First off: it’s a myth that elopements can *only* involve the couple. If having a handful your loved ones present when you get married to you is important, we will find a way to get your loved ones there! We've found wheelchair accessible mountain side overlooks for grandoarents, toddler friendly hikes for busy parents, and first-time hiker friendly forests, and of course, dog-friendly trails for your pet family members to come along too.

The good new is that there are a ton of different ways to include your loved ones into your wedding celebration, and it doesn't have to be either A) just you and your spouse eloping in secret or B) a miserably large traditional wedding in a ballroom. We built our entire mission around helping couples find ways to incorporate their beloved communities into their adventurous wedding plans, and it's a topic we're both passionate about and pretty knowledgable in, after almost a decade of seeing how couples come up with clever, unique, and fun solutions to include their loved ones in their elopement.

Below is a list of all our best ideas & tips on how to include your friends & family in your elopement day!

The key here is to honestly assess your loved one's abilities, their outdoor experience, and their overall personality and how they approach a challenge or a new experience. Are they the type to find a bit of adventure fun, or are they the strictly indoorsy type? We don't want to drag anyone along to your elopement who doesn't enjoy the process, so be honest with yourself and with your loved one to determine if they'll really be a good fit to come along for this event. Sometimes if you're not sure, just ask them. They might surprise you!

You can have your loved ones either close at hand during the ceremony or you can exchange your vows privately at a different time in the day, and just meet up with them for some celebration afterwards. Some couples choose to have multiple ceremonies in their wedding day. They'll have one that's more private, more like an elopement, or attended only by their closest, and then one ceremony that's larger, maybe featuring less personal vows, or a different set of cultural traditions.

A really sweet option we've seen couples do is to have your family & friends write letters or postcards & then read them together on your elopement day. If your loved ones aren't partial to verbal expressions of affection, then you can still bring them along in the form of momentos, hand made crafts or baked goods they sent you with, a recording of a special piece of music, or a piece of your wardrobe that means something, like a family heirloom.

For the more technologically inclined, you can always video call them (if you have cell service) or record your ceremony or a short hello video on your phone to send later. Or, conversely, some couples have their loved ones record videos of themselves that the couple can play on their elopement day, as a sort of video letter.

And of course, you need someone to snap a couple of great shots on your phone to share same-day, we’re always happy to do that.

For ways to share your elopement experience once you're back home, you can host a watching party of your elopement video/photos, share your sneak peek images, or send out some really awesome christmas cards.