How to Plan a Multi-Day Wedding or Elopement

Wedding Weekend Planning Tips and Itinerary Ideas to Elevate Your Multi-Day Experience 

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Having documented hundreds of wedding and elopement days, there’s one thing we’ve come to believe about every type of celebration: a magical wedding experience starts with you.

Recently, more couples have been choosing multi-day weddings, and we love seeing how these celebrations create space for more quality time, meaningful experiences, and deeper moments of connection.

In this blog post, we are sharing some ideas on how to plan a wedding weekend that feels intentional, memorable, and curated. These aren’t just your average wedding weekend planning tips because we truly believe that your wedding should look the way you envision it. There are no rules. 

We will, however, share wedding weekend examples from some of our past couples, plus tips on how to prepare for your own multi-day wedding celebration. At the end of the day, though, you get to decide how you want your experience to unfold. And we can’t wait to join you in bringing that vision to life.

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How to Know if Planning a Multi-Day Wedding is Right for You

One of the most beautiful things about choosing a multi-day celebration is that it gives you the luxury of time to truly experience your wedding instead of rushing through it. You probably know someone who told you that their wedding day felt like a blur. That they barely remember eating dinner or that they wish they’d had more time with certain loved ones. Planning a multi-day wedding solve this because it removes the pressure to fit your entire love story into a single day or timeline.

You don’t want to regret anything about your wedding day, so if you’re wondering whether or not a multi-day wedding is right for you, here are a few reasons the answer might be yes:

Time for Deeper Connection: When you spread your celebration across multiple days, you create space for genuine moments with each other and your loved ones. Instead of quick hellos and goodbyes, you get coffee conversations during sunrise and late-night stories around the fireplace. These are the kinds of moments that not only help you feel connected in the moment, but that also create lasting memories.

More Adventure at Multiple Locations: Maybe you want to say your vows on a mountaintop but celebrate with dancing under string lights. Or maybe you envision intimate morning portraits in the forest and an elegant catered dinner under the stars. Multi-day celebrations allow you to include more of the experiences and locations that speak to your hearts.

Space for Unplanned Magic: Sometimes the most treasured moments are the ones that weren’t ever on the timeline – the spontaneous jump into the swimming pool at the end of the night or the quiet morning moments in your Airbnb while sipping coffee. Multi-day celebrations create space for these unplanned moments to unfold naturally, and oftentimes, our couples tell us those moments were some of their favorites from their wedding.

Time to Be Truly Present for Your Experience: Most importantly, multi-day celebrations give you the chance to be present in your own experience instead of just going through the events of the day. You get to savor the anticipation of your first look and feel the emotions as they come. You get to truly live each moment instead of racing to the next thing on the schedule.

What is a Wedding Weekend and What Does a Multi-Day Wedding Actually Look Like?

When we refer to a wedding weekend or multi-day wedding, it’s the idea that your marriage celebration takes place over more than one day. This could mean taking adventure photos the day before or after your ceremony day or it could mean renting an oceanside cabin and spending a whole week with your loved ones while celebrating your wedding.

The beauty of multi-day celebrations is that you can design them however feels right for your story. While every couple’s wedding weekend or multi-day wedding will look a little different, here is a general structure they typically follow:

Day 1: Welcome & Connection 

The first day of a wedding weekend usually starts with a casual gathering or group activities – maybe a welcome dinner where everyone can connect, or an adventure activity that sets the tone for your celebration. This first day is about bringing your loved ones together and easing into the experience.

Day 2: Your Main Celebration 

This portion of your multi-day wedding typically includes your ceremony and reception or celebration. This is often the day that couples spend the most time with their guests; however, you can also include adventure photos, couple portraits, or activities that reflect your relationship.

Day 3: Intimate Moments 

Many couples use this day for private vows, a day-after session, or activities with smaller groups. This portion of your wedding is often more relaxed and intimate than the main celebration day and centers more around you and your partner.

How to Personalize Your Wedding Weekend: Plan for Moments, Not Just Photos

Something we’ve learned from documenting hundreds of celebrations is that the most meaningful photos come from genuine moments, not posed scenarios. So often when couples look at our work during inquiry calls, they comment on how much fun everyone looks like they’re having. And usually it’s because they actually were having fun.

Photos follow genuine emotions, not the other way around.

