Chad + Vanessa | The Team Behind The Outlovers

‘HOME’ IS WHEREVER WE ARE WITH EACH OTHER

We bet you know that feeling, hey? It’s a pretty incredible thing.

Hey there! We’re Chad and Vanessa, ‘The Outlovers’.

We’re from the US and Scotland, we met in Honduras and have since worked (as professional scuba divers!) in Indonesia, Fiji and Tonga. We now call the west of Colorado home and LOVE being surrounded by both desert and mountains.

Our loved ones refer to us as ‘two turtles in one shell’ we’re such twin souls.

We’d guess that your relationship has been built on the strong foundations of a shared love of adventure, travel and the great outdoors?

Yup, ours too.

WHY HIRE A COUPLE AS YOUR PHOTOGRAPHERS?

No awkward ‘third wheel’ situation! It can sometimes feel a little weird having only one other person tagging along on the most intimate day of your lives. When there’s two of us, it has more of a casual double date vibe and the conversation tends to flow really easily. It’ll feel like a super cool day hanging out with friends!

We have really complimentary skills! Running a good elopement business requires us to wear SO many hats. We are both good at different things and, together, we can offer you a really solid experience. Did you love the way your gallery was edited? Yeah, that was Chad (Vanessa sucks at editing). Did you feel like you had great communication from the get-go? Yup, that was Vanessa (Chad takes an hour to write half an e-mail).

We can just do MORE together. Double the people, double the input! Not only can we get greater variety in our images (often while one of us is getting a beautiful close-up shot, the other is scampering up a rock to try a different angle), but we can also offer a fully personalized ceremony experience for you: while Vanessa officiates, Chad continues to photograph, something a sole photographer simply cannot do. Oh, and did you know we offer a mini-video add-on, too?

"When my husband first mentioned the idea of an adventure elopement across the country I had so many thoughts racing through my mind. How do we plan this, how do we narrow down a location, is this even a real thing?! Vanessa and Chad instantly made all of my worries and anxiety go away. They planned a beautiful, intimate day that matched our personality and relationship. Their communication was consistently remarkable and they addressed every concern/question we had without hesitation. They truly make your day solely about what you and your partner want/need. They made our day feel natural, easy, care-free, and fun. It was full of laughs, love, and adventure! We cannot say enough good things about our experience with “The Outlovers”, and no combination of words would be written well enough to tell everyone how AMAZING, caring, kind, and attentive they are."

Gabrielle and Stephen

Your DESTINATION ELOPEMENT Experts

Exploration is written into the DNA of our relationship.

We met on a tiny island in Honduras, and then spent five years working as scuba divers in Indonesia and Fiji before finally ‘settling’ in the US. Not so settled, really: we spend a LOT of time on the road!

Between us, we’ve traveled to something like 50 countries and plan ALL our own travels from scratch. We’ve explored all across the US, hiked in Nepal, camper-vanned around New Zealand, summited Kilimanjaro, trekked to Machu Pichu, swum with humpback whales in Tonga…. Oh, and we eloped ourselves in South Africa!

We know it’s not easy to plan an elopement, especially out of state – or even out of country – and ESPECIALLY if you’ve never been there before. You can rest easy in the knowledge that we have the skills and experience to assist you every step of the way.

(This is one of our own favorite wedding pics coz, well, it’s perfectly ‘us’! No idea what we were laughing so hard at.)

This is one of our favorite pics from our own elopement. No idea what we were laughing so hard at. But it’s REAL and we love it.

Your DESTINATION ELOPEMENT Experts

Exploration is written into the DNA of our relationship.

Between us, we’ve traveled to something like 50 countries and plan ALL our travels from scratch ourselves. We’ve explored all across the US, hiked in Nepal, camper-vanned around New Zealand, summited Kilimanjaro, trekked to Machu Pichu, swum with humpback whales in Tonga…. Oh, and we eloped ourselves in South Africa!

This is how we chose to celebrate our 5 year anniversary: summiting Long’s Peak in Colorado, 14 259′. We’ll choose the night sky over a 5* hotel any day!

HEY! I’M VANESSA, YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER, CEREMONY OFFICIANT AND ‘LOGISTICS GAL’

For me, photographs tell the story of a life well-lived. I love the idea of being old and wrinkly, cuddled up with Chad and looking back on all the fun, adventurous and meaningful things we’ve done with our lives. I want to create those memories for you, too! I find immense joy capturing you and your love on your elopement day feeling truly ALIVE.

I also looooove researching, planning and dreaming big: I can’t wait to brainstorm with you and co-create a day that makes your heart beat faster just thinking about it!

On the day itself, I provide a calming influence, quietly taking care of the flow and logistics so the two of you can just relax and truly revel in your love.

MORE ABOUT VANESSA

My favorite adventures have been: Scuba diving to 100m/330', solo-treking 300 miles in Nepal, 4x4-ing through Botswana and camper-vanning around New Zealand.

The wackiest moment of my life was having a wild orangutan sit down beside me in the Borneo jungle and start doing my laundry with me! 100% truth. There are photos!

Enveloped by nature is where I come alive. It's where I connect with something bigger than myself. It's where I breathe a little deeper and see a little clearer.

I am originally from Scotland but have lived in 6 other countries: France, Indonesia, Honduras, Fiji, Tonga and the US.

Chad has always been 'My Constant', the thing in my life that I 100% know is steadfast and unchanging. The peace this brings me is indescribable.

