Two brides embrace on a rock pinnacle above a winding mountain lake, in black and white

Elopement experiences · Photography & film · Anywhere in the world

You don’t fit the norm.

Good. We design elopements around the two of you, go somewhere wild with you, and bring it all home in photographs and film.

A different way to get married

The actual most beautiful day of your lives.

Not the one you’re expected to have. The one that looks like you: where you go, what you do, who comes along (if anyone), and how it feels when you’re eighty and still telling the story.

A bride stands on a lone rock spur beneath jagged dark peaks
Close portrait of a bride with her hands in her hair, in black and white

Vogue meets National Geographic. We love adventure and we love style, and we’ve never understood why you’d have to choose.

Some couples want a glacier. Some want a vintage car and a long lunch with a view. Some want it on a yacht. Most want something nobody else they know has done. All of it counts.

A bride and groom hold each other on a rocky summit above mountain ridges, a pink sunset and the moon in the sky

Say your vows somewhere that takes your breath away.

A backdrop as epic as your love story.

We’ll help you turn your dream elopement into reality, from finding the perfect location to planning your adventure and capturing every unforgettable moment through photography & film.

The experience

Most photographers ask when and where your wedding is. We ask what you’d love to do.

That question is where every elopement we make begins. We help you invent the day, we plan and coordinate it, and then we live it with you while photographing and filming the whole thing.

Two brides spin hand in hand, laughing, blurred with movement in the evening light

Imagine it

A summit, a sailboat, a balloon at sunrise, or a valley you can drive right up to. We help you find the place and the thing to do that feel like you, at whatever level of adventure you’re up for.

A dinner table for two set with candles and pink roses on a terrace above the seaA red helicopter landed on a glacier between dark mountain walls, its crew preparing for the flight

We plan it

We plan and coordinate the entire elopement: locations, timing, logistics, travel and activities. Where something needs a specialist, from a helicopter pilot to a local planner for your guests, we bring in people from our network.

A couple runs across a high meadow towards mountains glowing pink at dusk

You live it

On the day there is nothing left for you to organise. Raïs photographs, Joachim films, and you get to be completely there for it.

Worth saying

We’re not a travel agency. We’re two people who have worked in remote places for years, who know which ridge catches the first light, and who will get you there safely.

Raïs and Joachim laughing together on the deck of a sailing boat, turquoise water behind them

Who you’d be spending the day with

Raïs & Joachim

A photographer and a filmmaker who’d rather be halfway up a mountain than almost anywhere else. We climb, ice-climb, dive, freedive, sail and now and then jump out of planes, so if your idea involves any of that, we’ll be right there with you, cameras included.

Raïs has photographed weddings in more than 40 countries and can make almost anyone laugh. She calls her approach the art of unposing: no stiff poses, no “chin up a bit”. Joachim is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and cinematographer whose work has taken him from UNICEF projects in South Sudan to film premieres.

So you get two cameras, one crew, and nobody asking you to “do that again for the video”. Plus two people you’ll actually enjoy spending one, two or three days with.

Filming with a cinema camera on a snowy street Raïs and Joachim dressed up for an evening, laughing Freediving down a guide line in deep blue water Laughing through the open door of a jeep on a road trip Raïs and Joachim under a palm tree in a whitewashed courtyard Laughing with a camera in the snow at sunset

Off duty, mostly

Whoa. So how does that work?

From the first idea to the final frame.

From first message to wedding day, this is the whole process.

  1. 01

    You get in touch

    Whether you already know exactly what you want or have no idea at all. You just know you want this.

  2. 02

    We talk

    A call to swap ideas: places, activities, how active you’d like it to be. The sky is the limit.

  3. 03

    We send proposals

    A few concepts built around you: the countries and activities you’re drawn to, and how adventurous (or not) you want it.

  4. 04

    You choose

    You pick the country and the activities. That’s your last big decision.

  5. 05

    We sort everything

    Logistics, flights, activities like helicopter rides and boats. You get a guide on what to bring, and a time and place to be.

  6. 06

    You show up

    And get married. We photograph and film all of it, and you come home with the story told properly.

