Emily & Andrew’s Relaxing Roan Mountain Elopement

Emily and Andrew planned a relaxing elopement along the pines and mountain views of Roan Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee. They wanted to keep the stress out of their elopement, so they kept it simple with just the two of them and their best friends (one of them who married them). Get all the details from their special day below.

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About This Elopement

Photography by Ridge and Ramble Photography

“Emily and Andrew had a two-part elopement. Since they are originally from Alaska, the views of Roan Mountain provided a similarity to the Alaskan fog and pines and made Emily feel right at home in the aesthetic. They kept their vows private & were married by one of their close friends.

Sharing personal vows during an October sunrise along the Appalachian Trail and then celebrating by soaking in the morning light peaking up over the Blue Ridge Mountains made their day shaped around exactly what they wanted.

The color of the details matched the sky and foliage perfectly. The pinks of the sunrise and the warm tones of the grass matched the only color (her bouquet). They also included their pets on the inside of the groom’s suit & their pets are everything to them.” [Kelsey, the photographer]

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Deciding to Elope

“We got engaged and initially dove straight into the planning process. We went back and forth about having a wedding vs. eloping, or even eloping in the US or abroad.

We literally had the whole US between our immediate families, and trying to find a common ground for a wedding left us with too many options to pick from!

All the endless options made us both very overwhelmed. So we decided to pause on wedding planning for a little while until we could find something that spoke to both of us and would help lead the way in planning.” [The couple]

Check out these reasons to elope.

Permits and LNT

“This location is on the Appalachian Trail in Roan Mountain State Park. For a two person elopement, no permit is needed but Leave No Traces practices are highly important to conserve the nature of this location.

To keep it simple, less is more! This stunning location doesn’t need too much embellishment. Requires little hiking in the beginning & is a 360 degree view at the top. The best time of year is in October when the Blue Ridge Mountain foliage is lush & colorful. There are many cute cabins to stay at in the area & sunrise is highly recommended for less foot traffic.” [Kelsey, the photographer]

Learn how to leave no trace during your elopement.

Planning Process

“The night before, we drove down and stayed in a cabin in separate rooms with two of our close friends who live locally. Andrew’s best friend was our unofficial officiant. We decided to do the legal ceremony later that week to save the hassle of figuring out the online officiant stuff. Finding an Airbnb close to the venue was such a relief, especially since it was a sunrise service and we needed to be up very early. We met our photographer at the specified location, and our wedding day began.

After about three hours of photography, saying our vows, and exploring the beautiful mountaintop, we changed into our matching sweatsuits for the three-hour drive back home and even stopped at Taco Bell for a quick bite! Kelsey was amazing! She followed us to Taco Bell and even got some fun, casual shots of us there as well. Being able to shoot in two locations was so amazing because we were able to incorporate so many things we couldn’t have if we had just a wedding or just a mountain elopement.” [The couple]

Estimated Cost of This Elopement

“When beginning the planning process, we knew that we wanted to spend the majority of our budget on a photographer. Finding the perfect photographer who could capture our day as we had been imagining it was super important to us. After all, the photography was going to be the primary expense, especially for an elopement. Kelsey with Ridge and Ramble Photography went above and beyond on the day of our elopement. She made sure we captured everything we had hoped to. We ended up spending around $4,000 on photography.

Andrew’s suit was custom designed at a place in Alexandria, VA, called Tuxedo by Sarno. Both of my dresses, veil, and earrings were from Ashley Grace Bridal in Lynchburg, VA. We spent about $4,000 on those items. The rest were just little things like flowers, hair and makeup, an Airbnb, a cake, and little things we got off Etsy to make the day special. I would say we spent a total of around $10k after everything was said and done, which we were happy with! It could have been cut back more, but in the long run, we saved a lot compared to the cost of an actual wedding.” [The couple]

Learn more about estimated elopement costs.

Memorable Moments From This Elopement

From the photographer:

“The vows that morning. They were feeling a bit behind and made it up just in time for sunrise and the sky just had the softest pink, warm feel. It was romantic and felt like a true elopement style.”

From the couple:

“Our first look. This was so special, and I will never forget it. It was right at sunrise, the scenery was so beautiful, and I was so nervous right before. Then, as soon as I saw Andrew, I was just excited for the rest of the day!”

Final Words From The Couple

“Overall, we are so happy with our decision to elope! Number one, because it was insanely stress-free, which was so amazing and probably the biggest perk for us. We saved a lot of money as well. Our day turned out perfect, and we do not regret our decision to elope at all, which was something I was worried about.

The only thing that was difficult for us was not having all our close family and friends there. We both could not limit our list down to a small enough group of people to have a ‘small elopement,’ so in the end, it was best for us to just do it with the two good friends we have locally so people didn’t have to travel to attend.

There are perks and drawbacks to both a big wedding and an elopement; you really just need to consider what’s best for you and your partner. Whichever option you choose, you can’t really lose! After all, you’re marrying your forever partner.” [The couple]

Vendors

Photography | Ridge and Ramble Photography

Dress Designer/Bridal Shop | The bridal shop
Dress | Lillian West Style number 66070
Earrings | Ellie Drew earrings

Florist | Michelle WeeseSuit maker/brand
Tuxedo | Sarno Alexandria

Makeup and hair | Madison Marsee

Photos From This Elopement