Elopement with Family: The Top 3 Ways to Include Family in your Adventure Elopement

SO if you’ve stumbled upon this page, you’re probably in LOVE with the idea of an adventure elopement, but you are torn because you also want your family there on one of the most important days of your life… right? Well I’m here to tell you that YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE. So many eloping couples include their closest friends and family with them on their elopement day- so you can too!

Phew! Hopefully that was a relief to hear, now the question is.. how do you include family on your day? There really is no right answer to this question, your guests should be involved in your day as much or as little as you want them there. BUT to give you some ideas, here are 3 different ways to include family in your adventure elopement:

Keep reading to learn the top 3 ways to

↓ have an elopement with family ↓

1. Two-Day Elopement

If you LOVE the idea of having it be just the two of you adventuring around on your wedding day, but also know that your family would be heartbroken not to be there when you get married (or a piece of you knows you want them there), there’s no reason to have to settle for one or another!

A two-day elopement is the perfect solution to balancing the adventurous elopement you want while also celebrating with friends and family.

What do I mean when I say two-day elopement? It basically means you’re splitting your wedding festivities into two days. One day is your ‘just us’ adventure elopement experience, while the other day is meant to celebrate and have your wedding day with friends and family! Each day can be designed however you want, but typically couples who want a two day adventure elopement will save certain parts of their wedding day for the elopement portion (saying vows privately, having a first dance, adventuring/hiking/exploring, popping some champagne etc) and then save other moments for the intimate wedding day with their friends and family (such as a small ceremony at an accessible location and a meal/dance party/reception styled celebration).

Two-day elopements are the perfect way to balance that stress free adventure elopement experience while celebrating your wedding day with the people you care about most in this world. They give you the time & space to be present in the moment with your significant other, and not have to choose between the wedding day you want and celebrating with your closest friends and family.

Here’s an example of a two-day elopement timeline for a sunrise adventure elopement & an intimate wedding at a National Park Viewpoint w/ a reception the next day:

Day 1: Sunrise Hike Adventure Elopement

4:15am: Arrive at Trailhead

4:30pm: Start Hiking Up

6:00am: Arrive at Viewpoint, Start Getting Ready/Dressed

6:35am: Set up First Look

6:45am: First Look & Watch the Sunrise

7:00am: Sunrise & Golden Hour Photos

7:45am: Make some coffee, explore & scout out a location to say your vows

8:45am: Private Vow Ceremony

9:15am: Exploring/Adventuring, Photos, Head to second location at the lake for your Picnic

10:15am: First Dance & Champagne Pop/Toast

10:45am: Picnic w/ charcuterie board, desert, mimosas

11:45am: Hike Back Down

1:15pm: End Photography Coverage

***then spend the evening relaxing just the two of you at a private airbnb, have a ‘rehearsal dinner’ with family as they arrive, or plan to hangout with family/friends after a midday nap

Day 2: Ceremony & Celebration w/ Family

1:00pm: Getting Ready with family, First Look with Dad

2:00pm: Head to Ceremony Location at National Park (accessible location near parking lot)

2:30pm: Set up Ceremony

2:45pm: Ceremony

3:15pm: Family Photos

3:45pm: Champagne Toast & Snacks with Family

4:00pm: Head Back to Airbnb

4:30pm: Cocktail Hour w/ family 

5:00pm: Dinner & Speeches

6:00pm: Dancing (father-daughter, son- mother etc.), Cake Cutting, & Party!

7:00pm: End Photography Coverage

**note: these days can be done in whatever order feels like a better fit for you. Some couples want their adventure elopement first so they can have their time alone and celebrate with each other first and then be with family. Other couples will have their intimate wedding celebration first and then go off on their adventure elopement the second day so they can relax and not have to worry about being anywhere the next day- it totally depends on what’s the best fit for you two! (Other things to think about are if you want to drink/party with family, you don’t want to be hungover and miserable if you want to elope the second day - or if you’re wearing one dress, it will almost 100% likely get dirty during your adventure elopement so are you okay wearing a dress with dirt on the bottom the second day or will you bring a different dress for your intimate wedding)

2. 50/50 Split

If you don’t feel like you need the full ‘just us’ adventure elopement experience, another option is to split your day in half with time spent adventuring just the two of you and time spent with family. I like to call it the 50/50 split, but really it just involves splitting the day up to balance both time with everyone and time alone, meaning you could split it 50/50, 60/40, 30/70… etc.

This type of split is a great fit for couples that want to share the majority of your wedding day moments with family, but take a few hours alone to themselves. Typically couples who split the day up have a much shorter adventure elopement, like a 1 mile hike or a roadtrip to a few beautiful viewpoints in the park. 

