Secluded Dawn Elopement | Carmel Beach

Alyssa and Cameron discovered a picturesque cove in Carmel-by-the-sea while enjoying a bike ride together one vacation morning. The pair of early risers loved the quiet still of the beach at dawn, and so when their plans for a wedding in Maui fell away in the wake of the pandemic, the couple knew the Carmel cove would be the perfect place for them to say I-do.

The couple arrived for their intimate beach ceremony just as the sun started to rise, a wave catching their feet as they stood together in the sand for photos. The ceremony was officiated by a dear friend (and local meteorologist!) and was sweet and sincere, the groom often professing how beautiful the bride looked. The pair departed the warming beach to cruise along the Pacific through scenic 17-Mile Drive before heading to brunch in Pebble Beach.

Glowing Elopement Overlooking the Water

On a hazy late-afternoon in August, Sybil and Brian said their vows in the company of ten close friends. The sun cast a warm glow off the Pacific as they stood at the cliffs of Lands End.

The couple met at Stanford while pursuing their medical careers (Sybil an ER Doctor and Brian in Biotech), where Brian remembers Facebook stalking her and enlisting his friends to help plot how to ask her on a first date. When Brian proposed in Croatia in 2019, the couple imagined eloping overseas, but once the pandemic hit they knew it just wasn’t in the cards. So they threw the timeline out the window. 

While deciding how to celebrate their anniversary, the perfect wedding date revealed itself. They would wed on their five year anniversary, at five months pregnant! The distinctive ceremony included a dear friend officiating the wedding, the ring bearers delivering candy ring pops, and the San Francisco fog rolling in as the party went back to the couple’s home for ramen.

Danville Backyard Minimony | A Reimagined Celebration

In keeping with 21st-century tradition, Lauren and David met with two simple swipes on Tinder. On the first date they connected over shared values and love of family, and before the night was over Lauren asked for a second one. The couple originally planned a wedding of 150 guests at Concannon Vineyard but had to reimagine their day in the wake of COVID-19. They decided to make it official through a virtual ceremony a few weeks before hosting a small gathering of 15, (16 if you count their pup) at her parents’ home.

Unable to make the ceremony in person, David’s New Jersey family took full advantage of technology and attended the wedding via Zoom call, along with 30 other guests. When the time came, David’s parents were able to give a blessing over the call, and the bride and groom gleefully greeted everyone on screen.

With photos of their childhood, virtual ceremony, and even Tinder profile pics strung up on the fence, the rest of the night included a first dance by the pool and a sweet toast by the bride's father where he entrusted the love, support, and care of his daughter onto David.

Venue: Private Residence Planning and Catering: Evntwrks

Weddings with Intention | Celebrating Your Love with an Elopement

In the wake of Covid-19 and social distancing, couples are considering eloping now more than ever before.

Faced with pressures to hold off on marriage and wait to throw something ‘traditional’, wedding planning right now feels increasingly stressful. Take time to remember that this day is for you and your partner to celebrate your love and commitment. You have the option to shift away from what society often views a wedding to be and move forward creating, gathering, and celebrating in your own authentic way. Eloping doesn’t mean losing those lasting wedding day memories, it means highlighting them.

Buena Lane Photography has specialized in these intimate gatherings for six years, and we’re dedicated to helping you create a day anchored in intention, not obligation. To build new rituals catered to your journey as a couple instead of traditions manufactured for the masses. Elopements open the door to possibilities a large wedding doesn’t.

Focus on the important details, not the expectations

Often, when we hear the term elopement, an image of a couple running to the courthouse on a whim springs into mind. While this is one beautifully spontaneous way of expressing love, elopement ceremonies can also be thoughtfully planned celebrations. They allow you to reflect inwardly together and decide what really matters.

For John and Stephanie it was the small symbolic details. This artistic couple cast out expectations of a white gown or large ceremony and opted for what felt comfortable and right for them. They hand-made distinctive details that were unique to their 10 year relationship. These bespoke touches, like floral arrangements from their own garden clippings, added a layer of reflection to the ceremony.

When you set aside traditional expectations of a wedding you open yourself up to a ceremony bursting with details meaningful to you and your partner, not the industry standard.

Select a date that means more than just convenience for the majority

We often associate dates with feelings and memories. You may have chosen your wedding day based on an anniversary, dating milestone, or maybe the month you met in. Either way, letting your intended date go because it’s not convenient for your great uncle’s cousin (or as a result of Covid-19) can feel heartbreaking. By choosing to elope you can marry at whatever date, time, or location you feel drawn to. If you can’t celebrate without a few special loved ones, plan a secluded gathering or even host your I-do’s over a Zoom call.

For Cristina and Tim, every summer solstice was spent together, from sunrise to sunset. The astronomical day held deep significance for the two of them, so it only felt right that they married on the day, even if it was a Tuesday. With an elopement of close friends and family, the Tuesday evening wasn’t a problem or an argument, it was perfect symbolism.

Elopements can help you build the day most significant to the two of you, without the guilt of picking a date that’s inconvenient for acquaintances. If you first said ‘I love you’ on a Monday in the winter, why not pick a snowy December Monday to say ‘I do’? 

Celebrate at a destination that tells your story

Just as dates have special meaning to our relationships, the places we create memories in leave lasting impressions. A simple street or particular landscape can hold sway over our emotions, linking us to moments lost in time. As couples, the places where we spend our sunny afternoons, first dates, and adventuring weekends weave together our unique story.

For Netta and Oscar, connection to the coast called them to the ocean for their private vows. And Eric and Krista’s intimate reception was held in a historic building where they used to meet on their lunch breaks.

Your wedding day shouldn’t look like a thousand weddings that have proceeded before you, because our relationships are not interchangeable stories that the cookie cutter reception halls try to write for us.

Commemorate your love, your way

This might sound hard considering the circumstances of Covid-19, but letting go of the traditional ceremony followed by banquet reception might open your eyes to new possibilities. It’s common for couples to feel stressed and anxious their entire wedding day, unable to soak in the moments because they’re obligated to visit table after table to greet guests. They are torn between their reserved family sharing loving stories over dinner and their friends laughing on the dance floor.

Diversion from the norm allowed for Madeline and David to throw a three-part celebration over a few months. They started with an intimate City Hall ceremony to honor family, then a weekend away with close friends, and later a traditional Chinese banquet.

Similarly, Anson and Maya hoped for both an intimate gathering where they could be vulnerable and relaxed, and a rowdy Russian wedding to celebrate their roots. So, they held a quiet ceremony along the river beneath El Capitan one day, and a spirited reception on a later Saturday night.

Reflect on what celebrating with your loved ones means to you, how you can best honor your relationships with them. Always keep in mind that you can always hold your ceremony on one day, and festivities with others on another.

Emphasize your love and commitment, not your budget 

The ever-growing wedding industry often places more emphasis on extravagance and ostentaticity than love, connection, or compassion. But the truth is, the money you spend on your wedding day will never solve a disagreement or prove your love to each other. Only you can do that together.

Maryam and Michael felt that the personal, vulnerable moments of vow exchanges needed no documentation. They opted for a completely intimate ceremony with just their family, not even a photographer. To commemorate the moment they arranged a private bridal session with sweeping ocean views, ending the day together, just the two of them, as the sun set over the Pacific.

Now is the time to step back and rethink the rigidity of tradition. Your love is not built on obligation, and neither should your commitment ceremony. Through an elopement, you and your partner can gather and celebrate in ways that feel genuine to your story.

Together, we can create an album filled with lasting memories.