Plan the Perfect Vermont Elopement
You’re ready to throw tradition to the wind and instead of planning a big, stale affair you’d rather elope in Vermont. Now you’re looking for a Vermont Elopement Photographer and expert! The state of VT has unreal mountains and waterfalls and lush forests. The towns are idyllic havens of New England charm, and the state parks and national forests are home to some of the most stunning views in the country.
Let’s get started planning your perfect, adventure wedding day.
Why Elope in Vermont?
Vermont is one of the most captivating elopement locations in the country as it has so many stunning landscapes to choose from. From waterfalls to mountain ranges, it is considered one of the best places in the Northeast region and the country for elopements. Those looking for an adventure wedding experience should look no further than to elope in Vermont. The autumn in particular offers some of the best views in the entire world during fall foliage season.
Where to Elope in Vermont?
These are the best places to elope in Vermont. Check out the full article HERE, but here’s the short list of my favorite places to shoot elopements in Vermont.
MT. MANSFIELD
VARIOUS WATERFALLS
STOWE
LAKE CHAMPLAIN
LAKE WILLOUGHBY
CAMEL’S HUMP
TEXAS FALLS RECREATION AREA
SMUGGLERS NOTCH STATE PARK
EMERALD LAKE STATE PARK
HAYSTACK MOUNTAIN
BROUSSEAU MOUNTAIN
Traveling to Vermont
Vermont is a state of varying and diverse terrain. I most often shoot in the central and northern parts of the state in the Stowe and Burlington area. The best airport to fly into is in Burlington for those areas. But there are so many great hidden spots in the state and the southern portion and the Green Mountain area is sometimes overlooked. For that option sometimes flying into Boston and driving a rental car is easier.
Where to Stay in Vermont
I always recommend checking VRBO when looking for places to stay and planning your elopement. Why do I recommend VRBO over Airbnb? Because Airbnb no longer allows any type of event to take place. If it’s just the two of you that’s not a problem, but if you want to have any friends or family over and just enjoy a simple dinner celebration together VRBO allows that. In fact, there’s a box that you can check labeled “events allowed” and VRBO only shows you places where you are allowed to host a few people for a dinner celebration. Again, Airbnb is a great option if you don’t plan to use it for a celebration. I especially like their unique stays which feature super cool places, like treehouses. Who doesn’t want to elope and stay in a treehouse? I know I do!
Stowe, Burlington, the central Green Mountains, and Lake Willoughby are my favorite areas.
HOW DO YOU LEGALLY GET MARRIED IN VERMONT?
The requirements for getting married in Vermont are simple - you just need to be 18 years old, have a valid photo ID and know where the wedding will take place. There are no residency requirements for getting married in Vermont.
You do not need witnesses to get married in Vermont.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GET MARRIED IN VERMONT?
The average cost of wedding venues in Vermont is $3,000 to $5,000, and the average cost of a full, traditional wedding is around $35,000. But if you choose to get married by eloping in the great outdoors that cost can go down significantly. Check out an elopement cost calculator here. Eloping couples choose to pay for what they care about and forget the rest. For some couples, creating an adventurous experience that they will remember for the rest of their lives is more important than paying for a party for a large number of friends and family, most of whom they don’t see that often. Eloping couples often choose to spend more on the experience and the process of documenting their day, than the guests involved.
Whether you’re from Vermont, New England, or anywhere else in the country or world, VT is an incredible place to elope or have a small outdoor wedding. From epic mountain destinations to lush forests, lakes, and rivers, there are a lot of options to host the perfect outdoor elopement getaway. So if hiking to a stunning waterfall, summiting mountains, or paddling a lake or river sounds like your idea of a great elopement day, get in touch. I don’t just take small outdoor wedding and elopement photos. I help you plan your perfect, adventurous day from beginning to end.
Vermont Elopement Packages
As an elopement photographer I provide a service that includes so much more than just beautiful photos of your day. I am a part guide/part planner as well, helping you craft your perfect experience.