This alone time can be taken whenever you want during the day. The most common times are: 1. In the morning (whether that’s a sunrise hike, or morning adventure), while everyone is either sleeping or getting ready and then you come back for your ceremony with everyone
or
2. you get ready with friends and family, have your ceremony, and then head off alone for a short adventure before your celebration/reception with everyone. While you two are adventuring, your family can head back to change, take a quick break, have their own cocktail hour, or set up for the reception/dinner for when you get back. 

You can save certain moments when it’s just the two of you such as a first look, saying your vows in private, having a first dance, or just taking the time to be together alone on your wedding day. 

There are so many different ways to plan this type of elopement experience but here is a 10 hour timeline with this type of split:

(note: this couple’s ceremony location was a 1 mile hike each way to get to because their guests were all able bodied and loved to be outside. If you have older family members who can’t hike, a lot of couples will pick a ceremony location that is super accessible, National Parks have plenty of amazing viewpoints near parking lots that are great alternatives to hiking)

 50/50 Split Timeline:

12:00pm: Begin photography coverage, getting ready photos with families, detailed photographs, any first looks (initial reactions when seeing you) w/ friends or parents etc.

1:00pm: Head to Ceremony Location

1:30pm: Arrive at Trailhead

1:45pm: Start 1 mile hike to ceremony spot

2:30pm: Set up Ceremony

2:45pm: Ceremony

3:30pm: Family Photos

4:00pm: H’ordeuvres, champagne toast, hangout with family

5:00pm: Say Goodbye to Family, Quick Break, Hike to Sunset Location

5:45pm: Golden Hour Photos & Exploring

7:45pm: Hike Back to Car

8:30pm: Drive to Airbnb & reception

9:00pm: Cake Cutting, Speeches, Celebrating

10:00pm: End Photography Coverage

Related: Looking for some more inspiration for this type of elopement? Check out this PNW Elopement mixed with family & a ‘just us’ experience

3. Intimate Adventure Wedding

If you don’t feel like you need that ‘just us’ alone time and want to have your guests there for your whole adventure, then a more intimate wedding style elopement would be a great fit! This typically has your guests around while you’re getting ready, at the ceremony, and at your celebration/reception afterwards. It’s similar to taking a more traditional wedding, but on a more intimate scale, and typically at an adventurous location. A lot of couples who do this intimate wedding style of adventure elopements will have their ceremony in an adventurous location (at a National/State Park), and then rent out a big Airbnb/cabin for a backyard styled celebration/reception/dinner!

Here’s a sample timeline for this type of elopement:

Intimate Adventure Wedding Timeline:

12:00pm: Getting Ready w/ friends & family, first look w/ parents, detail shots

1:00pm: Head out to Ceremony Location w/ significant other blind folded & Wedding Party

1:30pm: Set up First look in the park 

1:45pm: First Look 

2:00pm: Hang out with Friends, Explore, Mimosas

2:30pm: Head to Ceremony Location

2:45pm: Meet up w/ Family, Set up Ceremony

3:00pm: Ceremony

3:30pm: Family Photos

4:15pm: Head Back to Airbnb

4:45pm: Cocktail Hour in the Backyard w/ games & fire-pit

5:45pm: Dinner & Speeches

6:45pm: Cake Cutting, Dancing, Party!

8:00pm: End Photography Coverage

And there you have it!! These are the best ways to include family in your adventure elopement! My last piece of advice is remember there is no ‘right’ way to get married, it’s about picking what will make you happiest and what feels like the best thing to do for the two of you. When figuring out what type of day you want, ask yourself this, “if there were no other opinions related to your wedding day (besides you and your partner’s) how would you choose to get married?” and make sure to make that a priority in what your day looks like.

Looking for more elopement inspiration? Check out this Lake Tahoe elopement with family!

LOOKING TO START PLANNING YOUR ADVENTURE ELOPEMENT?

THAT’S WHAT I’M HERE FOR!

HEY, I’M AMANDA.

I’m an adventurous travel elopement photographer who believes in experiencing all that life has to offer. I truly love connecting with my couples and capturing their relationship authentically and genuinely.

I BELIEVE YOUR WEDDING DAY SHOULD BE AS ADVENTUROUS, AS BREATHTAKING, AND UNIQUE AS YOU WANT IT TO BE.

Life is made up of moments, and when we are old and wrinkly, I want you to look back on life and remember all of the crazy & amazing memories you had, not the things you owned.

I work with couples to help their perfect adventure elopement! From picking the perfect elopement spot, creating a timeline, finding where to stay, obtaining proper permits & licenses and so much more!

MORE FAMILY ELOPEMENT INSPIRATION…

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