Plan the Perfect Rhode Island Elopement
You’re ready to throw tradition to the wind and instead of planning a big, stale affair you’d rather elope in Rhode Island. Now you’re looking for a Rhode Island Elopement Photographer and expert! The state of RI has stunning coastal cliffs and lush forests. The state parks are home to some of the most stunning views.
Let’s get started planning your perfect, adventure wedding day.
Why Elope in Rhode Island?
Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State because it has over 400 miles of gorgeous coastline. There are rocky cliffs, sandy beaches, and river rock beaches. The diversity of coastal views is astounding, and no you don’t have to wake up for a sunrise ceremony to have great views or light, it’s not all east facing! There are some points where you can walk from one side of the point to the other and watch the sun rise in the east and set in the west. It is truly a special and spectacular place to elope.
The Best Places to Elope In Rhode Island
Check out the full article HERE, but here’s the short list of my favorite places to shoot elopements in Rhode Island.
Lighthouses (Beavertail, Point Judith, or Castle Hill)
Wood River
Moonstone Beach
Napatree Point Conservation Area
East Beach
Block Island
Brenton Point State Park
Conimicut Point Park
Second Beach (Sachuest Beach)
South Shore Beach
Traveling to Rhode Island
The Ocean State is a little convoluted when it comes to traveling around the state. The Narragansett Bay runs right up the middle, so although it’s a small state that should take less than an hour to drive across, it often takes longer due to needing to get on one of the many bridges. However, the bridges are one of the things that make this state so cool! I love shooting elopements at Fort Adams State Park because you can have a view of the iconic Newport Bridge in your ceremony. The 95 runs north to south making travel that direction easy, but you’ll want to venture off of it for the best views in the state.
Where to Stay in Rhode Island
I always recommend checking VRBO when looking for places to stay and planning your elopement. Why do I recommend VRBO over Airbnb? Because Airbnb no longer allows any type of event to take place. If it’s just the two of you that’s not a problem, but if you want to have any friends or family over and just enjoy a simple dinner celebration together VRBO allows that. In fact, there’s a box that you can check labeled “events allowed” and VRBO only shows you places where you are allowed to host a few people for a dinner celebration. Again, Airbnb is a great option if you don’t plan to use it for a celebration. I especially like their unique stays which feature super cool places, like treehouses. Who doesn’t want to elope and stay in a treehouse? I know I do!
HOW DO YOU LEGALLY GET MARRIED IN Rhode Island?
If both people live in Rhode Island, apply for a marriage license at the city or town hall where either person lives. If only one person lives in Rhode Island, apply for a marriage license from the city or town hall where the Rhode Islander lives. If neither person lives in Rhode Island, apply for a marriage license from the clerk's office in the city or town where the marriage ceremony will be performed.
Both people must provide a valid photo identification and a certified birth certificate. Check with the clerk’s office in the city or town hall where you will apply for a marriage license for any requirements about approved forms of identification, proof of birth, or proof of address. If either person was married or in a legal relationship before, the applicant(s) must provide a certified final divorce decree/dissolution or a certified death certificate for the former spouse. A legal relationship includes marriage, civil union, common law marriage, or registered domestic partnership. A certified copy of a vital record must have a raised State seal on it.
You need two witnesses in Rhode Island. In the past, if couples want to elope alone they have used vendors to sign the witness area.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GET MARRIED IN Rhode Island?
The average cost of wedding venues in RI is $3,000 to $5,000, and the average cost of a full, traditional wedding is around $35,000. But if you choose to get married by eloping in the great outdoors that cost can go down significantly. Check out an elopement cost calculator here.
To obtain a marriage license, both parties must apply for the license in person at the city or town clerk’s office. The couple is required to complete the marriage worksheet and provide the required documentation. The clerk will then create the marriage license from the information provided. Both parties are required to sign both the worksheet and the marriage license in the presence of the city or town clerk. The fee for the marriage license is currently $24.00 payable to the city or town.
Rhode Island Elopement Packages
As an elopement photographer I provide a service that includes so much more than just beautiful photos of your day. I am a part guide/part planner as well, helping you craft your perfect experience.