Planning guidance and assistance
You get my massively informational 90+ page elopement experience guidebook. It comes with a packing list, how to navigate family dynamics when eloping, and more. It’s going to answer questions you didn’t even know you had.
In addition, I offer planning guidance and assistance including (but not limited to) locations, timeline, and permitting requirements.
Timeline
Plan your small outdoor wedding or elopement day timeline. Want to make sure you’re choosing a location during the best time of day for light, or best time of year for weather? I make sure we do just that. And then I put together the perfect timeline of your incredible day, so everyone is on the same page and the day unfolds seamlessly!
Location Scouting + Vendor Recommendations
My years of experience have taken me a lot of different places. You get knowledge of incredible elopement locations that include everywhere from stunning waterfalls, mountain tops, forest tunnels, and coastal cliffs. Along with that comes working with some pretty amazing teams of wedding vendors. So I pass that info along too.
Activity Ideas
From a backcountry helicopter tour to canoeing, hiking, climbing, train and ferry rides, horseback riding, plane rides, and everything in between. There is no limit to what you can experience on your adventurous day.
Officiant
I can also sign your marriage license. I’m an ordained officiant in every New England state and in New York. So if you don’t want to hire an officiant or make a family member fill the role- you can say your vows to each other and I can sign the paperwork.
Travel Included
You never have to worry about paying travel fees. You don’t worry about where I’m staying or how I’m getting anywhere. One less item on your to-do list!
FAA Certified Drone Pilot
That’s right, I have a pilot’s license to prove it and everything. I stay up to date on the latest drone laws so that I can fly my bird and capture your day from a huge variety of angles throughout the day.
Elopement expert
I use my GPS to make sure we don’t get lost. And I’ll bring along things that you might not have thought about like hand warmers, tissues, umbrellas, and headlamps. Most of all, you get an expert who has been through this over 100 times to guide you through the process.
Hi, I’m Kat
I’m a small outdoor wedding and elopement photographer. I photograph weddings all over Vermont and New England. I love this region so much and want to give couples here an incredible elopement or small outdoor wedding experience. If you’re looking for Vermont elopement packages, you’ve come to the right place!
My style focuses on telling the complete story of your day, from all the quiet moments to the exciting celebrations. So whether you are eloping with just the two of you or you decided to bring along some of your closest friends and family, I capture each moment, person, and experience as it happens.
I firmly believe you should get married exactly the way you want. I hope that means you get married outside in a stunning and adventurous location. I’m here to make sure your day is completely captured. Sometimes that means I’m a fly on the wall, taking in the action as it happens, and other times that means posing you and your partner or making sure your family portraits take place in the spot with the best light.
Whatever format or timeline your day takes on I’ll work with it, because after all it is your day, and I want you to have images that let you relive every moment over and over.
Hear from my amazing clients
AJ & David
I am still in awe of my wedding photos and I owe it all to Kat. Not only did she help me decide on a location, she gave recommendations on florists, bakeries, and lodging! There is no way I could have planned our Vermont elopement without her. And Oh My God the photos! They are truly works of art, every last one, and believe me there are a ton. The words stunning & breathtaking have been used most by my friends and family. My wedding day was spectacular and my wedding photos show it. I'm already planning an anniversary vacation so I can have Kat capture that day too. If you need an adventure photographer then you absolutely need to check out Swell & Stone. I'm forever grateful that I did!
Sara & JoE
🖤🍂 A year ago, Kat captured our wedding elopement on Mt. Mansfield, Vermont. I intentionally waited a year to leave a review, because I wanted to see how the photos resonated after a good amount of time had passed. And oh my goodness, I am transported back to our wedding day every time I open that album. It's kind of crazy just how perfectly those photos reflect the most important and intimate memories of that day, and the insane beauty nature granted us that morning. From hiking up the mountain; to changing on the ridgeline and having our first look; to the summit ceremony; then the hike down, I get to relive the magic of those moments all over again. I am so thankful to Kat for being down for the adventure, helping us feel relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera, wearing multiple hats as photographer AND officiant, and just being such an awesome person to spend our day with. I couldn't recommend Swell & Stone more highly. Thank you Kat!
