Maine & NH Elopement Photographer | The “Just Us” Elopement (No Announcements, No Opinions)

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been photographing more couples who are doing something bold and wildly refreshing….they’re eloping just the two of them… and not telling their families ahead of time. Sometimes not even after. Icon behavior, honestly.

No guest list.
No group chat opinions.
No “but your aunt will be upset.”

Just two people choosing each other without the noise.

These elopements aren’t about secrecy in a shady way, they’re about protecting the experience. Couples are realizing that the second they tell people their plans, the pressure starts creeping in. Expectations. Guilt. Someone else’s version of what their wedding should be.

So they opt out.

Instead, they pick a place that feels like them. Mountains, oceans, quiet Airbnbs, middle-of-nowhere views. They say their vows without an audience, without performing, without worrying about who’s watching or judging or crying too loudly.

And let me tell you, those moments hit different.

When it’s just the two of you, everything slows down. There’s no timeline stress. No nerves about walking in front of people. No checking to see who’s looking. It’s intimate in the truest sense of the word.

I see couples laugh more. Cry harder. Hold each other longer.
There’s nothing to distract them from the fact that this is it. This is the moment.

Some of them celebrate later with family. Some throw a party. Some never do and that’s okay. A wedding doesn’t need witnesses to be real or meaningful.

This trend isn’t about avoiding family. It’s about choosing intention over obligation. Experience over expectation. Privacy over performance.

And honestly?
Watching couples give themselves permission to do that has been one of my favorite shifts in the wedding world.

Because at the end of the day, your marriage starts the same way whether there are 200 people watching or no one at all.

And sometimes, “just us” is exactly how it should begin.