Plan Your Arizona Elopement Your Way and Love Every Moment
Has an Arizona elopement been sounding better and better every time somebody asks you a question about your wedding? I get it. Tell me, does this sound like you?
You got engaged, and you’re SO excited! Then, as the planning process starts, everyone and their grandma's dog has an opinion, the guest list has gained 30 of your parents' friends you haven’t seen since you were six, and getting married has turned into one giant group project you didn’t sign up for.
Yeah, you could keep going with this route and try to please everyone… but do you WANT to? Your wedding shouldn’t feel like an event you’re hosting for everyone but yourself. The hard part is that once you’ve spent months hearing what everybody else thinks your wedding should look like, it can be really freaking hard to untangle all of it and figure out what you even wanted in the first place.
That’s usually where the word elopement starts creeping into the conversation. And I already know what you’re picturing! Hiking boots, red dirt all over your dress, wind whipping your hair around while you stand on top of some mountain after waking up at an ungodly hour to get there.
If that’s your thing, of course an Arizona elopement makes sense.
But here’s the secret: your Arizona elopement can look however the heck you want it to. You can keep the white dress, your family, the flowers, the cake, and every other part of getting married that gives you butterflies. But an elopement gives you permission to ditch the pieces that feel like obligations and build the rest around what the two of you really want, and figuring out what that includes is where we’re going to start.
IN THIS BLOG
An Elopement Can Look WAY Different Than You’re Probably Picturing
So if an Arizona elopement doesn’t have to include summiting a mountain, what can it look like? As an Arizona elopement photographer, I love this question!!
It could be just the two of you exchanging vows and cutting a cake somewhere private. It could include your parents, siblings, or a few friends you’d feel lost without on your wedding day. You could fly to a tropical island and tie the knot on the beach. It could be a courthouse ceremony with photos around the city. Or maybe you want to book a gorgeous hotel in a city you love, have a tiny ceremony, and go out for an incredible dinner afterwards.
There are literally no rules when it comes to an elopement. None.
That’s why I want you to care less about whether your wedding fits somebody else’s definition of a perfect Arizona elopement and more about what YOU want to spend your time doing and who you want beside you while doing it.
Now, I’m not going to give you a list of 10 things you just have to include in your elopement. Instead, I’m going to talk you through just a few of your options. But I want you to remember what I said before: There. Are. No. Rules!
Just the Two of You
If you’re wanting to keep things just between the two of you, I couldn’t be more excited. This gives us sooooo much to work with and really make the day completely and utterly about you.
You can handle the legal part separately (we’ll touch on that a little later), then spend your elopement doing whatever the heck you want. You could get ready together and exchange private vows where you had your first kiss. Maybe photos are your priority, so we do a quick ceremony and spend the rest of the day exploring the destination you chose. Or you can get all dressed up in your wedding attire and go get burgers at a local spot.
The best part? Nobody else telling you what you should do. Nobody else waiting on you to move the day along.
If you finish your vows and need ten minutes because you’re sobbing, take ten minutes, hell, even twenty! If we’re driving around and suddenly the light looks chef’s kiss, you bet we’re hoping out and using it. I just love how selfish you can be, in the best possible way.
You + a Couple of Witnesses
If you want to have a ceremony that includes the legalities, you’ll need two witnesses, but that doesn’t mean those two signatures need to dictate your wedding day.
Think about who you want there anyway. Maybe your parents or siblings because getting married without them feels wrong. They can be there for the ceremony, celebrate with you, grab a few group shots, then leave you to celebrate with your now spouse for the rest of the night. Maybe you want to invite those two friends who you know will cry harder than you do, then grab dinner after.
Depending on how the ceremony is structured, I can totally be one of your witnesses! Your officiant also counts as a witness if you want to go the more private route and leave out the guests. The legal requirement is something we can plan around, not something that needs to become the entire plan.
Keep the Traditions You Love and Leave the Rest
Just because you’re doing an elopement doesn’t mean you can’t include wedding traditions. I just want you to include ONLY the traditions that mean something to you. If you’ve dreamed of the white dress and your dad walking you down the aisle, we’re keeping that. If you’d rather scratch everything anyone has ever said about traditional weddings, heck yeah we are.
I want you to look at every tradition you’ve seen done and ask yourself if you’d notice if it disappeared from your wedding, or anyone else's. If the answer is no, why are we spending your time, money, energy, and brainpower on it?
Your elopement doesn’t have to prove you’re low-maintenance, and your wedding doesn’t need to prove you did enough. It just needs the things that make you, and only you, ridiculously excited to get married.
Your Arizona Elopement Doesn’t Have to Be an “Adventure”
Arizona is the perfect place for a sunrise hike to Cathedral Rock or an expansive desert elopement. But that’s not all it has to offer.
