13 Mar Eloping in Alaska: North to the Future!
Eloping in Alaska: North to the Future!
After three years of dating, Drew and I eloped to Alaska in 2013! (Check out how we met and started dating.)
In April of that year, we got engaged in the Grand Canyon after a romantic helicopter ride. We had already talked about what kind of wedding we wanted, but we thought it over a little more, discussed the pros and cons to a traditional wedding, and decided that an elopement was definitely for us. I started planning our wedding in May and we headed off to Alaska in August to tie the knot!
Alaska was the perfect spot. I love the crisp air of the mountains and it was the last state that Drew hadn’t been to. If we’d have had time, I think we would have bumped up our wedding date because it was already getting really chilly in Alaska. Every day was rainy, cloudy, way colder than we anticipated, and a lot of the times our view was obstructed. But, what we did see were some of the most beautiful mountains, rivers, and oceans I’ve ever laid eyes on. On a positive note, we were there during the salmon’s spawning so the rivers and streams undulated with their shiny red backs zipping through the rocks.
Anyone (literally anyone) can marry you in Alaska. No license needed. You just have to submit their name to the marriage licensing office at least 24-hours in advance.
We decided to stay close to Anchorage for photographer purposes and I happened upon the Aleyska Resort in Girdwood. The property, location, and rooms were perfect! When we arrived we asked the hotel’s concierge if she wouldn’t mind marrying us (we wrote our ceremony and individual vows) and the resort’s finance director agreed to video our wedding with our Flip cam. Remember those?! How crazy that is what we filmed our wedding on!
If you’re thinking of eloping, here are my answers to some of the most common questions I get. If you have other questions, let me know!
Here are the most common
questions I get about eloping
What’s so magical about eloping?
There’s nothing really magical about eloping. It’s simply more personal and intimate than a traditional wedding. You also don’t any monetary stresses from your over-the-top wedding and reception put on your new marriage. Unlike traditional weddings, they can also be planned as quickly as you want (I planned ours in three months).
The magic we felt was because our wedding was 100% for us and as unique as our relationship. We wrote our own vows and didn’t feel the need to edit them for grandma, dad, or anyone else. Access to gorgeous locations that would be off-limits to traditional weddings does help to sprinkle a little magic into elopements.
We’re thinking about eloping? Looking back, would you recommend it?
Heck freaking yes. It was awesome. For us. You and your partner have to pick what’s right for your relationship. Eloping isn’t for everyone and there have definitely been times when I’ve romanticized what it would have been like to walk down the isle with Drew waiting at the end.
Were your friends & family mad?
You know, no. Not that they told us at least. But we also didn’t really care. We were getting married to each other and we had to do what felt right for us to start our lives together. We also didn’t keep it a secret from our families and closest friends. I think that was the best thing we did to alleviate any hurt feelings. Before we hopped on our flight to Alaska, Drew got together with some of his friends and I hung out with my best girlfriends. We also shared photos from our travels and kept everyone updated on changing wedding dates and times. (It poured rain on the day we were initially supposed to get married!)
Eloping must be a lot cheaper than a “real” wedding. How much did you spend?
First, an elopement is a “real” wedding. We’re really married and we have the certificate to prove it.
Second, yeah we didn’t spend tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But we did celebrate and it did cost money. Instead of buying flowers that are pricey and look pretty but die, we walked in fields of wild fireweed. Instead of buying so-so dinner for family, friends, and strangers, we caught wild spawning salmon from a stream and grilled it, picked blueberries from a mountain’s edge, and ate buttery fish and chips from a hole in the wall in Homer. You just have to decide what’s right for you.
If you’re budgeting for an elopement, the one thing I wouldn’t skimp on is an excellent photographer who understands and is experienced with elopement photography. This is the only “social proof” that your wedding happened and you’ll want to be able to share your memories with friends and family when you return home. We spent around $1,000 for our photographer which included about three hours of time and a disc of high-resolution images.
