Elopements

Paige and Zack’s Small Wedding Ceremony at Tenaya Lake Beach in Yosemite

Paige and Zack planned an epic road trip adventure to their elopement destination from Ohio to California. They had an intimate wedding ceremony by Tenaya Lake in Yosemite and then ended their adventure in Taft Point at sunset after having a private chef cook them lunch in their cabin. Get all the details from their elopement day.

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About This Elopement at Tenaya Lake Beach in Yosemite

Photography by Allie Dearie Photography

“Zack and Paige road-tripped from Ohio to California for their Yosemite National Park elopement. We started before sunrise, drove up the Tioga Road in the dark to Tenaya Lake, and they shared vows on the lakeshore as the sun rose over the mountains behind them. We adventured through the Tuolumne Meadows with their best friends, and then all headed back to their cabin for an amazing lunch crafted by a private chef. (It’s not every day that I get to share a gourmet meal in the middle of a hiking elopement!)

Paige wore a beautiful floral veil and Zack’s tie matched, and her boots were embroidered with Half Dome on one side and the California state flower on the other. Our sunset hike was to the iconic Taft Point. Getting to watch these sweethearts walk out to the overlook together and just take in the view, appreciating that moment and all the moments that brought them there together, was something I will never forget.

Paige and Zack truly made an adventure out of their entire elopement experience. They road-tripped from Ohio to California, enjoying the journey together on their way to Yosemite. I loved that they collected park maps and polaroids from the other NPS sites they visited along the way, and included them with their details at the house where friends joined them to celebrate!” [Allie, the photographer]

Get more details about planning a Yosemite elopement.

Leave No Trace and Permits For Yosemite Weddings

Here are some things to remember when planning your elopement adventure in Yosemite from the photographer:

A wedding permit is required for Yosemite National Park, and the park provides specific locations that you can choose from. Paige and Zack chose Tenaya Lake, which is available for permits from the road opening date (which varies each year) through September 30th.
Yosemite does not allow wedding arches/decorations of any kind. The natural backdrop is pretty enough! Couples and their guests and vendors should follow all Leave No Trace practices and stay on trails.

Learn how to leave no trace during your elopement.

Photographer’s Top Tips When Eloping in Yosemite

“Yosemite is a big park, and there are multiple different areas that you may want to explore! Be sure to talk to your photographer about the distance between locations and the driving time involved, including where you are staying. Paige and Zack rented a house in Mariposa because it was a good location to access the drive up to Tenaya Lake on the Tioga Road. Other areas with lodging, such as Oakhurst or the valley, might be better for your needs depending on where you plan to visit within Yosemite!” [Allie, the photographer]

Deciding to Elope

“We chose to elope because we realized with the budget we had in mind, we would either be able to take a really cool honeymoon and elopement trip, or have a very average traditional wedding. Our budget also forced us to have a very small guest list and we did not want to deal with people being upset with us for not being invited, so we felt this was the easiest route.

Yosemite was neither of our first choices, but it was the only location we agreed on haha. We each wrote a list of 5 places we’d like to elope and Yosemite was the only one we had in common. My top choice was the Bonneville Salt Flats and my husband’s top choice was Glacier National Park. We were also quickly sold on the location once we learned that Allie was also married there so she provided so much feedback based on her own wedding and other weddings she had photographed.” [The couple]

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Planning Process: Making a Road Trip Out of Their Elopement

“We did our engagement photos with Allie in October 2022 with none of the weddings planned. We toured wedding venues and once we saw the cost of the venue alone we decided that wasn’t the route for us. We reached out to Allie again to see if she had any interest in photographing our elopement, and she was a great asset to have. She told us the first step would be securing our permit and date, and then the real planning could happen once that was confirmed.

We first wanted to fly into Seattle and road trip down the coast but I soon realized there was a lot more I wanted to see, so Zack suggested we do a six-week long road trip instead. The biggest undertaking was planning our road trip, as we eloped in the middle of a 6-week long road trip from Cleveland, Ohio to Yosemite and back.

The road trip was the hardest part to plan because we had to decide whether to car camp, get a hotel, or stay at an Airbnb, figure out the costs of each stay, cost of gas, food costs, vehicle expenses, and everything else that comes from living on the road for six weeks. We started by making a list of places we wanted to stop, figured out what was the best route and order of things (considering how much the weather can change in a six week period), and had to account for drive time as well. I’m very thankful for Zack as he planned much of the road trip and stops and would check in with me to see if I agreed to the plan. As for the actual ceremony and day, Allie sent over a few rough drafts of what the day could look like. I had a rough outline sent over to Allie about a month before the elopement, but the actual ceremony we didn’t plan until the night before.”

Learn how to elope.

Estimated Cost of This Elopement

The couple provided an estimated cost per item to help you plan your elopement adventure:

Wedding all-day photographer: $3,500.00
Wedding gifts/favors: $382.00
Wedding Suit: $580.00
Wedding Dress: $850.00
Wedding Rings: $405.00
NP pass: $85.00
Marriage License: $62.95
Wedding day private chef: $1,300.00
Gas: $1,292.97
Stays: $5,520.56
Food: $2,349.32

Estimated total: $16,327.80

Learn more about elopement costs.

Memorable Moments From This Elopement

From the Photographer:

“I love that they hired a local private chef to craft the perfect lunch to enjoy on their elopement day! It was such a unique and delicious way to take a break in between the ceremony/daytime portraits and their sunset hike.

Hiking out to Taft Point at sunset was also one of my favorite moments – the way they walked out onto the overlook together, wrapped their arms around each other and just enjoyed the amazing view and this special moment as newlyweds – is exactly what eloping is all about.”

From the couple:

“The most memorable part of our wedding day was ending our evening hiking up to Taft Point in our wedding attire and watching the sunset.

Zack’s favorite part of our wedding was all the random congratulations we got from strangers. Zack felt like our wedding brought them and ourselves a lot of joy because we were all celebrating this happy moment together.”

Vendors

Photography |Allie Dearie Photography