If the thought of climbing a mountain makes you immediately sweat, we’re not doing that just because Sedona looked good on a photographer's Instagram. There are so many ways to get the Arizona scenery without turning your wedding into an outdoor expedition. We can choose an easy-access red rock location, wander through a historic venue with architecture, stay closer to the city, or build the whole day around the courthouse and portraits that actually reflect you.
I care way more about how the location feels for you, rather than how impressive it photographs. If we can get you the view without making you wake up at 4:00 AM and scramble up some rocks, we’re going to go with that option.
You don’t need to become an outdoorsy, adventure girlie to have an Arizona elopement.
Simple Doesn’t Mean You Care Less About Your Wedding
I see a common little voice pop up when couples start simplifying their wedding.
If we go to the courthouse, is that less romantic?
If only six people come, is that enough?
If we choose the easy location, will the view be less impressive?
If we don’t do that tradition, will it still feel like a wedding?
Here’s what I’d say to that voice: Hush.
Your wedding doesn’t need to be hard to be special. You are allowed to make getting married easy. The amount of effort required to pull off your wedding isn’t what makes it meaningful. It’s the things you choose that do.
If the easier version gives you more room to feel excited, spend time together, and experience the parts you really care about, that’s a good enough reason to do it.
What Do You Even Do During an Elopement?
It can be easy to narrow down the things you don’t want to do, but what do you do with the rest of the day?
That answer depends completely on you. Are you sensing a theme??
If your perfect day sounds easy: sleep in, get coffee, take your sweet time getting ready, exchange private vows somewhere gorgeous, wander around for photos, and end the night at your favorite restaurant.
If having your family with you matters, invite them into the parts you want them there for. Get ready with your mom and sisters, have your ceremony with everyone, do family photos, wander off for private portraits, and meet back up for dinner and drinks.
Want Arizona scenery minus the hassle? We’re finding an easy overlook with drop-dead views you thought you could only get after a 10-mile hike. I could say this a million and one times… You can do whatever you want. And I really mean whatever.
A Sedona Elopement-Inspired Session at Tlaquepaque and the Red Rocks
This session is exactly what I mean when I say your elopement can look whatever, however you want it to.
Quick context: this was a styled elopement-inspired session. Mariah and Julian were secretly engaged and planning to get married at the courthouse but still wanted photos, and I was looking to build out my elopement portfolio in Sedona. Match made in heaven!
Mariah wanted the chance to put on a wedding dress, carry flowers, wear a veil, and have beautiful wedding photos from this season of their life. That gave us a really fun place to start.
I got to create the overall vision for the session, but there was no way I was going to make it feel like I had dropped a random couple into my vision and called it personal. The more I learned about them, the more little pieces we could bring into the day that made it feel more like them and more genuine.
Creating an Experience That Still Felt Like Them
I had plenty of ideas, but I wanted to really know who they were before I decided what this session should look like. So I started with questions, and A LOT of them. The more they told me, the more I could tailor this shoot to them and their relationship.
Your story isn’t background information. It changes how I photograph you.
Once we felt like best friends, I helped her choose a dress, veil, accessories, jewelry, and his outfit. I made a vision board and planned shots, but most importantly, I kept what mattered to them in mind.
The bouquet is probably my favorite example of this. Her favorite color was blue, so the night before the session, I made her bouquet with blue baby’s breath and white roses. I mean, how could I not?? She loved it so much that she told me she wanted to recreate it for her courthouse ceremony. What a compliment, and what a testament to how everything can change when your photographer actually gets to know you.
Starting at Tlaquepaque
I chose Tlaquepaque because I wanted their gallery to have more variety than two hours of slightly different shades of red rocks.
I’d visited on a day trip before and immediately fell in love with the Spanish-inspired architecture, arches, fountains, courtyards, ivy, and staircases. It felt completely different from what most people picture when they think of Sedona, which my travel-loving brain was VERY into.
It also gave us more flexibility with the strong late-June sunlight because we could move between the open courtyards and the shade from the buildings and arches instead of keeping them out in direct sun the whole time.
This session also reinforced something that isn’t always obvious when you’re location scouting: just because somewhere is open to the public doesn’t automatically mean professional photography is allowed there. Tlaquepaque is a public-facing shopping center, but it’s technically private property and requires a photography permit.
There was also a real wedding happening near the chapel that day, and an event coordinator eventually asked us to move so we wouldn’t be in the guests’ view. Completely fair. I wouldn’t want some random girl with a camera wandering through my wedding either!
It was a good reminder that permits and property rules are one of those tiny logistics pieces that matter way more than they seem. That’s something I help you figure out ahead of time so your elopement day doesn’t come with any surprise interruptions.
