When my husband and I were planning our wedding, we started with a pretty normal wedding format. We joked many times that we should just elope on the beach because planning was so stressful. 4 months before our wedding, we weren't joking about it anymore. We changed our wedding plans so far into our reception and started planning our Oregon Coast elopement. This is our travel blog but we want to include this here because we think there's a lot of people like us looking at travel pages like this. Eloping was a perfect decision of us and we hope to show people how awesome this option can be. Since we've eloped, I've basically become a spokesperson for elopements because I love them soooo much. So here's why we eloped so you can see if it's right for you too. Enjoy my rant because I can really get rolling with this. 1. Eloping is about you. You don't have to wedding plan very long before you figure out how much of the wedding is about what you're "supposed to do" and not what you want to do. You'll be amazed at how many opinions come out when you're planning. If you don't do this, you're sending this message (and it's usually negative). You start to feel all this pressure for people to view your wedding the "right" way and you lose track of what you actually want. 2. It focuses on your relationship. We had two parts to our wedding so we had the unique opportunity to see both sides of weddings. At our elopement ceremony, we spent so much quality time together. We even had a 20-30 minute window where it was just the two of us hanging out on the beach. I actually got to see my new husband and enjoy this new milestone with him. At our reception which was more like a traditional wedding, I hardly saw him. We were so busy getting all the wedding stuff done, trying to keep on schedule, and visiting with out of town guests that we had no quality time together that day. Thankfully, we were fine with it considering the amazing elopement we had already had. 3. You get to focus your family and friend time with the people that matter. We had 20 people total at our elopement including us, the photographer, and the pastor. We brought our immediate family and wedding party. We only had the most important people in our lives there. I had so many amazing moments with my loved ones and my new in-laws. I felt like I really got to celebrate and enjoy my time with them. In contrast, I hardly saw them at the reception. You have so many people you rarely see and you want to spend a bit of time with all of them. It was nice to just focus on those people at our reception knowing that we'd already had so many valuable moments with our loved ones. 4. It's so much more private. No offense to anyone, but as a private person, it's hard to wear my heart on my sleeve for my vows when that one person I met once 10 years ago that we had to invite to not offend someone is there watching. Super cool they're watching this super intimate milestone and I'm not even comfortable having a conversation beyond small talk with them. 5. WEDDINGS ARE SO EXPENSIVE. Isn't it fun when an important, meaningful event in someone's life is turned into a cash cow? At least double the price of anything when you turn it into something wedding related. We ended up spending more than we hoped because we already had half of a normal wedding planned (turned reception). We also did a lot to save money when planning everything. Oregon beaches are public land and under 50 people doesn't require a permit (check their site before taking my word though). We stood on a secluded beach with an aisle made of lawn chairs. Our reception was at the fairgrounds which is usually a super cheap bet. Ya know what we did with the money we saved? We went to Europe for 3 weeks. Do something you enjoy and make some epic memories with your new spouse. You aren't going to remember if you had custom napkins or succulent favors (and I love succulents so much). 6. You get to go somewhere cool. Even if it's a local spot, eloping opens up so many doors for venue. You're not trying to keep great Aunt Edith from falling in a creek and listening to her whine about bug bites for 4 hours. You can pick a spot that's meaningful for you and even make an adventure out of it. We'd both been to the Oregon Coast multiple times. We loooove it there. We've had lots of great memories there. The location was mainly for me. I've been passionate about the ocean since I was 4. My soul comes alive when I hear those waves crash. I got to frolick on the beach and look for ocean critters on my wedding day. I get choked up just thinking about how perfect that day was. Pick a spot that makes you feel like that. It seriously adds so much meaning to your day. 7. You can make a trip out of it. Not only was my wedding the best day of my life, but the whole weekend was the best weekend of my life. My grandparents are in their 80s so they recently stopped traveling with us. It was so much fun to go on vacation with them for what will probably be the last time. I also got to road trip over with my bridesmaids. Imagine all of your best friends going on a weekend vacation to the beach. HECK. YES. I even had my bachelorette party in Portland which was awesome. 