Lake Tahoe elopement photography of a husband giving his wife a piggy back ride at Kiva beach after their Emerald Bay fall elopement ceremony.
Lake Tahoe elopement photographer Doug Miranda Photography loves capturing photos of couples who would prefer a smaller wedding or having an elopement all by themselves. Tahoe is the perfect place for eloping and elopement photography. There are many amazing locations around the Tahoe basin for these kind of small weddings to take place at. The biggest question is how to I go about eloping in Lake Tahoe or having a super small wedding in Tahoe?
First off you must have a marriage licenses in order to even get married. Here’s where things get a little difficult in the Tahoe area. Lake Tahoe is divided into five counties and you must know what county your ceremony will take place in, in order to find the right courthouse to get your marriage license at.
The next step is finding and booking your wedding venue or elopement location. A good amount of the wedding venues in Tahoe do offer elopement and small wedding packages. So it’s a good idea to check out some of the wedding venues to see if your able to elope on their property. Some of these wedding venues only offer these elopement packages Monday through Thursday. If you would like to find a list of Lake Tahoe wedding venues please check out the list that I have made for couples. I have a list for South Lake Tahoe wedding venues, North Lake Tahoe wedding venues and even all the Lake Tahoe beach wedding venues. These list will give you a good starting point of where to look at.
Here’s a list of a couple popular elopement spots around Lake Tahoe. The first one is Emerald Bay, which is one of the most stunning locations around Tahoe. But over the years it has become insanely busy and packed with tourist. I would highly recommend a morning ceremony at Emerald Bay in order to beat the crowds and have those perfect backlit photos. In order to get married here you must have a permit through the National Forest Service, which you can obtain through one of their local offices in Tahoe. The other way is to hire an officiant that can marry you and get one of those permits for you at the same time. If you’re not having a friend marry you than this is the way to go if you’re wanting to have your ceremony around Emerald Bay. Most high profile locations around the lake require this same Forest Service permit to host your ceremony. So be sure to check if you need one.
Finding someone to marry you is not to hard in the greater Tahoe basin. If you just google Lake Tahoe officiants you’ll be more than overwhelmed with the amount of people who are qualified to perform a wedding ceremony for you. The prices range for person to person and what types of services they offer for you too. The other way that couples go about finding an officiant for their small wedding or elopement is to have a friend or family member perform the ceremony. One big thing that this person must do is be legally ordained to marry you on your wedding date. The one place that most all friends and family members go to, in order to be legal is “The Universal Life Church” website. It’s as easy as going onto their website, filling out some paperwork and paying a small fee. Before you know it they are ordained to marry you on your special day.
Another big key item for your Lake Tahoe elopement is finding a photographer that can take photographs during your nuptials. As a Lake Tahoe elopement photographer myself I would say to book me and if I’m not open on your date you should look for a wedding photographer that has knowledge of the Tahoe area. I know that lots of websites and planners say you should hire a local photographer because they know best which is not true. Honestly most all Tahoe photographers don’t even live in Tahoe and live in the surrounding areas. Tahoe is just to dam expensive to live in. This is where you just need to find a photographer who has knowledge of the area and has photographed lots of wedding in and around the Tahoe basin. You’ll be able to find this out by looking at websites or calling around.
If you are interested in wanting me to photograph your wedding day please fill out the contract form on this website. You can also email me directly at doug@dougmiranda.com or give me a call at 916-422-2256. I look forward to hearing from you and know you’re going to have a wonderful wedding day.
Location: Kiva Beach South Lake Tahoe, CA.
Keywords: South Lake Tahoe CA (7).