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Adventurous Wedding Photography Guide

If you’re like us, you love the beauty of the outdoors and are inspired by adventure. You love the way your partner challenges you and how much fun you have together. You’re not afraid of rain or to get your dress dirty for the sake of making memories. (Cue the adventurous wedding photographer!)

Marriage is an adventure and the wedding is just day one. We want to create timeless images that will remind you of the bond you share, the places that inspire you, the community that supports you, and the fun you had. In short, we care about your experience.

We specialize in adventurous wedding photography using epic landscapes as the setting for love story. Whether you’re eloping on a mountaintop or gathering with all of your loved ones somewhere important to you, we want to help capture your day.

adventure wedding photographer
adventure wedding photographers

Adventure Wedding Guide

Your love is an adventure, your wedding should be too. Below you will find an adventure wedding guide to help you through the process of envisioning your adventurous wedding or dream elopement experience. Enjoy these adventure wedding ideas to kick start your planning.

Wedding planning can be stressful whether you’re going the traditional route, looking at an intimate wedding, or planning your dream elopement to exchange vows. Sure, other people’s expectations can be brutal but so can your own! As adventure elopement photographers and traditional wedding photographers for adventurous couples, we’ve seen it all.

We’re more than just “wedding or elopement photographers.” Our main job is actually to help you have a great wedding experience aka ADVENTURE. (Which secretly results in the best wedding or elopement photos!) Which is why we help you focus on the best part of getting married: LOVE!

adventure wedding photographer

What is adventure wedding photography?

What is an adventure wedding? It’s your love story complete with your characters, setting, and plot. An adventure wedding is really just a wedding with more adventure mixed in to your average wedding day.

For come couples adventure weddings might mean climbing a mountain an exchanging vows on the summit. To other couples adventure weddings might mean taking their guests white water rafting before a luxurious ski resort wedding.

We’re not big on rules, we’re big on love! Want to add a dash of adventure to your traditional wedding? We can show you how. Ready to climb a mountain and exchange vows underneath the stars with an adventure elopement photographer? We’re there.

adventure wedding photographers

Why choose an adventure wedding?

Back in 2011 when we started our photography business, adventure weddings didn’t really exist. All we knew is that as photographers we had a knack for telling adventurous stories. As a couple, love and adventure were our most important values.

We started marketing as an adventure wedding photographer team because we wanted to attract couples that had similar values to us. We personally had a somewhat traditional wedding at a wedding venue so that our grandparents could attend. But we had that wedding at the entrance to a National Park where we loved to hike and rock climb and we made our friends and family hike with us on the morning of our wedding.

If adventure is a big part of your life, then it can be the theme of your wedding. That can mean an epic adventure for your elopement day or simply adding a little adventure to your traditional big wedding. Whatever you decide to do, your wedding day should be a memorable experience that helps you kick off the marriage ahead.

adventure wedding photographers

Any Wedding Can Be Adventurous

Don’t be intimidated by what you think an adventure wedding is. Sometimes its hiking in your wedding dress and sometimes it just means finding ways to add a little more adventure to your wedding day. Let us help!

In the next section, we’ll talk about planning your wedding. You might want to start by working through our free downloadable guide: How to Prioritize Your Planning so Your Wedding is a Memorable Adventure. The guide will walk you through figuring our your priorities for your wedding day so that you can make decisions that align with your values.

We’ve seen couples have an adventurous vow exchange somewhere epic and then head to a more traditional reception the next day or even next week. Other couples have driven their families up a mountain in the middle of nowhere. The options are endless and you can plan the right balance of adventure wedding ideas for you.

adventurous wedding photography

Planning Your Adventure Wedding Ideas

Let’s dive into planning your adventure wedding. We’ll start with the engagement shoot and work our way through to the wedding day itself. Again, if you remember to think back to your priorities and values throughout the planning process it will help you avoid getting derailed.

 Yosemite Wedding Photography
adventurous yosemite engagement

Kick Things Off with Adventurous Engagement Photography

Adventurous engagement photography is a great way to kick of the epic adventure that is your wedding and marriage. Since an engagement session is just you and your photographers, there is a lot of flexibility to plan for adventure. There are less time constraints than on the wedding day which opens up options for locations.

Engagement shoots make great adventure sessions because we have the time to hike somewhere absolutely stunning in order to get those epic shots that you’ll cherish forever. It’s also a great way to get an idea of how much adventure is realistic for your wedding day. For example, doing your engagement photos in a national park will help give you an idea of what’s involved in a national park wedding.

adventure wedding photographer

Typical Wedding Planning Details

Like with any wedding you’ll need to set a budget, create a guest list, and hire wedding professionals. You might also need to consider permits if you’re getting married somewhere like a state or national park. Once you decide who is invited, that helps narrow down your location choices too.

You’ll want to thing about the ceremony itself and your vows, readings, or other symbolic gestures. You might think about keeping your decorations on theme with adventure. If you are having guests you’ll need to provide information about logistics, accommodations, and transportation.

