Elopement Activities for a Unique Experience

Eloping gives you the freedom to do whatever you want and create your dream day. After all, this is the start of your marriage, so of course it should be all about you two! Often couples will ask, “can we do XYZ?” and the answer is always of course! The best part of elopements is that there are no rules! If you can dream it, you can do it. What is your dream day? If you could do anything together, what would it be? We’ve compiled a list of fun, unique elopement activities to make it a day you’ll never forget.

Have a Picnic

Get a cute basket and a blanket and share a picnic together! You can bring charcuterie boards, takeout, or cook a meal together and bring it along to eat while watching the sun set. You can also pop champagne or share your favorite local beer / wine and relax together.

Check out this cute elopement picnic basket too!

Enjoy Water Activities

If you’re near a nice body of water, you can go kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, boating etc. together. Or if you’re an adrenaline junkie like me, you can cliff jump together and enjoy swimming. Elopement activities don’t mean you have to be dry and on land the whole time! There’s nothing like being just married and running through water without a care in the world.

Off-road it’

Hiking isn’t for everyone and that’s okay! You don’t have to be an avid hiker to have an awesome adventurous elopement. Jeep tours, dirt bikes, or ATVs through trails make for epic elopement activities while skipping the sore legs the next day.

First Look

Do a first look, I promise it will be so worth it! I’ll help coordinate and plan the timeline so you don’t see each other until it’s time, and it’s so sweet to see each other in your wedding attire and have a quiet moment together before the start of the day. It’s a real tear jerker on my end as well.

Elopement Activities for a Unique Experience - First Look

Hire a Private Chef

Eloping definitely saves a ton of money compared to a traditional wedding. So why not splurge a little and hire a fancy private chef, and have a gourmet dinner together? It’s the perfect excuse to share in fine dining together.

Stargaze Together

Golden hour is pretty, but blue hour and twilight or a whole other level of beautiful. Stay up late and stargaze, point out constellations and even watch for meteors!!

Elopement Activities for a Unique Experience - Stargazing

Letters

A sweet and intimate activity to share is writing letters to one another. You can do it together the day of, or write them beforehand and exchange during your elopement. Another sweet idea is to have family and friends write you letters, and open together on your elopement day!

First Dance

Just because you ditched the traditional wedding doesn’t mean you can’t still have traditional elements. Share a first dance together and I’ll even play your favorite songs through my camera bag speaker! This is a wonderful way to share a quiet moment together and enjoy being newly married.

Wineries, Breweries, or Bar hopping

Hey, after a day of hiking or doing fun activities, it’s fun to get a drink together. Consider sharing a meal or creating your own beer / wine together at a local winery or brewery, or even go bar hopping. There’s nothing as carefree as drunkenly doing karaoke with your new spouse after a day of fun activities!

Share with family and friends

Elopements don’t have to just be the two of you. We consider elopements anything with 30 people or under! You can absolutely have an adventurous elopement with friends and family in attendance. Or maybe you want to elope just the two of you and still incorporate family and friends? You can share dinner with them later on in the day or the next day, or facetime them after your ceremony! The world is your oyster.

Dessert cutting

Because maybe cake isn’t for everyone. Share a delicious dessert together and cut a pie, cinnamon roll, cookie, or whatever sweets you have in mind!

Elopement Activities for a Unique Experience - Desserts

Light sparklers or Fireworks

A super fun way to end the day, with sparklers or fireworks. Remember to only use sparklers or fireworks in appropriate, safe areas and check for restrictions!

Pop champagne and share drinks

It’s your wedding day and you’re freaking married!! Pop that champagne and share your favorite drinks together. Nothing says newly married like a shower of champagne and toasts.

Elopement Activities for a Unique Experience - Popping Champagne

Get artsy together

Spend some time painting, or writing and playing music together. Or get messy and take a pottery class!

Include your Pets

Bring along your pups or adventure cat and spend the day exploring with your fur babies and new spouse.

Camping or a Bonfire

Don’t want the adventure to end? Go camping! End your elopement with a bonfire, smores, and some good music. You can stargaze, and enjoy a hot cup of coffee as the sun rises. This is especially fun for a multiple day elopement!

Elopement Activities for a Unique Experience

Cook together

Get an airbnb and scour for some delicious recipes. Cooking together is a fun way to spend quality time together after a long elopement day, and wind down with some good food. Or hey, maybe you could make breakfast together, and start the day with some pancakes and coffee while getting ready.

Get tattoos

A badass way to commemorate the day is to get matching tattoos together.

Relax!

Most importantly, remember to make time to relax. This is your wedding day, and should be enjoyed, not rushed. Be sure to soak up every precious moment and really feel the emotions of the day, and create memories that will last a lifetime!


Hey friend! I’m Corinne, an elopement photographer + guide to your dream day. I’m so excited for you to break the expectations of traditional weddings, and choose to share a meaningful wedding experience instead. I believe in documenting elopements & intimate weddings in a heartful and honest way, to gives you imagery that reflects your hearts. If you need help planning your elopement activities or don’t know where to start, let’s connect and I’ll help you craft a wedding day you’ll never forget.

Elopement Activities for a Unique Experience

Hey! I'm Corinne, an adventure elopement + intimate wedding photographer based in Indiana, but documenting love stories across the U.S. I believe in documenting the start of your marriage in an honest and emotional way that reflects your legacy. So that you can look back on photos fifty years from now with the same emotions of the moment flooding back. Let's take the road less traveled by together and craft your dream wedding day!

When I'm not documenting sweet couples, I spend my days with my sweet husband, Jake, two kitty babies and a crazy dog in our hometown of Fort Wayne. I'm obsessed with hiking and finding new trails, Game of Thrones, and creating art.

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  3. […] Incorporate traditions you want – You can have a first dance by firelight, pop champagne, walk down an aisle, share a toast with friends, or create your own new traditions! If you need some activity inspiration, check out Elopement Activities for a Unique Experience […]

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