for the rest of the day or an activity that they can do in the meantime. This means, that your elopement is probably going to take place near a town or city that offers a variety of accommodation options and fun activities.
These are only two examples of how your elopement location could change if you plan to invite guests to your epic adventure.
3. Hiking, yes or no?
Well this is a fairly easy one as it directly links up with the last point that we talked about. If you are a big fan of hiking up a mountain and you want that to be a part of your elopement wedding or you even plan a multi-day hike with an overnight stay at a hut then this of course affect your final decision in where your elopement will be. We usually recommend not going all in and set a new record for highest altitude gain during one of your hikes for your elopement, so choosing a hike that is moderate and still has that amazing X-Factor of taking you to a remote place where you can read your vows in complete silence is the sweet spot you should be looking for.
This means that if hiking is an integral part of your elopement day certain location might be better suited for you than others. And of course this also means that if your are not planning to hike on your elopement day, staying at an alpine hut is not the best idea for you (yes I know, wild guess 😜). But you can still reach remote place without having to hike a single mile and we'll explain this with our next point.
4. What is our budget?
The Alps are expensive, we all know that and there is no point in denying. BUT, there are certain areas that tend to be more expensive than others. For example, Switzerland as a country has higher prices for almost everything compared to most other European countries. This of course means that things like food, accommodation and other vendors from Switzerland are going to be more expensive than somewhere else.
There are some parts in Austria where prices are still high but not as high as prices within the Swiss Alps.
Our #1 tip for your elopement wedding when it comes to budget however is: Couples who celebrate their wedding in ballrooms decorated with hundreds of flowers and having a dinner for over 100 people usually spent a ton of money on that. Only because you opted to take a different route doesn't mean that you don't deserve an adventure of a lifetime and a day filled with activities that you love and that you will always remember. So go ahead and spoil yourself! Ever wanted to do a helicopter ride to see the stunning Alps from a Birdseye perspective? Or maybe have a private chef preparing your special wedding dinner?
Heck yes, do it! You deserve just as much as every other couple celebrating a big wedding does!
But honestly, depending on how big or small your budget is, will affect the choice of your location. That doesn't mean that you can't celebrate your elopement wedding in Switzerland if your budget is not extraordinarily huge, not at all. But you might have to adapt and prioritize.
5. In which season do we want to elope?
We saved the biggest factor for last. Because choosing a season greatly determines where your elopement is going to be. You can probably already imagine why this is the biggest factor. If you want to do a hike or spent lots of time outside, having a picnic or maybe even sleeping under stars, winter is the way to go! Joking, these activities are way better suited for the warmer months of the year, so late spring, summer or early autumn are going to be your choice. But if you are a big fan of those cozy winter days then some locations might be better suited than others.
Most alpine huts and hiking trails for example are closed during the winter season and therefore those locations won't be possible for you elopement. If you plan to have an elopement during this time of the year we also recommend booking a nice hotel/chalet in which some parts of your elopement can take place. This might also affect your final decision on where to elope.
Generally speaking the higher up the mountains you want to go, the more you should opt for the warmer months of the year. So if late spring, summer or early autumn is your favorite season, most locations should be accessible during this time of the year. But if you want to avoid the tourists and the hot weather all together and you have an eye on early spring or maybe even the winter, be prepared that not all locations are as easily accessible and that you may have to be a bit more flexible.
We could have named several more factors that greatly affect where your elopement wedding is going to take place but those five are usually the biggest ones. Just keep in mind that no matter where you will end up, the most important thing is that you spend an epic day with the person you love the most by your side. AND we will help you in finding the perfect spot, as we will be by your side from the very beginning - so don’t hesitate to ask us tons of questions. We can't wait to plan everything for you and to capture those once in a lifetime memories!