Planning your small wedding or elopement can bring on a myriad of emotions: love, joy, excitement, jitters, at times some stress. Are you looking for ways to have a deeper experience that is true to your relationship? Then this post with my top 5 tips for having a mindful experience is for you….
1.Visualize
Close your eyes and envision your ideal wedding day. Where are you? What does it look like? What does it smell like? Who’s there? What are they doing.. are they hugging you, laughing? Are they crying? Or is it just the two of you? Is the vibe joyous, is it lighthearted, or deeply emotional? Feel the ground under your foot. Is it grass? Dirt? Sand? Are you in the Redwoods? By the sea? Visualize your outfit, see your partner standing there. What words come to mind when you see them? Visualize what it feels like to speak those words and feel the emotion.
2. Connect with your partner
Have the tough conversations and get aligned. What matters most to you? Your partner? Take the time to ruminate on this and get clear on your values and the foundation of your relationship. Communicate and listen to what’s most important to each of you. Remember there are no rules when it comes to your intimate wedding day. Get deep with this! Go beyond the wants and into the why’s of each decision you make and come at it from a place of purpose, always with your core values in mind. Making conscious decisions will result in your wedding being a true reflection of your relationship.
3. Make decisions from the heart
Choose like-minded vendors who align with your core values and select people you can visualize yourself spending a lot of intimate time with. It’s important that you feel like your desires and dreams are being listened to and that you feel heard. How are they serving you? Even with vendors that you might only see for a moment on the day of wedding. You’re likely extensively communicating with them during the days leading up to it. Feeling comfortable expressing yourself and having a great rapport is so important for you to have a connected and mindful wedding day experience.
4. Create space for a freakout
You’ve followed all the steps to a mindful wedding, you’ve been feeling calm and stress-free because you’re confident your decisions are rooted in your truth. This doesn’t mean that you might not feel some stress or start to panic. This is completely normal, even with intimate weddings and elopements. The pressure from family and friends who feel left out can be overwhelming and planning a wedding has a tendency to bring up deep-rooted feelings and traumas. It’s not only normal but remind yourself that it’s completely ok to feel like this. Create space for yourself. Write your feelings down, feelthem, and then learn shift your energy. Take a yoga class, get out in nature, completely unplug from social media and leave your phone at home. Spend time doing things you love and reconnect with yourself.
5. Start your wedding day with meditation (and hit pause throughout)
Take a few moments on the morning of your small wedding day to ground yourself with meditation. 5-10 minutes is sufficient if you’re new to it. Taking this time to breathe will be instrumental in helping you stay present and mindful throughout your day. Find a comfortable place to sit and set a timer or use a guided meditation. There are many great apps to use like Calm and Insight Timer or even just head to Youtube. I think meditating is a lovely exercise to do together with your partner on the morning of your wedding and a great way to start your marriage journey: together. I remind clients to hit pause and reset throughout their small wedding day experience with me. Sometimes it’s a simple as reminding them to stop and reset. Reminding them to listen to the sound of the trees swaying and the birds chirping before they say vows or walk down the aisle. When I take clients off for portraits at sunset I ask them to simply look deeply at each other, touch each other, feel it-live it- and soak it all in.
I’m an adventurous elopement and intimate wedding photographer helping couples craft a meaningful experience for their wedding day in nature. I focus on capturing the vibe of your day with all of the little moments that you may not remember are happening and the epic landscape views all over California, New England and beyond.
Want to chat about what a mindful elopement can look like?
