The short answer: most of the adventure elopements we photograph land between $12,000 and $30,000 all in, with the trip included. That is a wide range because the trip is the variable. A sunrise ceremony in Joshua Tree two hours from home and a two-week Dolomites expedition are both elopements, and they do not cost the same.
Here is where the money actually goes, in the order couples usually ask about it.
Photography and film
This is usually the largest single line, and the one that outlasts everything else. Our collections start at $6,500 for California and the West Coast, $10,000 for anywhere in the continental US with a cinematic film, and $15,000 for multi-day international trips with a documentary film. Travel is included in each. Across the industry you will see adventure elopement photographers from about $3,000 to $15,000, and the difference is usually planning support, film, and whether travel is extra.
What to ask any photographer: is travel included, is a film included, and who handles permits and the timeline.
Permits
Most national parks require a Special Use Permit for a wedding ceremony. Application fees run from about $100 to $300 depending on the park, and a few charge a separate monitoring fee for larger groups. State parks and Forest Service land vary from free to a few hundred dollars. Private venues set their own fees. We handle the application with you, so budget the fee but not the headache.
Travel
Flights, a rental car, gas. For a West Coast elopement from Los Angeles this can be a tank of gas. For Alaska, Patagonia or the Alps, plan $1,500 to $4,000 for two people depending on the season and how early you book.
Lodging
In-park lodges and alpine refuges are worth every dollar for the early starts, and they book out a year ahead. Plan $200 to $600 a night in or near a national park, more in peak season, less if you camp or stay in a nearby town. Multiply by the number of nights. We recommend at least three nights so the day itself is not rushed.
Attire
A dress you can hike in and boots you have broken in. Couples spend anywhere from $500 to $5,000 here. The best advice we have: whatever you choose, do a real hike in it once before the day.
Officiant and the legal part
Many couples sign the paperwork at home at the county clerk for under $150 and hold the ceremony on the mountain with a friend or with each other. A travelling officiant is typically $300 to $800. Some states allow self-solemnization, which costs nothing.
Florals, hair and makeup
Optional and personal. A small bouquet from a local florist: $150 to $400. Hair and makeup with an early trailhead start: $300 to $800. Some couples skip both, and the photos are no less beautiful.
The celebration after
A picnic on the dunes, a cabin dinner, a reservation in the nearest town. Budget $100 to $500 and do not skip it; it is often the part couples talk about most.
Three sample budgets
- Joshua Tree, one day, just the two of you. Photography from $6,500, permit about $150, two nights nearby around $700, attire $1,500, dinner out $200. About $9,000 to $10,000.
- Yosemite, four days, eight guests. Photography and film from $10,000, permit about $150 plus monitoring, three nights in the park around $1,500, attire $2,500, florals and hair $800, dinner for ten $600. About $16,000 to $18,000.
- Dolomites, two weeks, two of you. Photography, film and planning from $15,000, flights $2,500, lodging $4,000, attire $3,000, transport and meals $2,000. About $26,000 to $28,000 for the whole trip, which is also your honeymoon.
Where couples save
Weekdays instead of weekends. Shoulder season instead of peak. Camping or a cabin instead of the lodge for the nights that are not the wedding. Skipping florals in a landscape that does not need them. And, honestly, skipping the big wedding: the average California wedding costs more than every budget above and lasts five hours.
Where not to save
Permits (the fine and the ruined day are not worth it), footwear, a weather backup plan, and the one record of the day you will keep for the rest of your life.
If you want a real number for your real plan, send an inquiry with the place and the month. We will tell you honestly what it would cost with us, and what it would cost without us.