Kelsey & Kirsten
My partner and I absolutely loved working with Kat. We talked to a couple of photographers and really felt like Kat understood our vision of what we wanted our wedding day to look like. From the outset, Kat was responsive, organized, had great ideas about where to take photos. The night before our wedding, we had to quickly change photo locations and Kat was flexible and adaptable -- really we couldn't have asked for a better photographer to capture the day. And the photos are STUNNING! Couldn't recommend Kat enough.
Brooke & Brett
My fiancé and I decided to elope when we had to cancel our wedding due to the pandemic. We knew we wanted to do something unique and more exciting than going to the courthouse, so we looked around at elopement packages for a while and stumbled upon Swell and Stone! Kat helped us create the most perfect wedding day that we couldn’t have had with our original plans. Kat was organized and thorough; she referred us to all the vendors we ended up using. We didn’t live in the area of our elopement, so this made planning our destination wedding a million times easier. On our wedding day, Kat was wonderful to work with. We thought it might be awkward since it was just going to be the two of us having our pictures taken all day, but Kat helped us feel so comfortable! She stayed in the background and really let us enjoy nature, the beauty, and the magical moments of being married. We had so much fun and wouldn’t change our wedding experience for the world. We just got our pictures back, and they were more beautiful than we could have ever anticipated. Kat captured so many moments that we didn’t even realize. We are beyond thrilled and would recommend Swell and Stone to anyone looking for an intimate and unique wedding experience.
Nick & Alexis
Kat made our wedding dream come true! We adore autumn in New England and decided that we wanted to get married there at that time amongst the incredible fall foliage. Though we had visited some places in the area, we really relied on Kat to find the perfect destination for our elopement. After briefing her on our vision for that day, Kat gave us a list of incredible spots throughout all of New England that fit exactly what we were looking for! We were blown away by her knowledge of the area and the details she provided in order for us to make our decision.
Once we decided on a location, Kat was there for us every step of the way offering information on where to stay, what to pack, and even what to wear in regards to shoes, layers, and color scheme.
Kat was also incredibly patient and flexible throughout the entire process. We had a number of changes to the original plan (including a few on the day of the wedding) and Kat was able to accommodate our every need. It was comforting to know that if we had any issues, questions, or concerns, Kat was only a phone call away.
On the day of our elopement, Kat went above and beyond to make us feel relaxed and comfortable in knowing that she had everything under control. In fact, before our day, she actually informed us that she was pregnant and would be bringing along a photographer friend, Lindsay (who was also delightful), to assist her in case she needed to take a break. We were blown away that Kat went out of her way to bring in a second photographer just to honor her commitment to giving us the best experience possible. That kind of dedication is priceless and hard to come by.
The photos from the wedding are absolutely stunning! Kat and Lindsay were able to blend in with the beautiful fall scenery in a way that made forget that they were there. We were able to really focus on eachother on our wedding day and it shows in the pictures.
To sum things up, we put all of our faith into Kat to make our wedding dream a reality and the result was better than we ever could have imagined. Our day was truly magical and the photos are breathtaking. We are so blessed and grateful that Kat was able to provide that for us.
Anna & Sean
When our original wedding plans had to be cancelled due to Covid, we began searching for an alternative. As soon as we saw Kat's page and spoke with her on the phone we knew it was exactly what we were after. Now that all's said and done, we couldn't be any happier with the outcome - her photos are beyond incredible, and worth every penny. Memories for a lifetime. She was so easy to communicate with, helped us plan our day down to every little detail, and even went out of her way to support a surprise celebration that our family had planned on top of VT's tallest mountain. Beyond all of that, she is just super fun to hang with. Our day was perfect and we couldn't have asked for anything more. Can't recommend her enough!
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