I know what you might be thinking… a timeline… for an elopement… ?!?!?! (lol) Elopements have traditionally been looked at as a spontaneous adventure but it’s becoming more and more common to plan your elopement out ahead of time. 

After all… you are getting MARRIED! And it’s still a big deal no matter which way you slice it. So I want to get into the topic of creating a timeline of your wedding day because I know it sounds kind of weird and might even add a twinge of stress to think about adding a lot of structure to your elopement day. I totally feel this because I’m currently planning my own elopement and my photographer has begun the conversation of creating our timeline! We want our day to feel spontaneous and stress-free so I’m going to take you through MY process for creating a timeline while eliminating the stressors of a strict schedule.

When you book a photographer, you typically book them for a certain number of hours. We’ll use a 4 hour timeline as an example! 

So you’ve booked your dream photographer for 4 hours on your elopement day… now what? First, you should sit down with your fiance to talk about priorities for coverage. What are the MOST important moments that you want captured that day? Private vows? Golden hour portraits? First look? Family portraits (if family is invited)? From there, you can better figure out step #2.

Step #2 is to think about the time of day you want all of this taking place. Sunrise? Sunset? Mid-day (better make sure it’s shaded if you want mid-day haha!)? I have a blog HERE that talks more about what your photos will look like depending on the weather + time of day. You should also consider this: are you a morning person or an evening person? If you absolutely hate waking up early, then a 3 am wake up call for a sunrise elopement doesn’t sound appropriate. Once you and your fiance have established what time of day you’ll be happiest + most energized, you can move on to step #3!

Now that you know your priorities and time of day, you can work with your photographer to simply organize your priorities to fit within the 4 hours of coverage. Your photographer will be able to tell you approximately how long you’ll need for each priority you have and you can plan accordingly! I’ve found that once it was organized by priority, the word ‘timeline’ wasn’t so scary or stressful. 

Here’s an example of a loose 4 hour timeline with the couple prioritizing first look, vows and portraits during golden hour:

3:00 pm Photographer arrives at Air B&B and takes photos of bride finishing getting ready

3:30 pm First look between bride & groom

4:00 pm drive to elopement location

4:45 pm Bride & Groom exchange vows, rings & first kiss (you can self-solemnize in Colorado)

5:00 – 7:00 pm Various types of portraits in the area including champagne pop and charcuterie board

See, not so bad! Elopement timelines can be as simple as you want them to be. If we work together I will be SURE to make this piece of planning as smooth as can be!