Destination Elopements
Destination Elopements That Go Somewhere Extraordinary
Mountains, coastlines, cities, or private villas. You don’t need the location, timeline, or logistics figured out. We’ll help you shape the experience, then make the rest feel easy.
If This Sounds Familiar
You shouldn't have to become a destination wedding planner just to elope.
You know you don’t want a large traditional wedding. You want to go somewhere beautiful and make the day mean something.
But the moment you start looking into it, the planning gets overwhelming. Which location? Do you need a permit? How to get there? What a timeline even looks like? Will it just feel like a photoshoot? Who to trust with the photographs?
That’s the part we take off your plate. We provide the creative direction, the practical guidance, and the photography and videography that turn a vague idea into a real plan, and then into a day you actually get to be present for.
“You choose to do something extraordinary. We help make it feel effortless.”
What Is Included
What every photography experience includes.
Every One-Day and Three-Day experience includes the planning guidance and photography below, so there’s no confusion about what’s ours to handle.
- Location and experience guidance
- Planning assistance designed to keep the process stress-free
- Timeline development
- Support in the lead-up to your elopement
- Photography coverage of the full experience
- Editing of all final images
- Delivery of the completed gallery
- All photographer travel time and expenses
Outside wedding expenses like lodging, permits, transportation, meals, and additional vendors are separate, unless they’re part of a Done-for-You Elopement Experience.
Choose the Story You Want Documented
From $18,000
One-Day Elopements
One extraordinary day, photographed from beginning to end, wherever it takes place: mountains, coastlines, cities, or a private villa. Full planning support included.
From $30,000
Three-Day Elopements
The trip itself becomes part of the story: arrival, the day you get married, and time after to actually enjoy where you are, not just get married and leave.
How It Works
From a vague idea to a day you get to actually live.
01
Tell us what you're imagining
You can inquire even if you don’t have a date or a destination yet, especially if you don’t. Helping you figure that part out is a big part of what we do.
02
Build the experience
Together we refine the location, the activities, your priorities, the timeline, and how much coverage you want. You make the decisions. We make them easy to make.
03
Prepare without the pressure
In the lead-up, you get real guidance: what to expect, how the day will flow, how to feel comfortable in front of the camera, and the logistics handled before they become stress.
04
Be fully present
On the day, we document everything while you focus on the one thing that matters: actually living it. That’s the whole point of doing it this way.
Three-Day Elopements · From $30,000
Some experiences shouldn't be compressed into eight hours.
When you give the experience room to breathe, it stops feeling like an event you’re performing and starts feeling like the trip of your life that happens to include getting married.
- Three days of photography
- Elopement planning guidance and experience development
- Photographer travel time and expenses
- Complete, edited galleries
Popular additions: cinematic film, behind-the-scenes video, and a custom heirloom album are all available to add to any Three-Day experience.
Why Three Days Instead of One?
Here’s one example of how a three-day elopement might unfold. It’s an illustration, not a fixed itinerary; your version is built around what you actually want.
Day One
You’ve just arrived in a place you’ve dreamt of visiting, experiencing it for the first time. We capture the excitement that’s building as this moment is finally coming to life.
You settle in, do some light exploration, dinner, and spend time with the people who traveled there with you.
Nothing overly crazy, but appreciate the awe-inspiring beauty of this destination together.
Day Two
A slow morning being fully present, get ready together, and finally make it official with the ceremony itself.
Explore a stunning location and get couples portraits, but not like a typically photoshoot. This is an adventure together that just happens to be captured on camera.
Later in the day, a celebration dinner as the sun goes down. Maybe a first dance under a starry night.
Day Three
Brunch, then whatever makes the destination worth the trip – something you wouldn’t have time for on the wedding day itself.
A boat, a vineyard, helicopter tour, a coastal drive, a museum, 4×4 adventure, or just wandering the city together as newlyweds.
This is the opportunity to tell the story of your full trip, not just a packed one-day timeline.
Done-for-You Elopements & Micro-Weddings · From $60,000
Want Us to Build More of the Experience for You?
Imagine a private villa, several days exploring the destination, an intimate ceremony, and a celebration that feels curated down to the last detail, all coordinated before you ever arrive. That’s the shape Done-for-You can take, though it isn’t tied to any one length of day: it can be built around a One-Day, a Three-Day, or a completely custom photography experience.
We bring together the right planning, design, and travel professionals, which may include outside wedding designers, planners, and travel specialists, to build the entire experience around you. Dan and Laura bring the photography and filmmaking, creative direction, and planning-guidance process we’ve built since 2017; Done-for-You adds the outside expertise so every part of the experience, not just the photography, is handled by someone who’s genuinely good at it.
