Date: October 14
Coverage: Half Day Photo + Super 8mm film
Guests: Just the two of them
Locations: Boy Scout Tree Trail + Grove of the Titans
Weather: Crisp, chilly, slightly foggy, and sunny

Allison + Ray were not interested in making their elopement more complicated than it needed to be. In fact, their families didn’t even know they were eloping! There was no getting-ready coverage, no giant vendor team, no elaborate setup. They knew they wanted to wake up, head into the Redwoods, say their vows somewhere that felt completely unreal, and spend the rest of the morning exploring together. Which makes a lot of sense for two people who once spent three months traveling around the world and listed travel as a pretty major part of who they are. So an absolutely spectacular Redwood grove to get married in seemed like the perfect fit!

They had never been to the Redwoods before, but they knew they wanted to be completely surrounded by the biggest trees they could find and they were more than willing to hike for it. Boy Scout Tree Trail was the obvious fit. The full trail is around 5.5 miles, so we usually recommend full day coverage if couples want to go all the way to Boy Scout Tree itself, but Allison + Ray didn’t care about checking the actual tree off a list, though. They cared about the experience, and honestly, the first stretch of that trail is already ridiculously beautiful. Old-growth everywhere, giant fern-covered forest floors, fog hanging between the trees, and enough beautiful spots within the first mile or so that there was zero reason to hike farther just for the sake of saying we did.

We met at the trailhead and went straight to the good stuff. We had plenty of great spots to recommend for them, but they were very open to walking the trail to see what felt right in the moment (which we're a huge fan of). So around sunrise, we meandered the trail until we found a stand of old growth redwoods that felt right, and gave them space to exchange their vows privately with plenty of happy tears. Then we basically spent the rest of the morning wandering, stopping whenever the light or the trees gave us a reason to. They wanted their photos and video to feel like they were just out enjoying each other instead of posing the whole time, which is exactly what this kind of day lets us do. No rush, no performance, just hanging out in the trees, spending time with each other.

Their Elopement Timeline

8:00 a.m. Meet at the Boy Scout Tree Trailhead
First look near the parking area

8:30 a.m. Start hiking Boy Scout Tree Trail

9:15 a.m. Ceremony about 1.2 miles in
Private vows in the old growth Redwoods

10:00 a.m. Explore the grove + start heading back
Stopping for photos, giant trees, and whatever looks too good to walk past

10:45 a.m. Back at the trailhead
Quick drive over to Grove of the Titans

Around 11:00 a.m. Lunch in Grove of the Titans

12:00 p.m. Wrap coverage

THE PACKAGE

Allison and Ray went with our Half Day Package with both photo and Super 8mm film with four hours of storytelling. We started with a first look under the canopy of giants, officiated their intimate ceremony in a quiet grove, wandered through the forest for photos and film, and wrapped it all up with a cozy little picnic in the Grove of Titans, complete with sandwiches from their Airbnb and pickles flown in straight from home.

Hair and makeup was handled by one of our faves, Anne Timss, who nailed the effortless, natural look Allison envisioned.