8. No stress. I can honestly say that I experienced almost no stress on my wedding day. It took a little extra time to get ready but our photos also went faster than expected. We started our wedding ceremony 15 minutes ahead of schedule and just went with the flow. We had a beach house rented so we all just hung out together. There was no rush or harsh itinerary. We had a regular ol' dinner all together with our newly joined family. The waves crashed outside. We even have cute photos of my husband's grandparents watching the waves from the window together. So many sweet moments that would've been missed if we had a rigid schedule. 9. You get to totally customize your day. I wore hiking boots. My bridesmaids and our entire family went barefoot. I changed out of my dress for dinner so I could enjoy eating without feeling suffocated. We did our own hair and didn't care when the wind on the beach messed it up. We went hiking after the wedding and got some epic photos (and epic memories). Your day is about you and your partner. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. In case this already doesn't sound amazing, here's some photos of our special day. Shoutout to Karlie Larson Photography (best friend and bridesmaid extraordinaire) for capturing our elopement. I also highly recommend you have a professional photographer best friend take your wedding photos. It makes the poses come a lot more naturally. Our Elopement My Elopement Photography As you can tell, I'm quite passionate about getting people to elope. I think there's so many people who are missing out on their perfect wedding day because of the stigma attached to eloping. Eloping has changed. Even if your relatives are being a bit snotty about it, remember the whole point is to focus on you. I'm going to sneak in here to advertise myself a bit. I've been doing photography for 10 years now and professionally for 6 years. Below, I have some elopement photos I've taken. If this eloping thing sounds like it's for you, check out my work and my rates on my website. I'd love to help you create the wedding of your dreams so you can love your day as much as I love mine. I also think it's garbage that the wedding industry has turned into this cash cow trying to make money off of an important milestone. I keep my prices low specifically to combat the wedding industry trying to make weddings about money and not love. My time and skill are being fairly compensated but I'm also not going to take advantage of my clients. If you like my work and you're looking at eloping, check out my professional photography website for rates and information!
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As we've shared a few times, we're hitting the road for two months this summer! We got lucky with our current rent arrangement and with comparable living expenses, we can road trip the West Coast in our RV for 2 months. We also are both teachers so we get 3 months off and still get our paychecks. This convenient combination is making for an epic summer. This also means that I have to pack for 2 months in an RV closet. For those of you who haven't seen an RV closet, it's not much. No drawers, just around 12 hanger slots (so all your clothes don't drop when driving) and a small cabinet below (not even a drawer). I also have to plan for a wide variety of weather. We'll be spending a while on the coast where it can easily get to 50 degrees in the summer with wind and rain. Then there's Southern Utah and last time I was there in June, it was 115 degrees. As you can tell, it's taking some very careful planning and organizing to make it all fit. Obviously we're going to do laundry on the road. We also are going to be in the middle of nowhere without access to laundry a lot. So I have to balance having enough clothes to last me a while hiking in the dirt and chasing my dog on the beach. I'll post how I got this all organized in my closet once the trailer is loaded. As of right now, all my clothes can fit in a medium sized box. Here's how I strategically planned my road trip wardrobe: Shirts and Tank Tops For shirts, I'm going for a wide variety. There's thicker, standard shirts and thinner shirts. Most of them also correspond with other layers I packed. So a tank top for the desert could turn into a base layer on a cold day. I also went for more neutral colors. I can wear it with more of my other clothing items so I have some more variety. They're also small so I can pack more of these without taking up too much space. I'll be adding two more shirts from 208 Tees as well and I'm pumped about them. Second Layers I picked these second layers specifically for throwing on during a cold morning or evening. They're light enough to easily carry around and only for when things are a little chilly. Sweatshirt Layers These are my heavier duty layers. I can layer these with the ones above or just wear them with a shirt. I wanted to have good variety because the weather isn't always going to be nice. I also didn't want to pack too many because it's still summertime. Also, the navy blue one is covered in Sophie hair so I made her pose in front of her handy work. Outer Layers smThese are my heavy duty, outer layers. First, I have my teal coat. This is a mid-weight coat I found thrift shopping. It's super comfy and made of tough material. I love buying cheap coats at thrift stores because I'm not as worried about damaging them. I feel a lot better about carrying around my sand and salt