Esti & Derek’s 2-Day Canoe Adventure Elopement in the Adirondacks

SWELL & STONE / ADVENTURE ELOPEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER / NEW YORK & BEYOND

I had to spilt up Esti & Derek’s EPIC two-day elopement in the Adirondacks of Upstate New York into two posts because, to be honest, there are too many amazing moments and photos over the two days to share in just one post. So this is day one- you can FIND DAY TWO HERE. Not only do Esti and Derek have impeccable style, but our timing for the fall colors was spot on, and the location they ended up choosing was perfect and secluded. I’m beyond ecstatic that they chose me to be their Upstate NY elopement photographer.

When Esti and Derek reached out they had a general idea of what they were looking for in terms of location, but they really began to narrow it down after I sent them their custom location guide. We knew they wanted an incredible mountain summit and it wouldn’t hurt if canoeing on a lake was involved, so I suggested a super unique option- canoeing to the trailhead of an epic mountain summit.

The day started with a very early morning wake up. Esti’s hair and makeup artist was wrapping up when I arrived at 6 am. We had their first look on the grounds, and then we headed out for a sunrise canoe ride. The color on the leaves was spectacular, and it was going to be a beautiful day, but the sunrise canoe was chilly, and frost lingered on the grass as we pulled the canoe into the water. After the sun hit their faces and things thawed out a bit we packed up our gear and headed across the lake to the trailhead. We had 6.5 miles of hiking ahead of us, and the last section of the hike is straight up, and really more of a scramble than a hike. Esti wore her wedding dress for the first, flat-ish part of the hike, and then took it off before the steep section. She had white leggings under her dress, so all she had to do was slip on a warm shirt and jacket and she was ready for the hard part.

After reaching the summit and checking out the views we scoped out a spot for their private vow exchange. I was able to stay a little higher on the summit to give them some space, but still capture all the emotion during their beautiful and heartfelt vow exchange. There were tears and laughter and joy, and after it was all said and done they celebrated with champagne!

“I love Esti's passion for learning and teaching others, love of adventure (traveling, hiking, and camping), professional drive and determination in the field of Pathology, creative side (painting, singing, and dancing), and ability to motivate everyone around her to pursue their dreams,” said Derek.

“I love Derek's caring and warm nature, his goofiness (always cracking jokes, making up songs about our cats, sending me memes to make me laugh), and his willingness to try new things (trekking in high altitude, trying caviar or snails (ew! haha), skiing). As someone who loves to try new things, it's really fun to have Derek there with me willing to look like a fool as we try new things together! I also love his practical side - cooking great meals, fixing things that are broken, and just getting things done in general. I always have a million ideas in my mind and it's awesome to have a partner who can help me follow through with these ideas,” said Esti.

They shared stories of their amazing travels, and it was so much fun to learn all the things they had done together. When two people are in a canoe together, you really learn about their ability to be a team, and Esti and Derek worked seamlessly as a team, and if they ever veered in the wrong direction they took a second to recalibrate and begin again.

On the hike down we relaxed and made miles. It was a long and joyful day and we still needed to canoe across the lake. We reached our canoe with about an hour until sunset and made the nice, easy paddle back across the lake. After hauling up the canoe Derek and Esti stood, arms wrapped around each other, and watched the sun sink below the mountain. I mentioned that we could go up the hill to where I was staying to watch a better view of the sunset, so we headed up that way. They danced in the field as the sun sank low, and then eventually settled onto a blanket, finding the perfect, comfy spots to lean on, and watched the sun go behind the mountains again. The perfect ending to the epically adventurous and wonderful day.