Travel to Alaska isn’t cheap. Two round-trip plane tickets to Anchorage on Alaska Airline ran us about $1,400.
I got my bridal bouquet the day before the wedding at Costco in Anchorage! They cost about $10 and I tied them up with natural jute twine that I brought from home.
My wedding dress was truly my pièce de résistance and the single element from our wedding that I am most proud of. I tried on a bunch of wedding dresses at bridal boutiques to find the right style, fit, and material. Then I found my perfect dress on Preowned Wedding Dresses for around $800. Ordering it online made me nervous, but I gave myself a lot of time if it needed to be altered or cleaned once I received it. Then, here’s the real kicker, after our wedding I got it cleaned and sold it for $700!
I found my veil on Etsy for about $80 (I sold it for the same price after we got home) and my Badgley Mischka shoes were $250 (sold on eBay afterward).
For a little extra “something blue,” I purchased a pair of Hunter boots for tromping around in the mud for about $150. I kept those and still wear them!
Didn’t you miss celebrating with your friends & family?
A little, yeah. But we called our parents before and after and sent postcards to friends during our travels.
To be completely honest, my family situation was a little hairy when Drew and I got married. My parents were going through a divorce (at 70 years old!) and it was pretty messy. Whatever pangs of regret I have of not celebrating with my family are immediately squashed by the absolute shit show that a typical wedding would have been.
Also, family members hosted celebrations of our elopement afterward in our hometowns. We were able to “cut the cake” (twice) and share pictures of our trip and wedding. And I got to get two other dresses for the celebrations! 😉
What did you do about hair & makeup?
Even though there was a salon at the resort, I did my own hair and makeup. I watched a LOT of makeup tutorials on YouTube before we left. Was it perfect? Probably not. But I thought I looked pretty good!
I got some clip-in hair extensions from Amazon to make my hair fuller and played around with them so I knew how they worked. I also got individual glue-on eyelashes because they seemed more realistic and were easier for me to manage.
Other Tips
- Your wedding can be as lavish, traditional, personal, and weird as you want it to be. It’s for you and your SO. No one else matters.
- Consider the fabric of your wedding dress if you’re going for a destination elopement. Buy one that won’t show wrinkles and that you can just toss casually into a suitcase.
- Research and contract with a professional photographer in advance of your elopement. Talk about the kinds of shots you want to get and the locations you’ll visit. These will wind up being the only physical memories that your marriage took place! And you’ll want to share them with friends and family who (cough, cough) weren’t invited.
- If you are into purchasing a used wedding dress online, try on several styles at local boutiques to make sure you find a fit and material that suits your body and style preferences the best. If you’re worried about sizing, order a size up so that you can get it altered later.
- You’ll need to pack and fly with or ship everything for your ceremony if you are doing a destination wedding. Plan accordingly.
- Writing your own ceremony and vows is a wonderful experience and adds such a personal, intimate touch to your ceremony. There are a ton of resources online to help you. I happy cried almost every time I sat down to write my vows!
Elopement Details
Venue:
On the grounds of Alesyka Resort
Location:
Girdwood, Alaska (about 45 minutes outside Anchorage)
Photo Cred:
Jonathan Gurry @ Chugach Peak Photography
Resources to help your Travels
As always, everything on this site is completely free. If you found this post (or anything on YouFoundSarah.com) useful, I’d be grateful if you considered using the affiliate links below. I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. These are the services Drew and I love to use ourselves when we plan our travels. Thanks for your support!
— Sarah
Booking.com – For booking hotel rooms.
Tours by Locals and GetYourGuide.com – For finding high-quality tours around the world.
VRBO – For renting homes across the world.
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About Sarah
Sarah hails from the land of fried chicken, sweet tea, buttered biscuits, and the friendliest people you’ll ever meet…Alabama! She loves exploring undertouristed locations — places that you wouldn’t automatically think “I’ve always wanted to go there!” Of course, we’ll always have Paris, but what gets Sarah really jazzed is finding those diamond in the rough cities and sharing them with you. Read more…
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