HEY! I’M CHAD, YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER, TECH WIZARD AND GET-SH*T-DONE GUY BEHIND THE SCENES

My photography style is relaxed with a sense of ease and comfort, rather than overly still or posed, creating images that are true to life and honest. I want to photograph the real YOU and the real emotions: not some fake Pinterest-worhty version. I find particular joy in sweeping landscape shots with you at the very heart.

I want you to spend your elopement day lost in the moment, in awe of your surroundings and each other!

Meanwhile, I’m the one busying away in the background making sure everything is in place: permits are secured, timelines are pinned down and, of course, snacks and beers are packed!

MORE ABOUT CHAD

My favorite adventures have been: crossing the width of Mexico by public bus, catching sunrise at Machu Pichu, scuba diving WW2 wrecks in Palau and living in the Middle East for two years.

The wackiest moment of my life was having a 40 ton wild humpback whale lift me out of the water on its nose! It was oh-so-gentle and was like a puppy with a ball.

I learnt to scuba dive just so I could swim with hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos. I was instantly addicted and ended up traveling the world as a scuba instructor!

Dogs turn me to absolute mush. I am unashamedly OBSESSED with our two rescue pups, Bula and Laya. And if you elope with your dogs I'll be obsessed with them, too!

Vanessa is my 'Everything Is Going to be OK'. Life just makes more sense since we've shared it together. There's nothing we can't tackle side by side!

HEY! I’M VANESSA. YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER, CEREMONY OFFICIANT AND ‘LOGISTICS GAL’

For me, photographs tell the story of a life well-lived. I love the idea of being old and wrinkly, cuddled up with Chad and looking back on all the fun, adventurous and meaningful things we’ve done with our lives. And I want to be a part of that for you, too! I find immense joy capturing you on your elopement day feeling truly, deeply ALIVE.

I also LOVE researching, planning and dreaming big: I can’t wait to brainstorm with you and create a day that makes your heart beat just that little bit faster.

On the day itself, I provide a calming influence, quietly taking care of logistics, so the two of you can just relax and truly revel in your love.

FUN STUFF ABOUT VANESSA

My favorite adventures have been: Scuba diving to 100m/330', solo-treking 300 miles in Nepal, 4x4-ing through Botswana and camper-vanning around New Zealand.

The wackiest moment of my life was having a wild orangutan sit down beside me in the Borneo jungle and start doing my laundry with me!

Enveloped by nature is where I come alive. It's where I connect with something bigger than myself. It's where I breathe a little deeper and see a little clearer.

I am originally from Scotland but have lived in 6 other countries: France, Indonesia, Honduras, Fiji, Tonga and the US.

Chad is 'My Constant', the one thing in my often turbulent life that is steadfast and unchanging. The peace this brings me is indescribable.

HEY! I’M CHAD. YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE GET-SH*T-DONE-GUY

My photography style is relaxed with a sense of ease and comfort, rather than overly stiff and posed, creating images that are true to life and honest. I want to photograph the real YOU, and the real emotions: not some fake Pinterest-worthy version. I find particular joy in sweeping landscape shots with you at the very heart.

I want you to spend your elopement day lost in the moment, in awe of your surroundings and each other.

Meanwhile, I’m the one busying away in the background making sure everything is in place: permits are secured, timelines are pinned down and, of course, snacks and beers are packed!

FUN STUFF ABOUT CHAD

My favorite adventures have been: crossing the width of Mexico by public bus, catching sunrise at Machu Pichu, scuba diving WW2 wrecks in Palau and living in the Middle East.

The wackiest moment of my life was having a wild humpback whale lift me out of the water on its nose! It was oh-so-gentle and was like a puppy with a ball.

I learnt to scuba dive just so I could swim with hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos. I was instantly addicted and ended up traveling the world as a scuba instructor!

Dogs turn me to absolute mush! We have two rescue pups who we adore beyond words. Pleeeeease bring your pup to your elopement!

Vanessa is my 'Everything Is Going to be OK'. Life just makes more sense since we've shared it together. There's nothing we can't tackle side by side!

WHAT DO WE BELIEVE?

We work with ALL couples who resonate with what we offer: we don’t give two hoots about who you love, how you love, where you come from or what you look like.

(Oh, and if you don’t feel the same way, we’re probably NOT the right team for you!)

We care DEEPLY about the natural environment and consider it a privilege to call it out ‘office’. We have completed a LEAVE NO TRACE course for photographers and follow the principles in all of our adventures. We will encourage and support you to do the same on your elopement day!

We believe that incredible photos are the DIRECT RESULT of you having the time of your lives! We’d rather capture you living in the moment than stage the ‘perfect’ photo for Instagram.

We’re here for the couples like YOU.

The couples who dare to dream big.

The couples who feel ALIVE in the great outdoors.

The couples who are brave enough to follow their hearts.

The couples who dream of a wedding day filled with love and adventure.

HOW TO ELOPE IN SCOTLAND

Scotland is so romantic, it's the perfect place to elope. Let us guide you through the ins and out of a Scottish elopement.

HOW TO ELOPE IN MOAB, UTAH

Moab is our favorite places on the planet! Learn how to plan an epic Moab elopement in this ultimate guide. Ready to be inspired?

HOW MUCH DOES ELOPING COST?

We'll breakdown all the realistic expenses of an epic elopement experience for you and show you what you can do with your budget.

80 OF THE BEST ELOPEMENT IDEAS

Not sure what to actually DO for your elopement day?! How to make it SPECIAL? Don't worry, we've got a ton of great ideas for you.

PLAN A HIKING ELOPEMENT

Whether you want to hike one mile or ten, a hiking elopement logistically takes a fair amount of planning. Let us help!