Planning guidance and assistance
You get my massively informational 90+ page elopement experience guidebook. It comes with a packing list, how to navigate family dynamics when eloping, and more. It’s going to answer questions you didn’t even know you had.
In addition, I offer planning guidance and assistance including (but not limited to) locations, timeline, and permitting requirements.
Timeline
Plan your small outdoor wedding or elopement day timeline. Want to make sure you’re choosing a location during the best time of day for light, or best time of year for weather? I make sure we do just that. And then I put together the perfect timeline of your incredible day, so everyone is on the same page and the day unfolds seamlessly!
Location Scouting + Vendor Recommendations
My years of experience have taken me a lot of different places. You get knowledge of incredible elopement locations that include everywhere from stunning waterfalls, mountain tops, forest tunnels, and coastal cliffs. Along with that comes working with some pretty amazing teams of wedding vendors. So I pass that info along too.
Activity Ideas
From a backcountry helicopter tour to canoeing, hiking, climbing, train and ferry rides, horseback riding, plane rides, and everything in between. There is no limit to what you can experience on your adventurous day.
Officiant
I can also sign your marriage license. I’m an ordained officiant in every New England state and in New York. So if you don’t want to hire an officiant or make a family member fill the role- you can say your vows to each other and I can sign the paperwork.
Travel Included
You never have to worry about paying travel fees. You don’t worry about where I’m staying or how I’m getting anywhere. One less item on your to-do list!
FAA Certified Drone Pilot
That’s right, I have a pilot’s license to prove it and everything. I stay up to date on the latest drone laws so that I can fly my bird and capture your day from a huge variety of angles throughout the day.
Elopement expert
I use my GPS to make sure we don’t get lost. And I’ll bring along things that you might not have thought about like hand warmers, tissues, umbrellas, and headlamps. Most of all, you get an expert who has been through this over 100 times to guide you through the process.
100+ Elopements Captured
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14 Year Pro Photographer
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Elopements In 15+ States
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100+ Elopements Captured | 14 Year Pro Photographer | Elopements In 15+ States |
Hi, I’m Kat
I’m a small outdoor wedding and elopement photographer based in Rhode Island, and I photograph weddings all over New England and the U.S. I love this state I call home so much and want to give couples here an incredible elopement or small outdoor wedding experience, so I dedicate a large portion of the year to photographing Rhode Island and New England based outdoor weddings and elopements. So if you’re looking for Rhode Island elopement packages, you’ve come to the right place!
My style focuses on telling the complete story of your day. So whether you are eloping with just the two of you or you decided to bring along some of your closest friends and family, I capture each moment, person, and experience as it happens.
I firmly believe you should get married exactly the way you want. I hope that means you get married outside in a stunning and adventurous location. I’m here to make sure your day is completely captured. Sometimes that means I’m a fly on the wall, taking in the action as it happens, and other times that means posing you and your partner, or making sure your family portraits take place in the spot with the best light.
Whatever format or timeline your day takes on I’ll work with it, because after all it is your day, and I want you to have images that let you relive every moment over and over.
Hear from my amazing clients
Spencer & Cecilia
Few photographers are able to make their mark as unforgettable, singular people with a fantastic, unique eye. Kat is undeniably one of those select few. She did a phenomenal job on our wedding photos in Rhode Island. She not only helped plan the locations, she was able to stage and direct where everyone needed to be positioned in the photos. She was extremely patient, kind, and easy to work with. Kat is also flexible in adapting to working with others' ideas. We had a number of technical challenges, including long range photos of landscapes and nature with changing cloudiness and amounts of daylight. Kat was so determined in her resolve that we ended up with almost too many good photos to choose from for our album! She has outstanding technical proficiency, illustrated on one of the longest days of the year (in terms of daylight). She wanted to capture the perfect photo at the cusp of nightfall and showed incredible patience. The photo, like all the others, was perfect. We cannot thank her enough as she was an integral part of our unforgettable wedding.