You can’t fake joy or manufacture intimate moments. But you can create space for them to naturally happen. Here are a few ways we help you with this during the planning process: 

Create Space for Spontaneity:

Instead of scheduling every moment, we’ll work with you to build a timeline that allows you to allows for flexibility and your experience to naturally unfold. That way, if a moment feels good, you can let it continue. Or, if something isn’t working, we can change to something else. Having a timeline that allows for breathing room takes off the pressure to rush through the day and allows you to experience it instead. 

Build in Quiet Time:

One of the other thing we often include in a wedding weekend itinerary is building in space for quiet, intentional moments. This could mean setting aside a few moments for you to enjoy your morning coffee or matcha together, or it could mean taking some time for you to just be with your partner after your ceremony before rejoining your guests. These slower moments often become the most treasured parts of your experience because they they allow you to soak in the moment un-rushed and that’s often where the magic lies.

Focus on Experiences Over Aesthetics:

One of the most exciting parts of wedding weekend planning is deciding how you want all the details will come together. But there’s another important thing to consider as well. 

Ask yourself: “How do we want our wedding to feel?”, not just “How do we want this to look?”. Focusing on the way you want your experience to feel will allow you to be more intentional going into the celebration (and that translates to your photos as well).

If you are relaxed, that will shine through in your photos. If you are open to the adventure, no matter what happens, not even a little bit of rain can take away from your experience. 

Keep Your Vision at the Core:

When planning a wedding with guests, there are times when you might need to compromise on some details. But hold onto your original dream. You can create a celebration where guests are happy AND you stay true to what matters most to you. 

If you want more tips on how to choose meaningful activities for your wedding weekend, check out this blog post on how to make your elopement more special and personalized.

Unique Wedding Weekend Ideas That Create Intentional Experiences

What makes a wedding weekend or multi-day celebration so unique is the ability to include activities that truly reflect you as a couple. We’ve photographed couples who included activities such as:

• Helicopter rides over mountains in New Zealand
• Boat adventures around the islands of Greece
• Adult summer camp games in California
• Hiking adventures and canoe rides in Banff 
• Hot tub soaks under string lights and bubble gun celebrations with family
• Boat rides, sunset hikes, and early morning cuddles in Lake Como, Italy

No matter what kind of experiences you choose, the key is choosing activities that feel intentional rather than something you feel like you “should do”. Activities can be as simple as getting ready together, writing vows side by side, or making your favorite cocktail together. They can also be more adventurous, like 4×4 off-roading, hot air balloon rides, rock climbing, or reading letters from family under the stars.

Need some more inspiration on activities to include in your wedding weekend? Check out this list of 32 epic elopement activities that go beyond your ceremony.

Wedding Weekend Itinerary Examples from Real Multi-Day Celebrations

Want to know how other couples have celebrated their multi-day wedding? Here are a few examples from some of our past couples.

Two-Day Greece Micro Wedding: Mamma Mia Moments and Poolside Celebrations

Both elopement photographers themselves, Kasey and Mark were already familiar with traveling for weddings. While they had originally been considering the Dolomites, they ultimately wanted a location that felt completely different from their work life – a place where they could truly disconnect and celebrate. So, they chose to plan a two-day micro wedding in Milos, Greece.

Day 1: Despite crazy winds that delayed some of their guests from even getting to the island, the couple continued on with the celebration they had planned. They hired a catamaran boat to take them to the iconic places around the island, and the moment we got out onto the water, the wind calmed completely. Kasey and Mark spent the afternoon of day 1 jumping into crystal-clear ocean water, dancing to ABBA, and exploring hidden coves along the coast.

Day 2: With her background in elopement photography and planning, Kasey worked really hard to bring her Greece wedding weekend to life. Their ceremony was held by the resort’s clifftop pool overlooking the view of the water below, and after sunset photos on the beach, they returned to their villa for dancing with a live saxophonist playing under the moonlight. They ended the evening just like the couple wanted, with everyone jumping into the pool at midnight.

What We Loved: Even though the weather made for some disappointing changes to their guest list, Kasey and Mark kept the spontaneity and joy all throughout their two-day wedding weekend. From dancing on the boat to jumping in the pool at midnight, not all of these moments were fully planned, but they were the ones that everyone remembered.

California Summer Camp Wedding: Three Days of Fun

Kevin and Brian regularly enjoy outdoor activities, so an outdoor, summer camp-themed wedding weekend made perfect sense for them. They chose Camp Mendocino as the location for their multi-day wedding and even dedicated all of the proceeds to the campground to sponsor boys and girls for summer camp. 

