Lesbian Elopement in Shenandoah National Park

If you also are interested in a lesbian elopement in Shenandoah National Park, then this is definitely the inspiration post for you!

Emily and Lyndsey planned a late summer elopement in Shenandoah National Park. We decided to split their day into sunrise and sunset portions, have a picnic, cut the cake, and plan time for them to share a first dance.

Weather in the mountains is unpredictable. But it’s rare to get “bad” weather (meaning fog or rain) at both sunrise and sunset. So for many of my couples, we split their day into sunrise and sunset portions. That way we are maximizing our chance of getting beautiful weather for one part of their elopement.

For what it’s worth, anecdotally, in Shenandoah National Park, it’s more likely to get fog at sunrise than rain and rain at sunset than fog. That’s what happened for Emily and Lyndsey.

We began their elopement by meeting before dawn at the parking area for Stony Man Summit. Fog rolled in thick leaving an ethereal quality to the woods. Sometimes, when it’s really foggy in the park, we will get fog inversions at Stony Man. That’s when the clouds are below the level of the summit and the mountaintops peek out above it. It’s pretty rare, though, to have cloud inversions in Shenandoah. More often, it’s just straight fog. And that’s what it was for Emily and Lyndsey.

So instead of doing portraits with the mountains in the background (which were invisible), we went back into the woods. The trees provide context and background for photos when it’s really foggy. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite environments to shoot in. Foggy woods always make me feel like we are in a real life fairytale.

After their ceremony and vows, we hiked back down to the parking area to head to some overlooks to see if we could find mountain views farther down Skyline Drive for their post-ceremony picnic.

Post-Elopement Picnic Celebration

One of the things I talk about with couples who are planning two-person elopements is how to incorporate post-ceremony celebrations into their day. Even though you have no guests, you still need to eat and you still want the day to feel super special. It’s your wedding day, after all!

So after their sunrise ceremony, Emily and Lyndsey enjoyed a breakfast picnic at Jewell Hollow Overlook. They spread out a blanket, had coffee from a thermos and ate homemade muffins. While they ate and drank, they read letters, notes and cards their friends and family had written. The notes contained well-wishes both for the day and their marriage.

Asking friends and family to write you letters can be a super special way to include your loved ones, even if they aren’t able to be there in person. And honestly, these days, we don’t have a lot of written material from those we love. So these letters can also be special momentos to keep from your wedding day.

Lesbian Elopement in Shenandoah National Park

Emily and Lyndsey have two beloved dogs they wanted to include in at least part of their day. Stony Man is not dog friendly, though. So we decided to go back to the park for sunset and visit a location their dogs could come to. The original plan was to hike out to Miller’s Head Lookout for sunset. We didn’t end up being able to do that.

After a midday break, I met back up with them at their airbnb in Luray. While they finished hair and makeup, I photographed flat lays of their details. They then got ready together. Side note: I love when couples get ready together! For whatever reason, it’s more common for my lesbian couples to choose to do this. For anyone who wants to get ready together, though, it ends up being a super sweet and intimate moment. And makes for beautiful photos!

Getting ready at the airbnb ran a bit late, so we decide to scratch the sunset hiking plan and stop at an overlook instead.

After driving back to the park, we got some mountain portraits of them with their dogs at an overlook. Then they shared a private first dance with only the mountains as witness. After sunset, they popped champagne, toasted to being just married and cut the cake. As the last of the light faded, they snuggled and watched the beautiful colors blend over the mountains. It was an incredible day and I’m so grateful I get to capture memories like this for all my couples!