Kristin Smith Photography

10/15/2026

Just sent off my last elopement timeline of the year, and I’m a little sad about it. 🥹

Two more elopements to go, and that’s a wrap on my season.

I spend so much time planning these days with my couples, getting excited about the locations, figuring out all the little details… then suddenly we’re here, and the season is almost over.

And those timelines? There’s a lot more to them than picking a random ceremony time.

We’re figuring out when each location gets the best light, how long it actually takes to get there, and leaving room for food, celebrating, and a few unplanned stops along the way.

If you’re planning an elopement wedding, give yourselves more time than you think you’ll need. A short ceremony doesn’t mean your whole wedding day has to be short, too. You can have a slow morning, share your vows, go out for lunch, and end the day watching the sunset together.

Still two more elopements to look forward to over here. And I’m going to soak them up. 🤍

10/07/2026

Evan hung with us for SJ and Dave's elopement. He is a freakin wizard at video, check it out!

This is "SJ + DAVE" by Evan Risucci on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

10/06/2026

SJ and Dave’s full gallery went home today, and I’m over here reliving their entire summer Lake Tahoe elopement. 🥹💙

These two had one goal: HAVE FUN.

So we started with vows in the forest, stopped in Kings Beach for lunch and ice cream, made time for a first dance, and enjoyed Sand Harbor for sunset.

Then we got in the freaking lake. 😂

SJ had been waiting for that swim ALL DAY. Wedding dress and everything, she went right in—and later told us it was her favorite part of the day.

Rick and I were in there with them, cameras in water housings, getting tossed around by the waves and laughing right alongside them.

And now they have the whole story to look back on. Their vows. Their ice cream stop. Their first dance. The way they looked at each other before getting soaked. All those little moments that made this their wedding day.

This is why I love full-day and multi-day elopements. There’s time to get married AND spend a day doing things you actually enjoy together.

Want forest vows, good food, and a sunset swim of your own?

I’ll help you choose your Tahoe or California locations, bring together your team, and plan a day with room to enjoy it all. 💙

www.kristinsmithphotography.com

10/02/2026

Why walk over to your bride when you can hop? 😂

Barefoot on a Lake Tahoe beach, marrying your favorite person, and bringing a little extra personality to the photos. These are the little moments I love keeping. 🤍

Planning a small wedding in California? You can have an intimate Lake Tahoe wedding with family AND leave time for an elopement-style experience together.

Celebrate with your closest people, enjoy lunch, then head off for beach photos and a sunset swim. Or take a scenic drive, grab ice cream, and spend a little time soaking up the fact that you’re MARRIED.

Eloping with guests doesn’t mean you need a packed schedule. And an intimate wedding doesn’t have to squeeze your whole celebration into a quick ceremony and a few portraits. You can make a full day of it!

As a California elopement photographer and planner, I help couples with location ideas, permit guidance, timelines, and photography for small celebrations in Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Mount Shasta, San Francisco, and along the California coast.

There’s room for your favorite people AND some time for just the two of you. 🥹

10/02/2026

One thing I wish more couples knew before planning their California elopement: a 15-minute ceremony doesn’t mean you only need 15 minutes at your ceremony spot. 😂

There’s getting there, finding parking, walking to the location, getting everyone settled (if you have guests), exchanging vows, hugging your people afterward… and taking a minute to realize you’re actually MARRIED.

Those little pieces need room in your day, too.

Here are a few things I look at when building a California elopement timeline:

🌅 Start with the part you’re most excited about.
If sunset photos by the water are a priority, I work backward from there. If you want a slow morning together or a long lunch with family, we make space for that first.

🚗 Count more than the drive.
A 30-minute drive can become a much longer transition once you add packing up, parking, walking and bathroom stops. That’s especially easy to overlook when you’re choosing several photo locations.

👨‍👩‍👧 Plan around your guests’ comfort. (or have NO guests!)
Can everyone comfortably walk to the ceremony spot? Will they need a place to sit? What will they do when you leave for photos? These details help your people enjoy the day, too.