Day 1: On the first day of their wedding, guests arrived to zip-lining, rock climbing, scavenger hunts, and other camp activities that brought out everyone’s inner child. Their guests fully leaned into the camping vibes and stayed in tents or small cabins and ate dinner together camp-style.

Day 2: The main wedding day continued the camp theme with the couple’s ceremony taking place under string lights in the forest and celebrating with an outdoor dinner reception and dancing late into the night.

Day 3: On the final day of their wedding weekend, the couple ventured to the Mendocino coast for private portraits and intimate time together complete with golden hour photos by the ocean.

What We Loved: Kevin and Brian didn’t just plan a wedding weekend for themselves; they created and celebrated their whole community while giving back to a cause they loved. We also loved how the activities they chose brought out so much playfulness in everyone and created a fun-filled atmosphere that carried throughout the entire weekend.

Two-Day Oregon Coast Wedding: A Full Circle Celebration

Alexis and Brad flew everyone from Texas to Oregon for a two-day destination celebration, and it truly was a whole family affair. Everyone pitched in to make sure this day could happen exactly how the couple had envisioned it. 

Day 1: The first day was the couple’s true wedding day. Their theme was very woodsy with string lights over their reception space, making for the most magical forest setting. Alexis’s grandfather officiated their ceremony, and while he had officiated all kinds of weddings before, this was his first family wedding, which made it feel so special. 

Day 2: After the celebration with their loved ones, Alexis and Brad returned to Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor on the Southern Oregon coast. This location was so special for them because it was the same place they’d taken their first road trip as a couple. This second day was about private vows and intimate portraits in the place where their adventure together began.

What We Loved: Who you invite to your wedding weekend makes all the difference. We loved how all of their loved ones came together in multiple ways to help bring this day to life. What made the experience even more special was the location and its personal meaning for the couple. 

Final Planning Tips for How to Plan a Multi-Day Wedding Celebration

When it comes to wedding weekend planning, there are often a lot of logistics to consider. On top of your typical wedding planning (click here to learn all about how to plan a micro wedding), there are a few extra things to consider: 

Budgeting for Multi-Day Celebrations

Multi-day celebrations often mean fewer guests but more experience. Oftentimes, this allows you to invest in things like:

• Extended photography coverage to document the full story
• Unique activities that reflect your relationship
• Quality accommodations that enhance the experience
• Travel and logistics for a destination that speaks to you
• Anything else that makes your wedding feel like you

There is a lot that goes into creating a wedding budget, which is why we created this wedding and elopement budget guide to help you understand starting costs and decide which aspects of your wedding you want to invest in the most. 

Accommodations for Larger Groups

We’ve helped dozens of couples plan their wedding, elopement, and everything in between, and when it comes to booking accommodations for your day, our advice is to focus on finding the ideal place for you first. Consider whether you want to stay in a place with everyone together or have your own separate accommodations and plan from there. 

We also recommend considering the drive times between your lodging, ceremony location, and portrait locations. The closer you can stay to your main locations, the more time you’ll have for actual experiences instead of travel.

*Pro Tip: Book accommodations for at least one full day before and after your main celebration. This creates buffer time for weather changes, timeline adjustments, and simply having space to breathe and be present.

Reception Flexibility 

Multi-day receptions can look completely different from traditional wedding receptions, and there are truly so many options. Some ideas for what you can do include:

• Packing or setting up a picnic near your ceremony location
• Cooking together with your loved ones
• Hiring a private chef
• Eating at non-traditional times to prioritize other moments or experiences

Guest Communication 

Your guests may only be familiar with traditional weddings (which oftentimes take place indoors). This is why we recommend communicating your vision early on so your guests know what to expect for your multi-day wedding. We created an elopement guest guide that you can share with loved ones, but be sure to let them know important details such as:

• Your wedding weekend itinerary and information about the celebration format
• Accommodation recommendations
• Transportation logistics
• Weather considerations and packing suggestions
• Outdoor etiquette and Leave No Trace principles

Ready to Plan Your Own Wedding Weekend?

Multi-day weddings aren’t just about having more time – they’re about using that time intentionally to create something that feels authentically yours. Whether you’re envisioning an adventure-filled weekend in the mountains, an intimate coastal gathering, or a destination celebration that brings together your favorite people in your favorite place, the key is to plan an experience that reflects your love story.

We hope this guide was helpful in knowing how to plan a wedding weekend and if you’re ready to get started, contact us, or explore our blog for more inspiration on what’s possible.