A table runner in burnt orange beneath a loose arrangement of tulips and ranunculus
Step 05: the details
A couple kisses on a mountain slope, backlit by the sun, her tulle train spread on the grass
Step 06: the part you’ll remember

Dream big.Anything is possible.

Have you ever seen a bride ice-climb? Neither have we. We’d like to change that.

Every idea below can be planned for real. Some are places we’ve already been with couples. The rest are waiting for the right two people.

A bride in a tulle gown leans over a grand piano on the beach as her groom plays, crystal chandeliers hanging above the sand
Dolomites
Two brides hold each other on a dark lava field, their dresses blurred by the wind, in black and white
Lava fields
A couple, softly out of focus, in front of a snowy mountain under a pink sky
IcelandRemote
Two brides embrace on a rock pinnacle high above a winding lake and misty mountains in Albania, in black and white
AlbaniaLakes

Where could you go?

  • A balloon over CappadociaVows in a basket, drifting over the valleys at sunrise.Activities
  • Sailing in CroatiaA boat, an island you’ve never heard of, nowhere else to be.Ocean
  • Skiing in SwitzerlandFirst tracks, then vows. Or the other way round.Mountains
  • Climbing in YosemiteClimb it together and get married at the top.Mountains
  • Antarctica, by expedition cruiseAbout as far from a banquet hall as it gets, and relaxed enough to enjoy.Remote
  • Ice-climbing in ChamonixThe bride ice-climb, finally. Experience required.Mountains
  • A helicopter onto a glacierDropped at the top, nobody else for miles.Activities
  • Under the waterWe’d stay near the surface, where gorgeous rays of light reach through the water for magical images.Ocean
  • A dome in IcelandMarried under the night sky, with a magical place to sleep after.Remote

These are ideas, not past weddings. Want to be the first?

Tell us yours

Our work

More than 40 countries. More than 100 photography awards.

What matters to us is how it felt, and that you can feel it again every time you look. The rest is just paperwork.

A bride and groom stand on a cliff edge above a valley filled with mist, the sky orange at the horizon
A bride lifts a lace veil in a shaft of light
A couple in silhouette holding hands against a golden, hazy sunset, her hair blowing

“Like what!!!!! We are literally crying seeing the photos.”

“We want to thank you for the planning, mapping and living this experience. We haven’t even seen the photos yet, but we want to say this has been the couple of most beautiful days of our lives.”

40+countries photographed in
100+photography awards
CanonRaïs is a Canon EMEA Ambassador, and an international judge for 10+ European photography qualifications
FilmJoachim is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who has worked with Oscar-winning directors
As seen in Vogue Brigitte Daily Mail Times Radio De Tijd VRT NWS
A bride holding a trailing autumn bouquet on a snow-dusted mountain ridge

What’s included

One team, start to finish.

  • a

    A tailor-made elopement

    Designed from scratch around you: where, when, what you do, and how it unfolds.

  • b

    Planning & coordination of the entire elopement

    Every logistical detail, with trusted local specialists where they’re needed.

  • c

    Photography and film, always together

    Raïs on stills, Joachim on film. We don’t offer one without the other, because a day like this deserves both.

Our rates stay the same whatever you decide to do. The trip itself (your flights, stays and activities) can be as big or as small as you like: a rental car and a cabin, or a yacht around the Maldives.

A tiny couple, her long train held up, beneath the north faces of the Tre Cime, in black and white

Okay, we’re sold. But what does it cost?

The collections

Every experience is designed from scratch. These are where we begin.

The difference between them is time. More days means more places, more light, and more room to breathe.

The One-Day Story

One extraordinary day, entirely your own.

  • Full-day photography and filmmaking
  • Creative consultation and concept development
  • A professionally edited photography gallery
  • A cinematic elopement film
Everything included
  • Location and experience guidance
  • Help shaping the visual flow of the day
  • Editorial portraits and documentary storytelling
  • A private online gallery and digital delivery
Photography
€7 500
Cinematic film
€7 500
Complete investment
€15 000

The Multi-Day Story

For stories that deserve more than a single day.