🥪 Give food an actual spot on the timeline.
“Eating whenever” is an easy way to end up hungry halfway through your wedding day. Make room for lunch, bring snacks and keep water handy.

🤍 Leave some breathing room.
You might want to stay at the lake longer, spend a few extra minutes with family or take a quiet break together. A packed timeline makes those moments harder to enjoy.

My biggest tip? Choose a few things you’re really excited about and give yourself time to enjoy them. You don’t have to fit every beautiful location into one day, that's why multi-day elopements are becoming a thing.

What’s one thing you’d want plenty of time for on your elopement wedding day?

10/01/2026

An intimate Lake Tahoe wedding with an elopement twist. You can have both. 😊

I just delivered Allegra and Mason’s full wedding gallery, and I love how much LIFE is in these photos.

Their day started with a beach wedding ceremony at Round Hill Pines, surrounded by their closest family and friends. Gorgeous Lake Tahoe views, their favorite people, and a few geese who decided they were part of the wedding too. 😂

After their ceremony and beach portraits, we headed to Riva Grill for lunch overlooking Lake Tahoe, first dances, and parent dances.

Then it was back to their Airbnb to hang out with family and friends, enjoy time together, and cut their ice cream wedding cake.

That cake was SOLID. Watching them try to cut through it while cracking up was one of my favorite moments. 😂

They got the intimate wedding ceremony, family celebration, and wedding traditions they wanted. And they still had an entire evening to enjoy Tahoe together.

During lunch, Allegra was hot and DONE with her wedding dress. Our original sunset photo plan started sounding a lot less fun than getting into the lake.

So I suggested a golden hour swim.

Immediate YES.

After spending time with everyone at the Airbnb, they changed into comfy clothes. I’d bought myself Tahoe shorts and a tank from the gift shop, and we headed to the beach for a sunset dip.

It was their first time swimming in Lake Tahoe since arriving, and they kept saying how happy they were. 🥹

Of course, I was right there in the water with my camera, photographing every laugh, splash, and hug.

This is what an intimate Lake Tahoe wedding and elopement day can look like.

A beach ceremony with your people. Lunch with a lake view. First dances and cake. Time to hang out with family. Then a sunset swim, just the two of you.

As your Lake Tahoe elopement photographer and planner, I can help build the rest of your day around the plans you may already have and the things you’re excited to do. We’ll create a timeline with room to enjoy it all and change things when something else sounds even better.

Now booking 2027 California elopements and intimate weddings.
🤍

09/26/2026

Don't worry, I'm not posting GPS coordinates nor sharing these locations verbally or in a blog post. 😉

I’m going to say it: Mount Shasta is EXTREMELY underrated for a California elopement. And

Everyone’s chasing waterfalls and trying to dodge the crowds in Yosemite, and meanwhile Shasta is over here with mountains, rivers, forests, lava rock, and SO MANY lakes and waterfalls to explore.

And who doesn’t want to run around on a sleepy volcano on their wedding day?! 🌋 The lava rock up on that mountain is freakin’ gorgeous.

This photo is just one little piece of what a Mount Shasta elopement can look like. You could start with mountain views, spend time by a lake, find a river spot for your vows, then go grab some amazing food. There are easy walks, beautiful hikes, and enough places to explore that we could build a full day around the things you actually love doing together.

And for my hardcore couples? We could even look into a guided climb toward the summit. I mean… why not make your wedding trip THAT memorable? Say goodbye to Half Dome, you don't need to line up like ants on those cables. 😂

And, this is one of the best spots for astro photography, so if Milky Way photoss are on your list, this is it.

That’s what I love about Shasta. Your day could be slow and relaxed, or you could fill it with hikes and exploring. I’ll help you find the locations, put together a timeline that makes sense, and leave room to enjoy it all.

If you’re looking for a place to elope in California and Mount Shasta hasn’t crossed your mind yet, take another look. This place has SO much more than people realize. 🤍

09/25/2026

“She’s pretty dope to hang out with for the day” 😂

I think that might be my favorite line I’ve ever gotten in a review.

Cory and Sarah wanted their wedding day to feel like a date. No big wedding pressure. Just the two of them spending the day together, eating good food, exploring Lake Tahoe, and getting married.

