How to Elope

A guide for couples who value freedom, presence, and writing your own damn rules.

What's Eloping, You Ask?

Eloping is a wedding day built around experience, meaning, and presence – not a bunch of guests who are just there for the open bar.

It can be just the two of you on a cliff at sunrise.
It can include your kids, your best friends, your parents.
It can last three hours or three days.
It can happen in the desert, the mountains, a city hall, or somewhere so remote you lose cell service and find yourself again.

Eloping is not:

A lesser version of a “real” wedding
A backup plan
Something you owe an explanation for

It is a conscious choice to center your relationship instead of tradition for tradition’s sake.

WHY DO COUPLES ELOPE?

Most couples don’t wake up one day and say, “Let’s elope for funsies.”
They arrive here after realizing something important:

They don’t want to spend their wedding day managing expectations.

Couples choose to elope because they:

Want their day to feel calm, grounded, and honest
Don’t want to perform emotion on a timeline
Value experience, travel, and intimacy over spectacle
Want photos that feel like memories—not poses
Want to actually be present with each other

If that’s you, you’re exactly wher eyou need to be

How Eloping With Us Works

You choose the kind of experience you want.
Adventure-heavy, slow and romantic, urban and chic, wildly remote, or cozy and intentional.
You choose where to elope with questionnaires and guides designed to make choosing easy.
This determines permits, logistics, seasonality, and vibe—which is why location matters more than people think.
You handle the legal piece with our guidance.
Marriage license rules vary by location, but none of them are as complicated as the internet makes them sound.
We plan the entire day itself and provide you (and your guests, if applicable) with everything you need to have a seamlessly magical day.
Timeline, activities, clothing, vows, and space to breathe.
We marry you, facilitate memory making, and photograph every moment so you have souvenirs of the beginning of your lives.
That’s it. That’s the point.

"Our day felt like a winter fairytale — full of emotion, laughter, and joy."

L + L

Banff, Canada

Hi, We’re Light Preserves!

We plan, officiate, and photograph epic, soulful elopements across California, the Southwest, and beyond.

Our job? To make your entire elopement process feel effortless, inspiring, and like a total hell yes.

From location scouting to permits to ceremony ideas and dreamy portraits, we’re here to help you create a wedding experience that feels like you—on your best, wildest day.

“Mari and Fabian make every couple feel like they belong.” K + J

HOW TO ELOPE WITH US

1. Reach Out

Tell us where you are in the process (dreaming, planning, overwhelmed).

2. Let’s Dream Together

We’ll craft a custom elopement plan: location, timeline, logistics, and a vibe that feels like you.

3. Get Married in a Way That Feels True

Whether it’s at sunrise in the desert or with your toes in the ocean at sunset, we’ll be there to guide, document, and cheer you on.

IMAGINE...

Ease in every way – for your travel, while building your timeline, moving through the moment, all of it.

Photos that are all you –because we start with what matters: creating an experience that’s authentically yours.

The experience of a lifetime – because your once in a lifetime love, deserves an extraordinary beginning.