Weddings Couples
Northern California Wedding & Elopement Photographer

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Meg’s Marvels Photography

Big Sur Elopement Photographer

 

gorgeous coastal views, gigantic Redwoods, and lots of adventure - Big Sur offers a unique elopement experience for couples looking for comfort and beauty

 
 

So You’re Considering

Big Sur?

Big Sur is by far one of the most popular elopement spots along the Northern California coast. There are so many unique locations in and around the area - from redwoods, coastal bluffs and sand dunes, incredible beaches, and charming small towns - it’s one of the absolute coolest places to exchange your vows.

There are SO many beautiful natural gems to explore around the edges of Big Sur and see such a wide variety of backdrops within Northern California.

Think nature & beauty with all the comforts of adorable vacation rentals, charming bed and breakfasts, and quality local restaurants. Yeah, you can really have it all!

 
 

  • Beautiful beaches

  • Epic, rocky coasts

  • the charm of carmel & Big Sur towns

  • forests & coves


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Hey, I’m Meg!

I’m an adventurous homebody who loves hanging out with dogs, rewatching The Office more times than I’d like to admit, spending my long weekends hiking around Northern California and listening to Tiny Desk Concerts on repeat. I live with my cute husband and our sassy toy poodle, Teddy.

I’ve lived in Northern California my whole life, but didn’t realize how much Big Sur had to offer until I started exploring with my husband (at the time boyfriend). We camped in the area on our second anniversary and absolutely fell in love. The place became so special to the two of us that we decided to elope there ourselves! We took full advantage of our elopement in Big Sur, visiting as many beautiful spots as we could, falling in love with all the hidden gems and beautiful coastal views.

 
 

 

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Big Sur Elopement Inspiration

From the Blog

 
 

 

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Elopement Photography Focused On Your Love

If professing your love in front of hundreds of your closest friends and family members doesn’t feel right for you, I’m here to tell you that’s okay.

The goal is to help couples craft weddings and elopements that are 100% focused on who they are, even if that means only bringing along a small group of your loved ones to witness or no-one at all. I want to promote weddings and elopements that are flexible, about the adventure and the people, not the favors and table settings. Wedding days that soak in all the natural beauty around us and leave you with beautiful, heartwarming photos to revisit and share over a lifetime. And most of all, I want it to be fun, comfortable, and 100% authentically you!

I'm not here just to pull out my camera and snap some photos. I'm here for the experience. I put so much time, energy, experience, and love into the elopements I capture. I'm here to not only get awesome photos, but help plan timelines, capture the best light, offer recommendations, and anything else I can add to your Big Sur elopement experience. I want to shoot amazing elopement portraits for you, but I also want to make sure that our time together is more than a stuffy photography session. I want to capture your special moments - big, small, messy, the in-between - all of it. I want to tell a story and create the best experience possible. I’m in love with helping fellow outdoor enthusiasts, introverts, and fun-loving couples plan elopements that are full of adventure, love, and as little stress as possible. It’s about capturing photos that evoke the feeling and emotion of your Big Sur elopement experience.

 

What to expect

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Step 1: Let's Chat! Tell me all about you two & your dream day.
Step 1: Let's Chat! Tell me all about you two & your dream day.

First things first, I want to get to know you two and make sure we’re a perfect fit. Inquire on my ‘Book Now’ page and tell me a little bit about you and your significant other and your dream wedding day.

Step 2: Save the Date
Step 2: Save the Date

If you feel like we’d be a perfect fit, once you have the general location & date set, I’ll send over a contract and an invoice for the retainer to officially save the date.

Step 3: Now onto the planning!
Step 3: Now onto the planning!

I’ll be here as a resource to you as you start planning all the details of your wedding day. I’m always happy to do my best to recommend location ideas and vendors and send over helpful tips + ideas to ensure you plan a day you’re super excited about. You’ll get access to my elopement/small wedding guide that will answer everything and more as you start to plan. Then 6-8 weeks before the elopement day, we’ll build + finalize a timeline and get all set for the wedding day.

Step 4: Celebrate!
Step 4: Celebrate!

Your wedding day! I’ll be there to help out and capture beautiful memories of your adventures. The whole day will be focused on you two and I’ll do my best to make sure you have lots of time to truly soak it in.

Step 5: Relive the Day through your Photos
Step 5: Relive the Day through your Photos

It all flies by so quickly, whether you have 50 guests or only each other. Your photos will help you relive the day for years to come, to share those moments with future generations, and always remember that your marriage started with an adventure that was as incredible as the marriage to come.

 Tips & Recommendations

The Best of Big Sur:

Big Sur Elopement Photography

Food + Coffee Shops:

Pebble Beach

  • The Bench - overlook Pebble Beach’s 18th hole while sipping on fancy cocktails. Good place for snacks too!

Carmel

  • The Pocket - lovely place for good cocktails, tasty food, and friendly staff

  • Passionfish- a great place for local seafood~ make sure to grab some dessert here

  • The Cheese Shop - iconic place to grab an assortment of snacks (and cheese!!) to take for a beachside picnic

Monterey

  • Captain + Stocker - adorable place to grab a coffee~ love their chai!