The Done-for-You service includes:
- Our photography and creative direction
- Assembled professional planning expertise
- Destination and property research
- Experience and itinerary development
- Full coordination depending on the unique details
The customized experience may include:
- A private villa, château, or resort
- Accommodations and private dining
- Florals, decor, on-location transportation, concierge services
- Curated excursions and activities, a boat or champagne cruise
- A cinematic film and luxury album documenting the experience
Done-for-You experiences begin at $60,000, with the final investment shaped by destination, guest count, lodging, design, travel, and the experiences you choose. It’s built for one couple at a time, and the exact team varies by event.
Explore Destinations
Not sure where yet? Start browsing by region.
Already know exactly where you’re headed? Skip ahead and start your inquiry. Still deciding? These are the regions we’re most established in, and where we’re building toward next.
Adirondacks & Upstate NY
Our original home base: the Adirondacks, the Catskills, Western VT. Mountaintops, dozens of lakes, woodsy trails, and epic overlooks.
Pennsylvania & the Mid-Atlantic
Based near Philadelphia: Pennsylvania estates, the Poconos, and the greater Mid-Atlantic. Rolling hills and hidden local gems.
National Parks & the Western U.S.
Yosemite and the North Cascades, where we’ve photographed real elopements, plus Olympic, the Oregon Coast, the redwoods, and the California coast.
Europe
The Dolomites, Italian villas, the Swiss Alps, French châteaux, even Northern Ireland. Genuinely on our list, wherever the story takes us next.
Worldwide & International
Thailand, remote islands, mountain destinations, distinctive cities. If you can dream it, we’ll help you find a way to get there.
Who You'd Be Working With
Artists when it matters. Planners when you need us.
We are Laura and Dan Pinckard, a husband and wife team who have photographed weddings and elopements since 2017. Laura is the primary creative eye behind the work: the double exposures, the compositions, the quiet emotional frames. Dan handles the planning, communication, logistics, film, and strategy that make the whole thing run.
Part of why we care so much about the experience is that our own wedding photography experience left us disappointed. We know what it feels like to not get that back, and we built our entire approach so that no couple we work with ends up there.
Beyond elopements, our photography journey has given us amazing experiences: our work has been featured in places like Vogue and Insider; we’ve partnered with brands like Nikon and Citizen Watch; and we’ve been asked to speak at photography conferences around the world.
Questions
The Things Couples Ask Us First
Can we inquire without choosing a destination?
Yes, and many couples do. If your answer to “where” is still “somewhere beautiful,” that’s a perfect place to start. Helping you decide is part of the experience.
What's included in our photography investment?
It refers to our creative services, planning assistance, and travel. Every starting package includes location guidance, elopement planning guidance, timeline development, photography, editing, gallery delivery, and all photographer travel time and expenses.
Are your travel expenses included?
Yes. All photographer travel time and travel expenses are included in the starting packages. You won’t get a surprise mileage or airfare bill from us.
Do you help with permits and planning?
Yes. Planning assistance and guidance are built into every package. We help you understand what’s required for your destination and guide you through it as part of the planning process.
Can family or friends attend?
Most elopement couples bring anywhere from no one to a small handful of people. There’s no right or wrong number. Tell us your vision and we’ll help you plan around it.
Do you offer both photography and videography?
Yes. Photography is the foundation of every package, and film can be added as a popular addition, including a full cinematic storytelling film and smaller behind-the-scenes clips.
Can we spread the experience across multiple days?
Yes. The Three-Day Elopement, starting at $30,000, is built for exactly that, because some destinations are too amazing to fit into one day. Multi-day coverage can also be added to other experiences.
How many photographs will we receive?
Every gallery reflects your full experience, delivered as a thorough collection documenting the entirety of your wedding or elopement, rather than a fixed number of images. Our goal isn’t to hit a quota; it’s to give you all the moments that actually matter.
Do you photograph LGBTQ+ couples?
Yes, without exception. Every couple is welcome here. Love is love, and it deserves to be celebrated.
Our own backgrounds shaped a lot of why that matters to us. You can read more about our story here.
How far in advance should we inquire?
Destination and international elopements generally benefit from more planning time, but we regularly work with couples on shorter timelines too. The sooner you reach out, the more options you’ll have.
What happens if the weather changes?
We build flexibility into the plan and always have a backup in mind, so a change in forecast doesn’t derail your day. Some of the most memorable moments come from embracing a change of plans rather than fighting it.
What does Done-for-You mean?
It’s a service model, not a photography package: we bring together the right planning, design, and travel professionals around your One-Day or Three-Day photography experience. It’s fully customized, and can include a private villa, concierge planning, itinerary design, a champagne cruise, private dining, curated activities, vendor and transportation coordination, film, and a luxury album. The exact team and final inclusions depend on the destination and overall vision.
What expenses are separate from the starting price?
In the One-Day and Three-Day Elopement packages, outside expenses like lodging, permits, transportation, meals, and additional vendors are separate. Those elements are coordinated and can be included in a custom Done-for-You experience.
“Dan and Laura are not only amazing and take care of almost everything on your special day, but they are just overall amazing humans. We are so so grateful there are people like them who truly make your day ABOUT YOU!”
– Lili