West Coast Archives - Adventure Instead

Finding a LocationApril 11, 2022

Finding Adventure in Bandon Beach

Ceremonies by LocationMarch 26, 2022

Alyssa & Kevin’s Alvord Desert Elopement in Central Oregon

2-Person CeremoniesFebruary 3, 2022

The ethereal Proxy Waterfalls were perfect for this Oregon Elopement

Elopement IdeasJanuary 10, 2022

Waterfall Wedding Venues in Oregon – 8 Unique Options + Tips

Ceremony Planning ResourcesJuly 6, 2021

Getting Married in Mt Hood, Oregon | What You Need to Know

Ceremony Planning ResourcesMarch 25, 2021

Joshua Tree Wedding Guide

2-Person CeremoniesFebruary 9, 2021

Eloping at Portland Orgeon’s Government Cove | Ashley + Casey

2-Person CeremoniesJanuary 11, 2021

Smith Rock Wedding in Oregon

2-Person CeremoniesJanuary 4, 2021

Cannon Beach Wedding | Mitzi & Scott

Ready to

start your
adventure?

Let us help you create an incredibly fun,
stress-free experience while we document
the whole story of your day.

Three Adventure Instead Photographers

What does it mean to
“Adventure Instead”?

See for Yourself...

Your memories from your wedding day matter—don’t let them get buried on a hard drive or lost in the cloud.

Did you know that we offer hand-crafted storytelling albums, exclusively for Adventure Instead couples? Imagine sitting around your coffee table or curled up on your couch, reminiscing & re-experiencing your love story. ✨

We’re so excited to share our 5 *new* landscape-inspired embossing designs with you! Including:

🌲 Forest—a delicate arrangement of pine trees

⛰️ Mountains—a minimalist design of alpine peaks

🏜 Desert—a rendering of the awe-inspiring American southwest

🌊 Ocean—inspired by rocky cliffs & ebbing waves in the PNW

🌴 Beach—palm trees blowing in a tropical breeze

Each album is 70 pages with seamless spreads, thick “lay-flat” pages, museum-quality matte paper, vibrant & vivid ink, clean & minimalist layouts that showcase your images—and endless ways to customize with cover materials, binding styles, and debossing designs. Every album purchase also includes a photographer-curated selection of images, professional design, and 2 rounds of unlimited design changes.

Our cover material options include: Full-Grain Leather (the highest quality full-grain genuine leather that develops a beautiful natural patina over time with handling), Eco-Leather (beautiful, realistic-feeling vegan leather), and Book Cloth (an elegant cover material for those who love the classic “linen” look and feel. This beautiful and durable material is reminiscent of old-school hand-bound book cloth and feels luxurious).

Want to customize your album even more? You can! Whether you’d like to incorporate a landscape, your initials, date, GPS coordinates, or a map silhouette of where you exchanged vows—there are endless possibilities to make it your very own.

We care about our environmental impact, which is why each album comes with free carbon-neutral shipping, in its own eco-friendly storage box with long-term care instructions—so your album can last for generations.

And for every album purchased, 10 trees are planted in Central America via @treeswaterpeople

Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comments 👇

Would you ever consider checking something off you

Would you ever consider checking something off your bucket list on your wedding day?

What would you do?

Fun fact: Holly & Zach drew their elopement location out of a freaking hat!

I cannot get over how dreamy this elopement was. E

I cannot get over how dreamy this elopement was. Exactly one month ago, Jenna & Donovon had the most *them* day. Every detail they included was unique to their love story and what makes their relationship so special.   
This included:
* Cute backpacks featuring their extensive pin collections & two huge bouquets 
* A first look complete with exchanging necklaces and lots of laughs 
* Heartfelt vows with similarities that showed just how perfect they are for each other 
* Adoption certificates for each of their pets to officially be a part of their new family 
* A new last name they chose all for themselves 
* A giant pizza on the beach complete with a warm fire and letters from loved ones 
* A homemade rainbow cookie cake, a nod to how Jenna proposed 

Your wedding day doesn’t have to be a performance. It doesn’t have to include details you don’t care about and people that stress you out. It can be your most ideal day together, filled with moments that matter.

Not an all-day photoshoot. Not a day to make others happy. A day for you.   Experiencing elopements like this, filled with so much intention and love, is what makes me so damn happy to call this my job.

xx Tori

Plan your elopement day like you would plan your h

Plan your elopement day like you would plan your honeymoon. Make it the part you look forward to the most & indulge in the best experience you can imagine.

xx Maddie Mae, Amber & Tori

If you & your partner could do anything in the wor

If you & your partner could do anything in the world for 1 day, what would you choose? I’ll let you in on a secret: that’s what you should prioritize doing on your wedding day.

This could include…

— True-to-you activities

I know this might sound vague, so let me give you an example: I met my husband, Shayne, while skydiving, so skydiving feels like a very “true-to-us” activity because it is so meaningful to our relationship.

Did you & your partner meet doing an activity? What activities have drawn you two closer together—or what do you wish you could take the time to do again? Including activities like these on your elopement helps you connect new memories to past ones.

— Once-in-a-lifetime experiences

You only get married to your partner once in a lifetime (but we are all for vow renewals to continue the celebration!)—and if there was ever a time to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it should be on your wedding day to commemorate it!

