The Marriage is Better Than The Wedding Day.
It’s true! What comes after the wedding is sooo much better than the wedding itself. You don’t get married to have a wedding. You get married because you want to spend your life with the person you love most. So why wait?! You’re probably reading this because you are wondering how to get married during COVID (or any pandemic for that matter). It’s quite simple:
Have An Elopement
I know that might be a scary thought to you, but keep reading because elopements might not mean what you think it means. To us, an elopement is a wedding day that is planned exactly for you and your spouse to celebrate in a way that is unique and true to you without the focus or stress going to creating an entertaining day for your guests. That’s right, I did say guests because eloping also doesn’t mean just the two of you running off to some far off country (or Vegas) and getting married. It can be a celebration with your very closest friends and family in your backyard, your favorite distillery, beer garden, rooftop or a scenic mountaintop. Elopements are intimate, personal, emotional, freeing and uniquely you. Eloping means being surrounded by love and committing your lives to one another in your own way.
Let me bust the elopement myth.
- You don’t need to go to some exotic location or far off country or mountainous state. You can elope in your backyard, your town or closest city.
- Elopements aren’t just for the two of you, although, that is certainly an option. Elopements are becoming more of an intimate wedding. My brother married his wife in Colorado. Twenty of us rented a huge Airbnb in Keystone, Colorado and hung out all day. They got married in the backyard in the snow and then we took some photos at the local reservoir trail. It was awesome!
- An elopement doesn’t need to involve hiking or anything outdoorsy. You can find a beautiful indoor location with great natural light and hang out, have some drinks, good food and just enjoy one another’s company. No nature or trails necessary.
- An elopement doesn’t mean you need to be in your wedding attire ALL day. You can totally change. We’d still recommend keeping your outfits still distinct enough to be wedding attire. We don’t necessarily want it to look like an engagement session, but you can totally change from a more traditional wedding dress to a more casual white sundress or something along those lines.
So what would an elopement look like in the Philadelphia area? Again, there is so much that you could do! You could:
- Visit the Museum of Art
- Walk across the Ben Franklin Bridge
- Go to Love Park
- Eat at your favorite Cheesesteak Restaurant
- Have a picnic on the waterfront
- Take some photos at Race Street Pier
- Go to your favorite brewery or distillery
- Look out over the city on your favorite rooftop (bonus if it’s also a bar)
- Explore the Magic Gardens
- Hang in a local Airbnb and order takeout (or hire a pro-chef to cook for you)
And I just listed all of that off the top of my head! Imagine if you really thought about it and researched what to do. The options are limitless!
The last myth I want to bust is that elopements aren’t just a 2 hour photoshoot. This is your wedding day! A day you’re going to celebrate for the rest of your lives together. This date will be your anniversary so let’s treat it like it’s more than just a photoshoot. You should experience a day that is unlike any other. One that will bring a smile to your face whenever you think about how incredible it was! Make your elopement day an all day event worth bragging about!
So what does an all day Philly elopement look like? Well it might look something like this (some of these places may or may not be open during COVID):
12:00pm – Getting Ready at a beautiful Airbnb. You might even get ready together. How sweet would it be for your future husband zip up the back of your dress before you to turn around and reveal your dress to him. And then you can help him into his suit jacket and pin a boutonnière on his lapel. That sounds so sweet!
1:00pm – Arrive at Attico Rooftop bar for drinks and lunch
2:30pm – Get the classic Love Park photo in front of the LOVE sign before heading to the Philadelphia Magic Gardens.
3:00pm – Explore the Magic Gardens, take some more portraits and find a spot to share your vows with one another among the artsy and charming backdrops.
4:00pm – Grab some portraits under the Ben Franklin Bridge at Race Street Pier before heading back to the AirBnb.
5:30pm – Have a private chef prepare you a top notch private dinner in the Airbnb while you talk about your future and how awesome your wedding day has been. We’ll even give you some space to have some privacy.
7:00pm – Go to Spruce Street Harbor Park to hammock, play some games, and grab some Ice Cream while taking in the neon lights and waterfront.
8:15pm – Grab a few final epic shots at the Electric Street Mural after dark before returning to your AirBnb and reminiscing on the best day ever.
How awesome does that day sound?! Incredible, right? And those are just the options that appeal to us. We want to work with you to figure out what your perfect elopement day sounds like.
So what does your dream elopement day sound like? We’d love to hear from you in the comments! If you’re interested in talking to us about photographing your elopement, fill out the contact form below and we’ll be in touch with some more info on pricing.
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May 24, 2020
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[…] Well, another year has passed and what a year it was. I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way either. 2020 will without doubt go down in infamy, but there were a lot of positives for us in 2020. For starters, we became an Aunt and Uncle to our nephew, Jedidiah. We also got to celebrate a few marriages and even more engagements, which is what this post is all about. We’re sharing 150 photos from 2020 weddings and engagements. Many of our couples postponed their weddings to 2021, but those who didn’t decided on an elopement. Elopements aren’t what you might think. They’re not necessarily running off to the white chapel in Vegas on a whim and getting married behind your parent’s backs. Not anymore. For many photographers in the wedding industry, an elopement simply means a wedding that is on the smaller end that fully focuses on the couple, and not on the party, the planning, and the pleasing of their guests. It’s simply all about the couple. And while we still enjoy big, traditional weddings, we’ve really fallen in love with the small, elopement/micro-wedding style that has boomed in 2020. It’s freeing for us as photographers and we’ve seen it as freeing for our couples. So if you’re on the fence about your wedding as 2021 approaches and want to talk about how you can make your wedding day all about your love for one another, reach out to us! We’d love to talk. You can also read about our perspective on elopements by clicking here. […]