Writing Their Vows
When we left Tlaquepaque and headed toward the red rocks, nobody was coming with us to legally marry them. Their courthouse ceremony would happen later, but I still asked them to write vows.
Standing together in the Sedona mountains and telling each other what they wanted to say mattered whether somebody was there making it legally official or not. It was so special. They both started getting choked up while they read, especially her. He lovingly reached over and wiped away her tears while she was trying to finish.
MY HEART!
I had given them the idea and put them in the place. What happened after that was completely theirs. That’s what I love most about an elopement.
Ending with the Sedona Red Rocks at Sunset
By the time we reached the red rocks, I was worried about losing daylight quickly. I had originally looked at going farther toward Slick Rock, but making them walk all the way there would’ve eaten up a huge chunk of the light we had left. Instead, I found a smaller area off to the side where we could still get amazing mountain views without turning the end of their session into a stressful race against the sunset.
This was my favorite part because I could really play with the vision I had created. We did some still portraits, used movement, got detail shots, and saved the more intimate photographs for last. They let me run wild with every idea bouncing around in my head, including putting her ring on a cactus.
Yes, I still have thorns in my fingers. But the photo was so worth it. You’ll have to catch me on Instagram for that official BTS evidence, but just know that I’ll do anything for the photo!
Even with everything I planned, the pieces that stood out the most were the personal ones. Her getting emotional during the vows, wiping their tears, the rosary she brought, her freaking out every time I turned my camera to show another sneak peek. I just loved everything about it!
They got to dress up, exchange vows, carry flowers, run around Sedona together, and celebrate the fact that they were getting married. They got something that was theirs.
THAT is what I want you to understand about an elopement. Whatever word you put on the wedding doesn’t decide how meaningful it gets to be. You do.
Photos Show You the Moment, Video Lets You Relive It
I obviously love a dang good photo. But there are parts of your wedding that a photograph just can’t give back to you.
The way his voice cracks while trying to get through the vows. Your laugh when one of you messes up a word. The sound of the wind moving through the trees. Your mom pulling you aside and saying something you didn’t even realize I was recording, but are so grateful to have forever.
That’s where my filmmaker powers kick in. I don’t only care about getting pretty footage of you walking through the desert in slow motion. I’m thinking about movement, reactions, interactions, and especially audio because those are the pieces that make a film feel like your wedding instead of a music video.
Photos and video preserve completely different things. I want you to be able to look at a photograph and remember his face when you started crying, then press play and hear exactly what he said next. Because five or ten years from now, hearing those voices again is going to hit differently.
Where Should You Elope in Arizona Based on the Day You Want
Arizona gives us very different options depending on what you want your elopement to involve. So before I send you a pretty overview, I want to know whether you want to hike to it, how far you want to drive, who needs to be there, and what you want to do once the photos are finished.
The experience matters just as much as the view.
Sedona: If You Want the Red Rocks Sans the Hike
Sedona is the obvious answer if the red rocks are what made you start Googling Arizona elopements in the first place.
But I want you to know that Sedona doesn’t have to mean Cathedral Rock at sunrise. There are easier-access red-rock locations, resorts, and restaurants nearby, plus places like Tlaquepaque or Chapel of the Holy Cross where we can add architecture to the gallery without leaving town.
Sedona can be adventurous, but it can also be VERY easy. I’m interested in whichever version sounds more like you.
Phoenix + the Superstition Mountains: If You Want Classic Arizona Desert
If you’re picturing saguaros, rocky desert, and those huge Arizona skies with crazy sunsets, Phoenix and the Superstitions are going to be my go-to. This area can also make life easier if you want to stay closer to major hotels, restaurants, and the airport instead of turning the whole thing into a destination within a destination.
Something to keep in mind, though, is that the desert heat is going to be harsh during a good chunk of the year, so season and timeline matter A LOT here.
Scottsdale: If You Don’t Even Own Hiking Boots
Maybe your version of an Arizona elopement includes a gorgeous resort, getting ready somewhere with air conditioning, really good food, and exactly zero climbing.
Hello, Scottsdale!
You can still bring Arizona into the photographs without making your entire day outdoors. Resort grounds, desert portraits, a courthouse or private ceremony, dinner, drinks, spa morning. We have options here.
Flagstaff: If You Want Arizona Without the Desert Look
It might be hard to believe, but Arizona has forests too!
Flagstaff gives you pine trees, mountains, cooler temperatures, and seasons that feel completely different from Phoenix. I’d really consider this spot if you love Arizona but don’t resonate with the typical desert backdrop. A big plus is that it’s usually around 20 degrees cooler here than in Phoenix. But remember that cooler in Arizona can still mean hot and sweaty in summer in the direct sun.
When Should You Elope in Arizona?
