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HIKING SUNRISE CAIRNGORMS ELOPEMENT
The Cairngorms National Park, a special place to elope in the Scottish Highlands
We love Cairngorms elopements as the Cairngorms National Park holds a special place in our hearts as the first place we ever visited in Scotland together. Located in the centre of the Scottish Highlands, it is the UK's largest national park and is bigger than Luxembourg!
Visitors travel to the Cairngorms year-round to climb mountains (Munros), explore the native forests, canoe around Lochs, wild camp on inland beaches and enjoy the Scottish wildlife. It's one of our favourite places in Scotland to explore.
The couple
We are *so* excited to share Mollie and Rob's Cairngorms sunrise elopement. It was such a relaxed and beautiful day. It was even more special because Mollie and Rob have spent much of the last 18 months apart, with Rob here in Scotland, and Mollie in California, separated by an ocean and a global pandemic. It was a little touch and go as to whether Mollie's visa would come through, and that travel would be possible, but the stars aligned. Three months after our first call on Zoom, we were meeting for the first time the night before their elopement, ready for an early morning alarm, and an epic day of adventure.
Mollie and Rob stayed at the Glen Clova hotel at the foot of Glen Doll in the Cairngorms National Park, Scottish Highlands. We set our alarms for 2 am and all grabbed a few hours of sleep before heading out on our adventure. We met an excited Mollie and Rob outside the hotel at 3 am and drove through the quiet single track lane to Corrie Fee visitor centre where we met Ashton, their humanist celebrant for the day. We pulled on our hiking boots, donned our rucksacks and head-torches and started hiking through the Glen Doll forest. We reached Corrie Fee's natural amphitheatre and continued our hike through the winding path along the valley floor before heading up to the waterfall near the top of the valley.
Kind Words from MOLLIE AND ROB
"We couldn't recommend Oli and Steph more! Their expertise and advice was extremely helpful in guiding us through planning all the small details of our elopement. They were organized, easy-going and accommodating on the day and captured our wedding perfectly; our photos are absolutely stunning. Any couples looking to capture their adventure elopement should work with Oli and Steph!"
Mollie and Rob changed into their wedding gear near the top of the valley, before having a first look surrounded by the epic landscape.
They found the perfect spot for their sweet private ceremony which Ashton rocked. They read handwritten vows and exchanged rings. We changed locations a couple of times during the ceremony to avoid the pesky midgies, and for the final reading hiked even higher up the valley.
After Mollie and Rob were officially married! We headed back down the path for a breakfast picnic from the hotel complete with fizz.
We hiked back down to the foot of the Corrie Fee amphitheatre and Mollie and Rob signed their paperwork, as we did too as their witnesses. We ended the morning hiking back through the Glen Doll forest.
Mollie and Rob had the most beautiful sunrise Cairngorms elopement and we were so happy to be a part of it. It was unique to them and encompassed everything that felt right to the two of them. If you're looking for a sunrise hiking elopement then we're totally up for it! Hiking up a mountain to watch the sunrise is our bag!
We're Oli and Steph Prince, a married couple who met in Antarctica, eloped in Hawaii and now live on the Isle of Skye with our two rescue pups. We photograph adventurous couples eloping across the Scottish Highlands. You can get in touch with us here, or take a look at our package information here.
If you need an adventurous Scottish celebrant then we can't recommend Ashton the humanist more.
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What a spectacular day and incredible part of the world. Love the shot with the silhouette of the tree along with a couple.
I just love these moody Scottish vibes! I’ve never been to Scotland, but this beautiful elopement makes me want to put it right on my bucket list. Also – loving the traditional attire.
Oh these are beautiful. The double exposure is just stunning
This is such a sweet elopement! I love the location, the couple, and the beautiful moments you captured. Well done!
The Cairngorms are amazing and you’ve told their story so beautifully in this amazing place! Thanks for sharing!
Looks like a real adventure and it’s all beautifully captured, great work.
What a beautiful day and couple! I love his kilt! You captured it remarkably!!
This is the most quintessentially Scottish, magical, and epic elopement I’ve ever seen! And what an amazing story of the perseverance of love through the pandemic. You captured their elopement wonderfully. The Scottish Highlands have been high on my travel bucket list, and they just moved up a few spots after seeing your wonderful images. Cheers!