How to Plan a Last Minute Elopement in Florida

Planning a last minute elopement in less than three months? This guide is here to help you put all the pieces together with top tips from an experienced Florida elopement photographer.

Hell yes, boo, you’re engaged! You’re so excited to get married and the thought of waiting any longer is killing you. You want to be married NOW and while an elopement seems like the perfect fit for you and your partner, you didn’t realize how much planning is involved and you need all the help you can get. Don’t worry, I’m here to help!

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the thought of organizing everything in less than three months, then you’re in the right place! With a little guidance and a focus on what truly matters, you can create a epic Florida elopement experience. This guide is here to help you plan your dream elopement in no time.

When it comes to planning a last-minute elopement, there’s a few things to keep in mind. Keep reading to go through each and how you can use them into your elopement day!

• Hire a Florida Elopement Photographer
• Consider a Weekday Elopement
• Choose an Easy Location
• Choose Minimalist Attire & Nix the Decor
• Prioritize What’s Important
• Get Legal Early
• Be Flexible

Need a little more help? Read through my elopement experience and how I can personally help you plan and capture your elopement day!

Hire a Florida Elopement Photographer

Honestly, this will be your biggest lifesaver. When it comes to photographers, there’s wedding photographers that offer elopements and there’s elopement photographers that specialize in elopements – you want the latter.

A Florida elopement photographer will not only capture your elopement, but will also help you find the best locations for your ceremony, guide you through the entire elopement planning process, help with logistics and permits, plan your timeline based around your elopement vision, and recommend other local vendors. As a Florida elopement photographer that has helped dozens of couples plan elopements, I know first hand how this expertise will make your planning process much easier.

Need a recommendation? I might be a little bias! 😉

Consider a Weekday Elopement

But more importantly, be flexible with your date. If you opt for a weekday for your elopement or ask your vendors when they’re available, you’ll have more luck with getting amazing vendors. Since most weddings and elopements are planned well in advance, the weekends and numerically significant dates (e.g., 11/11) are typically already booked. If you’re flexible, you can still get a great month and work with your dream vendors. As a bonus, weekday elopements also tend to be less busy. That means that popular locations will have fewer people to work around!

Ready to start planning your weekday elopement? Read through my elopement experience and how I can personally help you plan and capture your elopement day!

Choose an Easy Location

When it comes to planning an elopement, choosing a ceremony location can make or break your experience. If you want a stress-free planning process, consider a location with relaxed permitting requirements or an uncomplicated venue. In Florida, many beaches offer simple, straightforward permitting processes; local botanical gardens tend to be easy to book; and even wedding venues will offer weekday elopement packages. Most locations should be able to provide a permit within 3 weeks.

Heads up! Some locations require separate photography permits! These are in addition to wedding permits and need to be considered when choosing a location. Your Florida elopement photographer should be able to walk you through the entire process.

Here are my top five locations for a Florida elopement:

• Smathers Beach (Key West, Florida)
• Dubois Park (Jupiter, Florida)
• Kelly Rock Springs (Apopka, Florida)
• Washington Oaks Gardens State Park (Palm Coast, Florida)
• Wandering Oaks (Myakka City, Florida)
• Le Meridien (Tampa, Florida)

Need help finding the best location for your elopement? Read through my elopement experience and how I can personally help you plan and capture your elopement day!

Choose Minimalist Attire & Nix the Décor

One of the things that bogs down couples can be what to where and how to decorate their ceremony spot. But when it comes to attire and décor, less can be more. Many of my couples don’t opt for any decorations and go for attire that they can order through an online boutique like Lulu’s or Amazon. Keep it simple with beautiful dress or suit, a simple bouquet, and none to minimal decorations. Use the scenery or your activities to come through by keeping it simple.

Need a little more help? Read through my elopement experience and how I can personally help you plan and capture your elopement day!

Prioritize What’s Important

Focus on the things that matter most to you as a couple. Write down all the elements or things you want to be a part of your elopement, then rank them by priority. Consider things like the ceremony location, the types of activities you want to do, the places you want to take pictures, the vendors you want to work with, etc.

Keep the top items as part of your day and find ways to be flexible on the lower priority items (if you need to be). If getting married at a particular location is a must, make that your non-negotiable and everything else will fall into place around it. If working with a particular vendor is important to you, start with booking with them and then work the rest out.

Need help coming up with your elopement plan? Read through my elopement experience and how I can personally help you plan and capture your elopement day!

Get Legal Early

Understanding the legal requirements for you and your partner getting married needs to be at the top off your list. Once you know where you’re going to get married, google the Clerk of Court in that location’s county. While all the requirements should be the same from county to county in Florida, each county may have slight variations on how they handle marriage licenses – you may need an appointment, hours may vary, you might be able to apply online, etc.

If you’re an out of state resident, you can pick up your Florida marriage license on the same day that you apply. As long as you have all the necessary legal documents, it’ll be a total breeze. Check the hours of the office to make sure they’ll be open when you plan on being in the state. If you’re a Florida resident, there’s a 3 day waiting period so plan accordingly.

Need help figuring out the requirements? Read through my elopement experience and how I can personally help you plan and capture your elopement day!

Be Flexible

As you’re planning your Florida elopement, be prepared to pivot. There’s so many ways that an elopement can go off the original vision. It’s not a bad thing if your elopement plan doesn’t match your elopement vision. As long as you’re flexible and go with the flow of the adventure of having an elopement, you’ll have the best damn day.

Need someone to help you figure it all out? Read through my elopement experience and how I can personally help you plan and capture your elopement day!

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