Hong & John
For our wedding, we wanted a unique experience and since we love the outdoors, we wanted an adventure photographer to capture the day. We loved working with Kat because she took the time to get to know us as a couple and understand what our ‘ideal’ day would look like. She found some amazing locations based on the time of year (our wedding was in the Fall) and we are so glad we went with her recommendations as the scenery was spectacular on the day.
Kat was wonderful to work with, she kept us well-informed, kept an eye on the weather, and advised us on what clothing and accessories we needed for our elopement day. On our planned wedding day, the weather was forecasted to be torrential rain and Kat was very flexible in agreeing to move everything back a day to avoid the downpour. We really appreciated her flexibility. We had such an amazing and fun time with Kat, and we loved every minute of it. Even when the weather didn’t cooperate, she was very well prepared and was able to capture some very creative and artistic photos.
Kat really is a master of her craft and was so enjoyable to work with. The final set of photos were truly breathtaking and it was exactly what we had hoped for.
We highly recommend Kat for any bride looking to have a unique experience with photos that aren’t your traditional cookie-cutter style shots.
Victoria & Taylor
Kat is an incredibly talented artist, wonderfully kind person, and all around magical human! When I first contacted her, I was in the throes of anxiety--I had planned and paid for a traditional wedding when I realized that wasn't what I wanted. My now husband and I decided to elope, and after pouring over Google searches, landed on Swell and Stone. From the moment I saw her photographs, I knew we had to book her!! I contacted her and she got back to me so quickly, and was SO flexible--I gave her basically a 2 month timeline and she made it work for us!!
The day of my wedding, I was running late and she made me feel so at ease and not stressed at all! The whole day was so fun, and she found the MOST beautiful spots to take pictures that I see in wedding magazines and on the internet--I still can't believe these are pictures of my wedding! She had our sneak peek ready in less than a week, and gave us the rest of our pictures (HUNDREDS!!) well before the agreed upon date.
Kat was incredibly flexible, professional, and open minded--she wanted to do whatever we wanted because it was our wedding, but also made sure to note things that would be preferable from a photography stand point. She is a lovely, warm, kind, and relaxed person, and I genuinely cannot recommend her enough to anyone looking for wedding pictures that will make you think you are dreaming. She also included drone shots (so cool!!) and GIFs which are some of my favorites!
MAKEDA & TEJ
Kat was awesome! We wanted 10 year anniversary photos that captured the beauty of Rhode Island and she gave us just that. Lighthouse, ocean, bridges and cliffs... it was wonderful. And even better was seeing the photos when they came through. They were wonderful!! Still can’t stop looking at the photos and showing them to everyone!
Kavita & Brice
Kat was our wedding photographer. She exceeded our expectations on all fronts. Our photos came out stunning. We are constantly getting comments that our wedding photos are unreal and that the turnaround time for getting previews and our photos was unheard of. Kat really spends the time to get to know your style and capture the shots that are most important to you. She is an AMAZING photographer. I know so many brides who end up disappointed by their photos, and I can say Kat will not disappoint. Her photos are just absolutely amazing and I am so grateful that we chose her for our wedding.
Megan & Michael
Stop your search right now and book Kat for your wedding photography! We hired her for our small wedding, and we could not imagine a better experience. She did an absolutely incredible job.
To start, she did a great job of communicating - both in advance of the event and on location. We always felt like we were on the same page. Very professional and thorough, yet very easy-going and relaxed to talk with.
On the day of the wedding, she did a perfect job of capturing fly-on-the-wall candid moments while also making sure we got the more traditional set-piece photos. She was like our fairy photo godmother. She was there to provide a little guidance (to help wrangle family members for portraits, etc), but otherwise just captured our special day as it naturally unfolded. She was on the entire time, watching over us, and it really shows in her photos.
But the most important thing to know about Kat is that she really goes the extra mile for her clients. She scouted out locations for us the day before, she drove us / coordinated a shoot at sunset. And when it came to the editing, she got us the final photos turned around quickly. We went on an extended 3-week honeymoon and the final photos were in our inbox when we got back. We could not be happier with the experience.
So end your wedding photography search right now, and book Kat. It was one of the best decisions we’ve made.