From there it’s about planning memorable moments. Maybe you plan adventure activities for everyone or just yourselves.

adventurous wedding photographers

Choosing Your Adventure Wedding Destination.

Based in Evergreen, we work as Colorado destination wedding photographers and tour guides. After-all, many of our couples are coming from out of state and need a little help planning. We still serve clients throughout California and other adventure wedding photography destinations.

We do our best to keep our travel fees minimal so that you’re investing in wedding photography. Need help with timeline planning, finding beautiful landscapes for adventurous photos, or how to balance your dream adventure with family pressure? We can share wisdom from over ten years of experience watching couples get married.

Our experience with location scouting and trip planning everywhere from Colorado, California, and Utah to the Pacific Northwest, means with can assist you with things like the wedding timeline so that you get the pictures you want without the stress. Check out our destination wedding photography guide.

adventurous wedding photography

Our Favorite National Park Adventure Wedding Locations

Our Favorite Colorado Town Adventure Wedding Locations

  • Vail, Colorado is a well known destination with access to some pretty epic wilderness.

  • Breckenridge, Colorado is a more laid back mountain town with beautiful passes to explore.

  • Telluride, Colorado is what we call epic and great if you really want to get out there.

  • Crested Butte, Colorado is another stunning location and a less crowded mountain town.

  • Evergreen or the Front Range is a great choice if you’re from out of state and worried about time or altitude. The season is also longer if you want a non-summer wedding or elopement.

adventurous wedding photography

Planning for Weather and Logistics

The main factor to keep in mind is that you want an adventure. That means that despite all of your planning and preparation, part of an adventure is that you can’t control everything. One thing we can’t control is the weather.

However, we can plan for the weather and all of the other logistics involved in getting married in a remote location. It just takes a little foresight to know what you need. Note that the more people you add the more needs you’ll need to take into consideration.

As you make your plan, you’ll determine what you need to bring with you. Layers for warmth, water, and snacks. Those are the main considerations but we’ve also seen couples bring cakes and champagne glasses to National Park parking lots.

adventure wedding photography

Planning the Schedule

If you’re having an adventure elopement, your photographer will likely double as a wedding planner. As photographers we often help plan the schedule of the day based on priorities. If you have wedding guests to plan around, that’s a big factor.

Otherwise we generally plan around the best light for the best photos. Luckily sunrise and sunset are not only stunning but less crowded at most locations too. You’ll want to plan for the ceremony itself followed by exploring a few locations for portraits.

From there, you’ll plan any other events you want to incorporate into your day such as cutting a cake, sharing a first dance, or having a meal. If you’re having a more typical wedding, then you’ll want to fit the adventure in around the needs of the rest of the day.

adventure wedding photography

Adventure Wedding Attire

The main considerations when it comes to wedding attire are footwear and layers. Despite the fact that you see brides in thin dresses on frozen lakes in winter, the elements can be harsh. Wear shoes that you can hike in, you can always bring heels to change into or wear at your reception.

You’ll want layers to keep you warm when you’re not taking photos and you’ll want lots of hairspray in case its windy. Other than that, adventure weddings are pretty fun because you dress fancy like a wedding but you’re somewhere epicly beautiful on an adventure.

If you have guests, it’s important to communicate to them how much adventuring to expect. You might consider telling them what shoes to wear and jackets to bring. People might not expect to need botts on your wedding day.

Next Steps

After the adventure wedding, it’s time to plan an adventurous honeymoon!

adventure elopement photography

Looking for a wedding or elopement photographer?

Elopement day, intimate wedding, or big bash, we love them all and can help you find the right level of adventurous wedding photography for your big day. We’re easy going and approachable, our goal is that you feel comfortable and your stress levels do down when we arrive. We want your wedding experience to be the focus, that’s where great photos come from.

We’ve been shooting adventure weddings since before it was even a thing. It’s the precious moments with your closest friends, it’s saying I do to your best friend, it’s having an amazing adventure surrounded by all of your loved ones or just a photographer. Contact us, we’re not afraid to follow you off the grid to explore your favorite ridge-line or for unforgettable mountain wedding photos.

If you’re looking for adventurous wedding photography we would love to connect. Based in Evergreen, CO we travel to help you celebrate. View our Colorado wedding and elopement packages on our pricing and FAQ page or reach out and we’l help you build something custom to fit your vision. 

adventurous elopement photography

More Wedding Planning Tips

Need more wedding planning help and adventure wedding ideas? Check out our Wedding Planning Tips such as these outdoor wedding photography ideas or the best places to elope in Colorado. Check out these popular posts to help your wedding day be an adventure.

Sample Adventurous Wedding Ideas:

Telluride Colorado Wedding

Wedding Portrait Session in Rocky Mountain

Summer Crested Butte Wedding

Breckenridge Colorado Elopement

Wedding in Sequoia National Park

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We are Marc and Brenda Bergreen, a husband and wife photography team specializing in mountain wedding photography and other adventures.

Check out the blog for everything from sample shoots to marketing tips and this wedding settings guide.

Don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know how we can help with your photography needs!

In the meantime, remember to…

love adventurously bergreen photography

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