We’ve had couples embark on private helicopter flights to unreachable locations, take private 4x4 tours through the mountains, sail in Greece, or hike on glaciers—and we would love to see more couples wholeheartedly celebrate on their wedding days!

Whether that’s seeing an empire penguin in Antarctica for the first time, stargazing in the Atacama desert, or something else altogether, you deserve to ask yourself: what do I want to do in my lifetime with my partner that is completely unforgettable—and why wouldn’t we do that on our wedding day?

— Meaningful hobbies

You & your partner have built a life together, and your wedding day is the perfect time to honor that.
For our elopement, Shayne & I went paddleboarding because it’s a hobby we share and it gave us time to slow down & take in the momentous day.

This could mean visiting meaningful landmarks, ordering from your favorite restaurant, or taking a shared hobby to a new place (i.e. going scuba diving in a new country)—just ask yourself: what activities do we regularly do together that we would like to include?

So if you could do ANYTHING on your wedding day, what would you choose?

xx Amber

What does it *feel* like to elope in the Faroe Isl

What does it *feel* like to elope in the Faroe Islands?

The sensation of actually being there, of standing on a cliff overlooking the sea a thousand feet below, with the dramatic fjords behind, is honestly indescribable—but I’ll do my best…

The quiet privacy of the Faroe Islands was what had initially drawn Elaura and Daryn to this captivating destination. They inquired with Iceland in mind, but after they learned the warmer summertime months were also peak tourism season for Iceland, I suggested the Faroe Islands as an alternative—and we started putting the pieces in place to make this secluded day a reality.

The Faroe Islands is a country made of 18 “fjord-y” islands in the north Atlantic, tucked between Scotland, Norway, and Iceland. Every place you go has consistently cool temperatures year-round because no matter where you are, you’ll never be more than three miles from the sea.

On the day of Elaura & Daryn’s May elopement, we hiked up a sheep path up over a steep ridge overlooking the sea below. As they exchanged their vows, the fog was swirling around them—revealing and concealing the view. When the sunlight broke through the atmospheric cloud

Their elopement day ended up being so private—we had all of these views almost entirely to ourselves. In the quiet, we could hear seabirds calling from the nearby bird cliffs and sheep bleating in the distance (fun fact: the Faroe Islands has a higher population of sheep than people).

We couldn’t help but realize how truly small we were in these moments of exploring the dramatic scenery with nobody around but the three of us—and it was an incredible experience for Elaura and Daryn to make their commitment to each other while lost in the vastness of nature.

The Faroe Islands is one of the most captivating places I’ve ever been—I can’t wait to experience it again next year.

xx Maddie Mae

Advice to anyone having an intimate wedding or get

Advice to anyone having an intimate wedding or getting married (from an elopement photographer who eloped herself).

Don’t get me wrong, I freaking loved my elopement. John & I eloped in December 2016 with a small group of our family & friends—before I began photographing elopements as my full time job—and since then, I’ve grown a lot and discovered so much.

With that in mind, here's my best advice: ⤵️

— Let go of the fear of hurting someone’s feelings for not inviting them. Trust me, they’ll get over it. After all, it’s not an incredibly momentous day in their relationship—it’s yours. Invite only those that will fully support you, be present with you, and make your experience *better.* Surround yourself with the people you truly couldn’t imagine not having by your side and don’t make compromises.

— Get ready however you want to! Take a long bubble bath in the morning, visit a place that is meaningful to your relationship before getting into your attire, or get ready WITH your partner rather than not seeing one another for hours if you’d rather. Seriously, do you.

— Splurge on the things that matter to you. Live for amazing food? Hire that private chef. Always wanted a massive bouquet of flowers? Get it! Both experience-seekers who value the memories more than the material? Find an unforgettable activity to include in your day—like a multi-stop helicopter tour or a hot air balloon ride!

— Don’t worry about things you genuinely don’t care about. If neither of you are into jewelry, don’t fuss with spending much on wedding bands. 🤷🏻‍♀️Your commitment is more than that.

— Finally, carve out ample time to spend together—just the two of you—to do what you LOVE most. Or leave space to be playful and spontaneous or even do nothing at all but soak in what each moment means on your wedding day.

xx Tori

With a gentle breeze flowing through your hair and

With a gentle breeze flowing through your hair and fingers intertwined, you share your vows with the person you love most. You commit your lives to one another and spend the day making memories you’ll cherish for decades. There is no pressure from family, no guests to entertain, and no bureaucratic red tape.

Your elopement day should be about what you want, which might not include getting legally married on your wedding day. This is known as a commitment ceremony, and is incredibly common among our couples.

Historically, commitment ceremonies were reserved for those who couldn't legally marry. Queer couples, interracial couples, disabled couples, and others denied the privilege of marriage forged their own path and declared their love as an act of resistance.

While we’ve come a long way with marriage equality, commitment ceremonies are a reminder that love exists outside the bounds of legal marriage and that, while a legal certificate might give you more rights within each other’s lives, it should not be the deciding factor on your wedding day.

You can also sign the legal paperwork on a day other than your ceremony—many of our couples who elope internationally consider their commitment ceremony their wedding day, not the day they signed the paperwork. You should make decisions about your day based upon the experience you want to have, not because of legal logistics.

So whether you choose to get formally married or not on the date you declare your wedding day, the choice is wholly yours.

Follow @adventureinstead and show how you #adventureinstead in your life