  • Alta Bakery - delicious place for pastries and an outdoor patio to soak up the sun

Big Sur

  • Nepenthe - gorgeous views of the coast paired with delicious food

  • Wild Coast Restaurant - delectable farm to table plates. There’s also a 16 course sushi tasting menu! Perfect place to indulge

Places to Stay:

Hiking:

  • Hike Andrew Molera State Park Beach & Coast- An easy 2-2.5 mile round trip on the Creamery Meadow Trail out to the beach (though the footbridge out is only placed seasonally from June-October OR if you’re looking for a longer adventure, considering following the loop along the bluffs for an 8 mile adventure with beautiful views the entire way. Check out hike details on AllTrails - Creamery Meadows Trail + Beach to Bluff Trail

  • Walk out to McWay Falls - Just a small walk out to views of McWay Falls, this is a heavily trafficked trail that is less than 1.5 miles and can be pretty busy, but a must see as you drive through Big Sur! 

  • Hike in the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park - Buzzards Roost Trail - Located in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, you’ll hike through redwoods through a moderately steep trail that lands with an overlook of the surrounding hills and (on a clear day) the ocean.

  • Point Lobos Loop Trail (right before you head along highway 1 to get into Big Sur proper, right by the South end of Carmel-by-the-sea) - this natural preserve has a fairly easy and flat trail that snakes all around the coast for beautiful views of the rocky coast and if you’re lucky you might even some sea otter floating out in the water The full loop is just under 7 miles, but you can do smaller sections of it as well! 

Couple elopes in big sur

Experiences:

  • 17 Mile Drive  -  For some sightseeing along the coast in Pebble Beach, take a drive on this 17 mile road - Admission is just over $10 and you can pull off to some of beautiful rocky beaches.

  • Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Walk Along Cannery Row, & Eat some Clam Chowder from a Bread Bowl

  • Drive Along Highway 1 through all of Big Sur - pulling off along the way at beautiful views and to get a better view of the Bixby Canyon Bridge and views of McWay Falls

  • Go wine tasting up in Carmel Valley or eat amazing food in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea

  • Have a Picnic at Pfeiffer beach

 

Big Sur Elopement Guide

From the Blog

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Natalie & Jake

My husband and I (along with our families) have been raving about her since our wedding.

I could go on and on all day about how wonderful Meg is! She helped us plan and coordinate our elopement along with photographing the entire day. I really couldn't be more appreciative of all that she did for us. Meg is warm, friendly, and professional. She is also an extremely talented photographer. She has such a kind spirit and really goes above and beyond in her work. She felt like a friend that we had known forever, and I really feel blessed that we got to meet her and work with her. She is so special, and I couldn't imagine a better person to join us on such an important day. Thank you, Meg! We love you!

Maureen & Marcus

We have a million and one great things to say about Meg!

Besides the fact that she is so personable, she was so hands on with our elopement planning process. She was always so supportive in giving recommendations, suggestions, and overall guidance on how to make the day so special! She is such a talented photographer, and all of our family and friends have commented on how she was able to capture such happiness in all of our photos. We rave to all of our family and friends that when she was taking our photos she didn't just say "stand here and smile", she asked us about how we met, and things we loved about each other, and that really helped capture genuine emotion and made us feel so at ease. 10/10 recommend!

Jen & Hung

Meg is an absolute gem of a photographer and human being.

She was kind, knowledgable, helpful, and so prompt with all of our correspondences. She truly was a friend to us throughout the process, taking time out to chat with us over the phone and offering us a wealth of great suggestions for adventure locations based on our preferences. She even helped us create a general flow of day timeline for our wedding, and on the day of, honestly helped the whole day flow smoothly which was far above and beyond what we hired her to do. Our family and friends were so impressed with her work and the detailed coverage she achieved as a solo shooter. Thanks a million, Meg!

Sarah & Fritz

Hiring Meg was the BEST decision we made and we feel so lucky that we have these gorgeous pieces of art that we get to cherish forever.

When my now husband and I started wedding planning, photography was the most important part of the day to me. I knew that we'd cherish these photos for the rest of our live, and it was important to find a photographer who we got along with but who was incredibly talented. I found Meg's photos through Instagram and instantly fell in love. How could you not?? Her photographs are true art, and she captures couples so beautifully. Not only did she put us at ease during our sessions (we're both pretty shy!) but she is just a joy of a human to be around. Hiring Meg was the BEST decision we made.

Keila & Conor

6 out of 5 stars. In many ways, Meg went above and beyond and delivered more than we ever could have hoped for from a wedding photographer.

Megan did an absolutely amazing job for our wedding. Literally amazing. A few days before the wedding we did a pre-shoot to get to know each other and the photos turned out incredible. Her and her assistant were easy to hangout with and fun to be around. The day of the wedding they were professional, helpful, and of course the photos were fantastic.

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Convinced that a Big Sur elopement is right for you?

Let’s Talk About Your Big Sur Elopement Experience

 

Big Sur Redwood Elopement
Big Sur elopement photography
Big Sur Elopement Photographer