“Arizona weather” is basically useless information because Phoenix, Sedona, and Flagstaff can feel like completely different states depending on the season. Phoenix and Scottsdale are much easier to enjoy outdoors during the cooler months. Once summer hits, heat becomes one of the biggest influences in how I plan the timeline.
Sedona runs cooler than Phoenix, but cooler does not mean cool. We photographed the Tlaquepaque session in late June, and it was still hot enough that I was thinking about shade, water, and how long I wanted them standing in direct sun.
Then there’s Flagstaff, where summers are much cooler, and winter can bring actual snow. Yes, we get snow in Arizona, believe it or not!
So there isn’t one magical best month for an Arizona elopement. Tell me where you’re thinking about getting married and what you want the day to involve. Then we can choose the season that lets you actually enjoy being there.
How to Legally Elope in Arizona
Okay, now the legal stuff. Not the most exciting part of planning your Arizona elopement, but it’s required if you want to do the whole getting married part of an elopement.
To get married in Arizona, you’ll need a marriage license from a Clerk of the Superior Court office. The exact process depends on the county. In Yavapai and Coconino counties, both of you currently need to apply in person with ID, while Maricopa County also offers an online option for qualifying Arizona residents. Marriage licenses are currently $98 in all three counties, and once you have one, you can use it anywhere in Arizona.
You’ll also need someone who is legally authorized to perform your ceremony and two witnesses who are at least 18 years old. Depending on how we’re doing everything, I can be one of those witnesses.
After the ceremony, you, your officiant, and both witnesses sign the license, and your officiant returns it so the marriage can be recorded. And then we’re done!
Figuring Out What You Really Want From an Elopement
Before you send me fifteen Arizona elopement locations you found on Pinterest, I need to know something way more useful. What do you two actually care about?
Start with the people. Who would you be excited to turn around and see while you’re getting married? Just the two of you, or do you want your parents to be there, but you still want private vows later? You don’t have to invite someone just because leaving them out might cause some hurt feelings.
Then think about the parts of getting married you’re already excited about. Maybe you cannot stop thinking about the dress, reading your vows, or going somewhere incredible for dinner afterward. Those things tell me what deserves the most room in your timeline.
The biggest question, though, is how you want the day to feel. Do you want to wake up slowly, drink coffee, and never feel rushed? Do you want enough wiggle room that if we find a spot you love, nobody is immediately checking the clock? If you tell me, “I want the whole day to feel like one really good date,” now my brain is GOING.
That gives me way more to work with than a pretty Pinterest photo ever could. Once I know who matters, what you’re excited about, and how you want the day to feel, I can help with figuring out the locations, timeline, light, and logistics that make the most sense for you.
Frequently Asked Questions About Arizona Elopements
Do we need a witness to elope in Arizona? What about an officiant?
Yes to both. Arizona requires two witnesses who are at least 18 years old, plus someone who is legally authorized to perform your ceremony. Your officiant, both of you, and your witnesses sign the marriage license afterward. Depending on how we’re structuring everything, I can potentially be one of your witnesses too.
Can we get married the same day we get our Arizona marriage license?
Arizona doesn’t have a state waiting period, but the exact process can depend on where and how you get your marriage license.
If you’re planning a courthouse ceremony too, you’ll still need to check ceremony availability ahead of time. “We can legally get married today” doesn’t automatically mean somebody is available to perform the ceremony when you want it.
Do we need a permit for our Arizona elopement?
It depends on the location. Some parks, venues, and protected areas require permits for ceremonies or professional photography, while others don’t. That’s why I check the rules before we lock anything in, so there aren’t any fun little surprises waiting for us on your wedding day.
How many hours of photography do we need for an elopement?
Probably more than you think. Two people getting married doesn’t automatically equal two hours of photography. Tell me what you want documented and what you're planning to do that day. Then I'll help you figure out how much coverage gives us enough time to have a relaxed day while still getting all of the shots you want.
How much does it cost to elope in Arizona?
There really isn’t one Arizona elopement price because you get to decide what you’re spending money on.
You might keep the legal part super simple and put more of your budget toward photography and video, or add flowers, hair and makeup, a resort stay, dinner, permits, and whatever else makes the day feel like yours. Eloping can cost less than a traditional wedding, but cheaper doesn’t have to be the goal.
An Arizona Elopement Photographer That Will Help You Figure Out the Details
If you have a camera roll full of screenshots, twelve ideas bouncing around in your head, a handful of things you know are a heck no, and no clue how any of it becomes an actual Arizona elopement, you can come to me exactly as you are.
You don’t need to figure everything out before you reach out. Tell me what you know you care about and what you have always known you don’t. Give me all those little pieces. We’ll talk locations, timeline, lighting, permits, photography, video... You name it, then turn those ideas into a day you’ll love.
You don’t have to be the only person holding everything together. Tell me what you’re thinking, and we’ll figure out the rest!
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