As first light breeched the horizon, illuminating the sea cliffs in the distance, Stacia & Josh said their vows to each other. It was such an intentional and intimate moment to witness. Two people promising to love and experience this adventure called life together forever. It was magical y’all!

Queenie and Roger knew they wanted something steeped in nature, with big ol’ cliffs and all the waves crashing on the rocks sounds. My mind immediately went to Lake Superior. A wedding on the North Shores of Minnesota is all of those things and more, depending on where you look. You can find so much solitude and beautiful views wrapped up into one place.

Your favorite outdoor activities can be an incredible way to celebrate on your wedding day! Well here is a list of a few awesome adventurous activities in the great outdoors to consider for your wedding day adventure!!   

Interstate State Park is one of the midwest’s best kept secrets. Tucked between two states, split by the Saint Croix River. This glacier sculpted landscape is some of the most dramatic in the area.

Anyway, when Kara and Jake said they wanted to stop and explore this area for the first stop of their engagement photo adventure, I was hella STOKED - daydreaming about how epic it would be! THEN, actually seeing these two, hand in hand, in front of this incredible former sea cliff, with millions of gallons of glacier fed water cascading down, the whole experience was pretty freaking unreal and beyond anything I could dream up.

So we started our little adventure in Duluth (the town they first met) then headed up the North Shore to wander around some epic cliffs (part 1) and finally the Black Beach for some misty sunset feels.

Palisade Head is a shallow headland of pink Rhyolite cliffs along the North Shore in Beaver Bay, MN. It is an epic section of Tettegouche State Park, were you can really grab some insane views of Lake Superior along with the dense forest and slabs of giant rocks surrounding it.

Are you planning your small wedding or elopement and want somewhere to explore on your wedding day, or maybe you just want some killer views without traveling out of state?! Duluth is totally worth a look!!! It’s where adventure meets the city.

Kara & Jake have been dating since they met as freshmen in college and HOLY FREAKING HECK- they ended up getting engaged in ICELAND, the day before this shoot! I mean, Jake really nailed it with the timing, amirite?! Not only did they get to sip wine and do some natural bath/hot tub soaks, but they also had one hell of a two day engagement adventure with us to celebrate!!

We met them at the base of the cliffs at sunset by a big sea cave, another fun find we had no prior knowledge of! Then wandered around the cave walked to some cool rock formations, then headed up the trail to the top of the ridge for peak sunset.

Anna and Dan are two of the most adventurous and beautiful souls I have ever met. We actually photographed their wedding two years ago at a group camp here in Wisconsin. For their honeymoon they traveled around the world in 30 days – so when they heard we were flying to Iceland around their 2 year wedding anniversary we started planning an adventurous photoshoot to celebrate, in the land of fire and ice! I am beyond stoked our travel plans lined up so all of this could happen.

Want to have the best engagement photos ever? Here is a guide to planning and making the most of your engagement photo session!

For their engagement photos, we wandered around the cliffs of the St. Croix River at one of the best local State Parks in Wisconsin! - They explored, played around & loved on each other so dang hard!

Jordan and Erica are two adventurous souls that love to travel, sail, camp, paddle board & love on their pup Bene!!! I cannot say enough amazing things about these two!! They drove up north 4 hours to stay at a friends cabin in Minocqua, WI to catch the last bits of winter for their engagement photos! Erica envisioned a winter adventure in the north woods of Wisconsin where they love to camp, bike & relax in the summer- when their not sailing on Lake Michigan or traveling the world together & such!!

Okay, who else is obsessed with hiking around on those warm winter days, when there’s a butt load of snow everywhere?! Ya know the ones… we had a whopping like 2 if them this year, lol!! WELL, this was one of those- jackets are optional, the sun’s out- let’s go play in the snow kinda days! Tyler & Ashley are two of the most MAGNETIC people on the dang planet, for real!

So these two adventurous hearts drove down from Utah to get all fancy and explore the desert together! It was epic!! From the second we got off the shuttle at the drop point, it started snowing big, fluffy magical flakes, (side note- snow in the desert is WAY more amazing than snow here in Wisconsin… just saying!) We were all so dang excited as we started off for the canyon!

The first 8 big decisions to make when planning your destination elopement.

But hey, here are some big decision starting points and advice to get ya started on your way to your dream elopement!!

We wandered through the iconic desert of Arizona for their elopement styled shoot! It was one hell of an adventure slipping through the narrow corridors, climbing up and down the ladders and running around in the open spaces of this slot canyon!

Everything you need to know to elope along Lake Superior! From eclectic towns in Minnesota, the sandy beaches of Wisconsin, to the rocky shores of Michigan, Lake Superior has a lot to offer for a potential elopement.

These two cuties & a group of their friends take a little vacation up to Two Harbors every year & stay at the Two Harbors Cottages. Which is SUPER cute btw! They knew they wanted to be intentional & have their photos taken somewhere with a lot of meaning for them. So this year’s trip they planned a wintery session right by their cottage on the shoreline of Lake Superior and it was AMAZING!! They hiked, played in the snow, cuddled, got cold & cuddled some more!