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Hey there, friend
If you’ve never hired a photographer for something like this before (or honestly even if you have) it’s worth knowing what you’re actually getting into before you reach out. Not because it’s complicated, but because the process itself is part of the experience. I want the whole thing to feel good, from the first email to the moment your gallery lands in your inbox.
So here’s exactly how it goes.
You reach out
It starts with the contact form, and I promise it’s not scary. You don’t need a fully formed plan — just a feeling you’re chasing, a location that’s been pulling at you, or even just the sense that you want something different than a traditional wedding day.
Tell me about yourselves. Tell me how you met, what you love doing together, what’s been inspiring you lately. Tell me the vibe you’re going for even if you can’t quite put it into words yet. Half-formed ideas are completely welcome here — that’s actually one of my favorite things to work with.
I’ll get back to you within a few days with my pricing guide, which goes into detail on packages, what’s included, and how I approach building a day. Take your time looking it over, and feel free to reply with any questions that come up.
We connect
If the pricing feels aligned and you want to keep talking, the next step is usually a quick call — less formal consultation, more just getting to know each other. We’ll talk through your ideas, your location, how you’re imagining the day feeling. I’ll answer whatever questions you have and share some thoughts on how we might shape things.
This part genuinely matters to me. I spend a full day with the couples I work with, sometimes more — so the energy between us has to feel right. By the end of the call you should feel excited, not just informed.
If a call doesn’t feel necessary and everything’s already clear, we can keep it to email. Whatever feels easiest.
You lock in your date
If we’re a good fit and you’re ready to move forward, I’ll send over your contract and a payment portal. Once everything’s signed and your retainer is paid, your date is officially yours — locked in, reserved, nobody else’s.
That’s the moment it becomes real. Go ahead and pop something bubbly. The adventure is officially in motion.
From there, payments are broken into installments depending on your package and no one’s expected to pay everything upfront. You can find the specifics in the pricing guide.
Planning begins
After booking, I’ll send over a questionnaire to fill out together. There’s no rush on this one — spend a cozy night with it, pour something good, and really think through your answers. Tell me how you want the day to feel. Tell me what kinds of places move you, what you’re hoping to experience, what moments you most want to walk away with. The more honest and specific you are here, the better I can shape things around what actually matters to you.
Once I have your questionnaire, I’ll start pulling things together — location ideas based on your vibe, a rough sense of how the day could flow, and whatever logistical things need attention early on. That includes things like permit research, marriage license requirements for your chosen location, and any vendor recommendations if you’re thinking about adding a florist, officiant, videographer, or anything else to the mix.
This whole phase is collaborative but genuinely low-pressure. You’ll have direction and resources when it matters, and space to just exist the rest of the time. I’m not going to flood your inbox.
A vision takes shape
Once I have a real feel for your priorities, I’ll start building out the actual arc of your day. Specific locations. A flexible timeline. Ideas for how the different parts of the day could flow into each other — the slow morning, the ceremony, the golden hour location, the late blue hour or starry night stuff if that’s part of your vision.
Think of this less like a rigid schedule and more like a storyboard: a sense of the scenes, the light, the emotional beats, with plenty of room for things to evolve once we’re actually out there living it. Some of the best moments I’ve ever photographed happened because we had the structure to hold space for them and the flexibility to actually catch them.
My job is to carry the vision and the logistics so you don’t have to think about any of it on your day. You just show up.
I scout ahead
I typically arrive a day or two before your elopement to scout locations in person — checking trails, light quality at different times of day, accessibility, overall atmosphere. What looks stunning on a map or in reference photos doesn’t always translate the same way in person, and I’d rather discover that before your day than during it.
If anything needs adjusting based on what I find on the ground — a better vantage point, a slight timeline tweak to catch better light, an alternate location that turns out to be even more compelling — I’ll update the plan accordingly. You won’t have to think about any of that. I’ll just show up ready.
If we’re in the same area, this is also sometimes a good moment to meet up the day before — grab food, take a short walk, just hang out and shake off any pre-wedding nerves. It’s not required at all, but a lot of couples find it helpful to have already spent some time together before the day itself. Makes everything feel more natural from the jump.
Your elopement
This is it! Whether it’s one evening, a full sunrise-to-stars experience, or something that stretches across multiple days, this is what everything was pointing toward — and it’s going to be so good.
I’ll guide when it actually helps. A placement here, a prompt there, a “hold on, this light is doing something incredible, don’t move” when the moment calls for it. I’ll suggest when to slow down, when to wander, when to just be somewhere together and let things unfold. And the rest of the time I’ll be following your lead, staying close enough to catch what’s real without getting in the way of it.
There’s no performance required here. No stiff posing, no forced smiles, no checklist of shots to muscle through. Just you two, somewhere beautiful, doing something that genuinely matters — and me there to catch it as it happens, in a way that feels like a memory and a movie all at once.
Expect to laugh more than you think. Expect your voice to shake a little when you actually say the words. Expect at least one moment where you both just look at each other and can’t quite believe this is your life. Those are the moments I live for.
The day after
I stay in your location the day after your elopement. If weather threw a wrench in things or something felt incomplete, we have that buffer to work with — whether that means reshooting a location in better conditions or capturing something we didn’t get to the first time around.
Most of the time the backup day isn’t needed, and when it isn’t, I’m spending it doing an early pass on your images, making sure everything is safely backed up across multiple drives, and starting to pull your sneak peeks together.
Sneak peeks
Within a week of your elopement (usually just a few days) I’ll send over a mini gallery of my favorites from the day. These are the ones that stopped me during the cull and that already feel like the story of what happened, even before the full edit.
These are perfect for sharing with family and friends who couldn’t be there, or just for you two to have something to hold onto while the full gallery comes together.
Your full gallery
Within twelve weeks, your complete gallery arrives. Every image hand-edited, curated, and delivered through a beautiful online gallery with full high-res downloads, GIFs from any movement moments, and access to a print store where you can order archival quality prints and design your own album.
This is the part that sneaks up on people. You think you remember the day clearly, and then the gallery arrives and suddenly you’re reliving moments you’d already half-forgotten — the way the light hit, the thing they whispered, the version of yourself you were for those few hours. That’s what makes it worth it.
Prints + your album
Your gallery comes with access to an online print store where you can order heirloom-quality prints and design a custom album. These aren’t mass-market prints — they’re made from archival materials built to last decades, the kind of thing you’ll actually want on your walls and eventually hand down.
A lot of couples wait on this part and then wish they hadn’t. If a wall print or an album is something you’re envisioning, I’m happy to help you figure out what makes sense.
Ready to start?
And that’s the whole thing! From first hello to final gallery, my process is designed to help you feel supported without ever feeling overwhelmed. You don’t need every detail figured out to reach out. You just need a place that feels right and a feeling you’re chasing.
Fill out the contact form and tell me where you’re at, and I’ll help shape the rest. Let’s make it happen.
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