water covered dog in a coat like that. My next one is a down coat that fits in a small bag. This is perfect for hiking because I can easily tuck it away and it's super warm. It's also a nicer and more expensive coat. I love it but I only break it out when I know I won't damage it. Like I'll wear it on a well established trail but wouldn't go huckleberry picking in the bushes with it. Next I have my University of Idaho windbreaker. This is another one of my thrift store finds. It has no extra insulation and is exclusively a windbreaker. It's been perfect in so many circumstances. One of the best uses is layering. It's another one I'm not too worried about staining or tearing. I've worn it many times over a nice coat like the gray one. I get the warmth of my down coat but my cheap thrift store find protects it. I do the same with my teal coat but it's better for worse weather. Both the teal coat and Idaho windbreaker are a size too big so it's easy to fit the gray coat underneath. Lastly, I have one of the only two hats I ever wear. I wear a whale stocking cap and a kayaking trucker hat which also happens to be one of the best ways to describe my interests. We may be luxury camping but we're still camping. I'm not about to do my hair everyday and I will embrace the camping hair look. Pants Layers I have this weird thing where my legs never get cold. So I have a million layers for my top and not in pants. I made sure to bring a wide variety for this. The first group of clothes is shorts. I have hiking/cargo type shorts and jean shorts. I got the Columbia hiking shorts for a steal at a thrift store (I almost exclusively shop at thrift stores and it's very apparent in my wardrobe). Apparently someone my size dropped off their fancy brand shorts and I felt like I won the lottery. These are also in some different colors so it gives me some more variety. Next I have jean shorts. These can match anything and will work great for mid-range warm days. These will also look better when we're in places like San Fransisco. I guess I can't spend the entire trip looking like a mountain hippie. The shredded jean shorts are my sister's art project. She cut off her old jeans and bleached them. They're now my "I don't care what happens to these" shorts. Bring something like this camping. Traveling in an RV with a dog doing outdoor activities all day can destroy clothes. For pants, I'm bringing normal jeans and Columbia zip-off hiking pants (and they're definitely in child size because apparent zip offs aren't cool enough for adults). The jeans are just a must. The zip-off pants are the best thing ever. They're light duty, dry quickly, and can turn into shorts. They're great for hikes in the forest when it's a little colder. I have my flowy pants that I found in Venice. Super comfy and cool for hot days but not hiking in the dirt ready. Lastly, I have a plain black pair of leggings. Not only do they go with everything but I can use them as a second layer with jeans if it's especially cold. Other Items Here's my last random items I'm packing.
I have my swim suit and I'm only bringing one because I'm not much for swimming. I also have two relaxing shorts. They can multi-task as PJs, driving day shorts, or a comfy outfit for a lazy day. I have my purple striped romper that my sister-in-law found for me at a thrift store. It's super comfy and light duty. I wore it a ton in Europe when it was 90 degrees. I definitely can't hike in the dirt with this but it'll be nice for driving days, running errands, or exploring a town. Then I have two long sleeves. One is a thicker, cotton long sleeve for cold days. The other is a dry fit that's great for avoiding sun burn. It's a whole lot easier to cover places the sun can burn over trying to put on sunscreen everywhere multiple times in the day. Then I have my shoes because I'm type A and I can't break my current photo pattern. I have black Nike tennis shoes for light duty hiking. I have my Teva sandals which are one of my favorite shoes I've ever owned. Which is also why they look gross and dirty in their photo. Not pictured are my hiking boots. I intend on bringing these or trying to find a lighter pair of hiking shoes. My boots can get pretty warm in the summer so I'm seeing if I can find exactly what I want. If I can't, I'd rather just use my current boots than waste money on less than ideal shoes. We are obsessed with books. So, when we were in New York, I planned a bookstore crawl in Manhattan, which took up most of the day. We found some gems, and some that were just ok. More importantly, we found some of the best places in Manhattan to find a hidden gem in a dusty old bookstore. Below is the list of stores we visited, what I thought of them, and the order I recommend you visit them in:
There are obviously a lot of great stores we missed out on, but we managed to wear ourselves out with just the ones on this list. If you go to Manhattan and have an itch to find a new favorite book, I hope this list helped you out. |
Miki & BobWe're an adventurous couple that travel internationally and travel nationally in our RV. We have a corgi named Sophie that comes along on our adventures. Our goal is to encourage others to travel and show genuine travel over Instagrammable travel. CategoriesArchives
April 2020
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