They arrived early and checked out Sand Harbor on their own. The day before their Lake Tahoe elopement, they asked if we could take photos there, too. I already had my annual photography permit, so I sent a quick message to the state park to let them know we’d be popping in. Then we crossed our fingers that we could get in, with Kings Beach as our backup.

We got in! And that was just one piece of the day. We stopped for photos with yellow flowers Sarah had found, ate charcuterie out of the back of the car, grabbed burgers in Truckee, and made spontaneous stops on our way to Donner Summit. We even found the swing overlooking Donner Lake that I’d been looking for for YEARS.

By the time they shared their vows and first dance at Donner Summit, it was getting cold. Good thing I’d packed blankets and hand warmers 😂 And after all that, they ended their wedding day with a full-on bubble gun fight.

This is why Cory’s review means so much to me. As a Lake Tahoe elopement photographer and California elopement planner, I want to help create a day you actually have fun living. Sometimes that means planning ahead. Sometimes it means making room for the place you fell in love with yesterday.

But the line that melted my heart? “She’s for sure someone you would be friends with.” That’s how I feel about my couples after their wedding day, too. I keep in touch with a lot of them long after I’ve delivered their photos, and I love that those connections don’t end when the wedding day does. 💛

09/23/2026

J iced her groom immediately after their first look—which, I learned, means surprising him with a Smirnoff Ice that he then had to get down on one knee and chug. 😂

So... that pretty much set the tone for their entire Mount Shasta elopement.

J + C are locals, which made this day even more special. They didn’t choose Mount Shasta because it looked pretty on Instagram. They chose to get married where they live, surrounded by places that already mean something to them.

After their first look—and the icing—they took us to their special river spot for their private ceremony. Getting there meant hiking through the river, and after exchanging vows, the first thing they did was take a dip. Completely happy, completely present, and so freaking fun.

Then they took us to their favorite Mexican restaurant in town, where the carnitas were hands-down AMAZING. They told us that this was there bar spot, so of course, more drinks! 😂

This is one of my favorite things about full-day and multi-day elopements: there’s time to slow down, eat together, get buzzed if you want, laugh, and let the day unfold without rushing from one photo opportunity to the next.

We finished the evening as far up the road on Mount Shasta as we could go. The volcanic landscape, lava rocks, lanterns, dramatic clouds, and mountains glowing pink at sunset were unreal. We could even hear people playing tribal drums in the distance as the sun went down.

On the drive back, Rick and I couldn’t stop talking about how incredible the day was, how happy J + C were, and then the "happy, blissful, it's over now" tears started happening out of nowhere. 😭

Mount Shasta is one of the most underrated elopement locations in California.

Everyone talks about Yosemite, dodging crowds, and I’m over here like…look at THIS place.

And the best part... NO CROWDS.

This wasn’t only a beautiful Mount Shasta elopement. It was their home, their river, their favorite restaurant, and their favorite places woven into their wedding day.

I truly love what I do, and I’m so grateful these two trusted us to photograph it. 🤍

09/22/2026

Julia and Chris are MARRIED!!!! 😭🏔️💍

We’re only halfway through their Mount Shasta elopement day and LOOK AT THIS VIEW!!!

They started the day with their first look overlooking Lake Siskiyou, with Mount Shasta showing OFF behind them. Then we headed to their river spot, where they exchanged private vows, got married, and jumped straight into the water afterward!

Now we’re taking a little break before meeting back up for lunch and then we still have the entire second half of their elopement day ahead of us.

THIS is why full-day elopements are so freaking special. There’s no rushing through a ceremony and calling it done. They get an entire day filled with beautiful locations, quiet moments, fun experiences, time to eat, time to breathe, and space to actually enjoy being married.

Also…can we talk about how ridiculously underrated Mount Shasta is for a California elopement?!

Everyone talks about Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Redwoods, while Mount Shasta is over here giving us THIS. Oh and aspens are yellowing up here too! 😍

And yes, this was my first time photographing a couple with my drone! I AM FREAKING OUT. 🚁😭