Elopements

A Non-Traditional Sedona Elopement With Friends & Family

Paige and Blake wanted an elopement that also allowed their closest family and friends to be there and celebrate with them. Instead of eloping just the two of them, they planned a non-traditional elopement adventure in Sedona with family and friends, even their two mini Aussies!

Are you ready to plan your own adventure wedding day? Use our elopement directory to start planning your adventure today!

About This Non-Traditional Sedona Elopement With Family and Friends

Photography by Annie May Corum

“Sedona was important to Paige, it’s where her grandparents lived and she and Blake took many trips. Paige got ready surrounded by her sisters and mom in her grandmother’s house. Her father had passed when she was younger, and to keep part of him with her on her wedding day, she took a shoelace from his hiking boots and laced her own boots with them. Blake spent the morning with friends at an airbnb close by, where their guests stopped to get a custom t shift that said ‘hike to Hicks’ on it, which would be Paige’s new last name.

They knew they wanted to have their ceremony between two vortexes, a masculine one and a feminine one, to celebrate the marriage of two souls. The hike was short but steep, so Paige changed at the top, behind a tree with her sister’s help. The hiking group made an aisle for her to walk down, and her grandfather was their officiant. They included their two mini aussie’s as their ring bearers, and included some of Paige’s Native American traditions. The women created a circle of flowers around the couple, and the men dropped stones in a basket at their feet. They drank from the native american wedding vase, and also performed a blanket ceremony. We did a big group photo right after their vows, and then spent some time photographing them in the red rocks.

The next day, they had a party with everyone at Red Agave, including drinks, dinner, and dancing. It’s not a traditional elopement, but it’s also not a traditional wedding.” [Annie, the photographer]

Plan your Sedona elopement here.

Planning a Wedding Ceremony in Sedona

“No permits are needed for Sedona, but Sedona doesn’t allow ceremony set ups of any kind, so things like floral set ups and arches are not allowed. So, instead, our location had this beautiful rock formation and when we scouted the location, we knew that would be the backdrop for their ceremony.

I think I see a lot of couples eloping with just the two of them, and that’s totally amazing, but I would encourage couples to not shy away from ‘non-traditional’ elopements. It’s funny to say that, since eloping is non-traditional, but I think working with Paige and Blake has made me realize that elopements come in many forms. They had a big group for their elopement, technically, but the intentionality, the intimacy, having their community, was all important. They met at Burning Man, and it was important to be in nature and also have their fellow burners around them, so for them, an elopement with their people mattered most. I think that would be my main tip, is to not shy away from doing a wedding that doesn’t look like a wedding or an elopement that doesn’t look like an elopement. Getting married should look like ‘you’.

Also, the usuals, like bringing water, sunscreen, and a first aid kit. Even in the fall, the Arizona sun is intense!

It’s an uphill hike, but only 1.1 miles out and back, so their family and friends were able to come. We definitely accounted for extra time on the trail, knowing that her grandparents would need to take it slow.” [Annie, the photographer]

Explore more places to elope in Arizona.

Deciding to Plan a Nontraditional Elopement

“My motto was ‘Why choose?’ I always knew I wanted an elopement-style wedding, my husband and I are both adventurers and wanted to be married somewhere that meant something to us. But I also knew, we had too many people who we loved that we wanted to share this experience with. So created this hybrid idea, where on Thursday we had our elopement ceremony on the mountain and on Friday we celebrated with a reception at Agave of Sedona. It was the perfect balance of everything we wanted.” [The couple]

Learn how to plan a micro wedding.

Deciding Where to Elope

“Sedona has always been a very special place for my husband and I. During our first year together we were long distance, he lived in Las Vegas and I lived in Orlando. Oftentimes when I would travel to visit him, we would drive to Sedona where my grandparents lived to visit them and explore all of Sedona. We quickly fell in love with the town. Even before we got engaged we knew Sedona would be the perfect spot to have our wedding. Our ceremony spot was at the base of two rock formations- one of feminine energy and one of masculine energy, creating a vortex of beautifully balanced energy. We both felt this was a poetic and beautiful spot to start our journey as a married couple.” [The couple]

Explore more places to elope.

Memorable Moments During This Sedona Wedding Adventure

From the photographer:

“I loved that Paige’s grandfather officiated the wedding. He did such a great job, there were tears all around (myself included), and he led them through some really beautiful details, like the wedding vase and blanket ceremony. He also definitely made a sex joke mid ceremony haha.

I like that they didn’t make their guests dress up and wanted them to be comfy hiking, so for the hike they all wore a custom t-shirt that they gave out at the welcome party the night before.

Personal vows are so special, and while I don’t remember exactly what Paige and Blake told each other, they both laughed and cried during their vows to each other. It really felt like their relationship, because it was both heartfelt and full of humor.

At one point towards the end of their session, the sun was pretty much gone but left this perfect glow on the red rocks, and Blake grabbed Paige’s hand and started running, picking her up and running with her towards the mountains, there was so much laughter, it was just this fun, joy-fueled moment to end the night.”

From the couple:

“The fact that we got 72 people on that mountain hiking with us! We left the ceremony as optional since we were having the reception the following day, but every wedding invitee came and climbed that mountain! And did it in matching t-shirts. It was so special being surrounded by so much love and beauty in such a special place.
Another favorite was probably having my grandfather marry us. Him and my grandmother have been married over 50 years and are a true inspiration to us, so having him bless our marriage was truly beautiful.”

Details From This Elopement

“I love the details she included to honor her late father, she used one of the shoelaces from his hiking boots to lace up her hiking boots. There was also a table set out to remember him at this reception, with photographs of him hiking and the hiking boots. I highly recommend Paige’s hiking outfit, she did a white button up, biker shorts, boots, and her garter. It was comfy and made it easy to change into her dress at the top of the hike.” [Annie, the photographer]

Estimated Cost From This Wedding Day in Sedona

“For just the elopement day was about $3500. My florals included my bouquet, our dogs collars, his boutonnière, and 100 pink carnations for the ceremony which was about $360. My photographer (the best ever, Annie May Corrum) was $2100. My hair was $325, I had a friend who did my makeup. Transportation was Red Rock Trolley for all the guests to take to the trailhead was $470. Not including my dress or my husband’s suit and our accessories.” [The couple]

Learn more about elopement costs.

Final Words of Advice From The Couple

“Our duo wedding experience was an absolute dream. Getting to have our dream elopement and celebrate with all our loved ones was absolutely perfect. Even with the extra bit of work of the two events, it was exactly what we wanted and we were so happy we didn’t have to sacrifice either experience. At the end of the day, it’s YOUR day. Do it how you want and the people who love you will support you, even if its a little out there!” [The couple]

Check out our elopement checklist!

Vendors

Photography | Annie May Corum

Florist | Amy Mills

Bakery | Beverly Baldwin

Groom’s suit | The groomsmansuit

Dress | Wtoo by Watters

Caterer | Creative Hands Cuisine

DJ | Justine Ames justin