A second day changes the shape of the story: an arrival and a morning after, a second landscape, the quieter moments a single day has to skip.

  • Everything in the One-Day Story
  • Two days of photography and cinematic filmmaking
  • Time for several locations and experiences
  • A larger photography collection and a fuller film
Everything included
  • More room for editorial photography
  • Extended documentary storytelling across both days
  • A more developed cinematic film
Photography
€11 000
Cinematic film
€11 000
Complete investment
€22 000

The Bespoke Story

Three or more days, shaped entirely around you.

For multi-day experiences across several places or countries, where the plan and the storytelling are built from the first conversation.

  • Custom photography and filmmaking coverage
  • Multiple days, destinations or locations
  • Individual creative consultation
  • Bespoke storytelling and production
  • Tailored photographic and cinematic deliverables
Investment
On request

Always included

  • Photography and film, as two equal disciplines
  • Both of us, behind both cameras
  • No hidden costs
  • Travel expenses are not included in the collection prices

A separate offering · An original documentary by Raïs & Joachim

Your story.The documentary.

Your wedding is one chapter. Your story is so much bigger.

A mother in tears holds her daughter close, the bride’s red veil gathered between them
“Your wedding is one chapter.”

A full-scale, Netflix-style documentary about the two of you.

Not simply a cinematic wedding film, but an intimate portrait of who you are, how your paths crossed, and everything that brought you to this moment.

Through in-depth interviews, personal stories, archival photographs and footage, and cinematic documentary filmmaking, we make something that goes far beyond the wedding day. A film about your lives, your relationship, and the people you’ve become together.

In production

  1. 01Story development & pre-production

    Getting to know you, researching your story and shaping the narrative before a single frame is shot.

  2. 02In-depth personal interviews

    Long, documentary-style conversations with each of you about your lives, your relationship and what you’ve lived through.

  3. 03Interviews with loved ones

    Where it fits your story, conversations with family, friends and the people who matter to you.

  4. 04Personal archives

    Your old photographs, home videos and footage, woven into the film.

  5. 05Documentary filming

    Your lives, your personalities and the moments that matter, well beyond the wedding itself.

  6. 06Narrative editing

    A real documentary structure, with character, emotional depth and an arc that holds from the first minute to the last.

  7. 07Cinematic post-production

    Editing, sound design and colour grading, finished as one cohesive documentary film.

The exact scope of each film is agreed with you.

Every documentary starts with a conversation.

Talk to us about your film
A bride and groom on a rocky outcrop, her sleeves catching the wind, with the Tre Cime behind them

The invitation

So. Where would you go?

Tell us a little about the two of you. If you have no idea yet where or what, that’s a perfectly good place to start.

Or write to us directly info@raisdeweirdt.com

Questions

Good questions.

Don’t see yours? Ask us. We like questions.

Get in touch
01What on earth is an elopement?

It comes from “eloping”, literally running away to get married in secret. Today it means any intimate, adventurous wedding with just the two of you, or a few people you choose. We say elopement, adventure wedding and remote love story, and mean the same thing.

02We’re not adventurous at all. Can we still do this?

Of course. Most of our couples aren’t that adventurous. Some of the most beautiful spots in the Dolomites are a short walk from the car. You might want a laid-back cruise in Antarctica, a slow day on a yacht, or to be dropped on a peak by helicopter. We build the schedule around you.

03We’re very adventurous. Can we really ask for anything?

Yes. If you want to get married on top of Mont Blanc, we can make it happen (with a really good weather window). Joachim is a technical diver, so even under water is on the table.

We’re climbers and mountaineers, and we’ve worked in some very remote conditions: Joachim in South Sudan, Raïs for World Extreme Medicine on glaciers. We’re also connected to a global network of planners and adventure experts.

04What does the whole elopement cost?

Our collections start from €15 000 for one day, and our rates stay the same whatever you decide to do. The rest depends entirely on you.

It can be simple: the two of you, the two of us, a rental car and a place to stay. Or you rent a yacht, land on a glacier, or sleep in a dome under the Icelandic sky. Many couples spend what a big wedding would have cost on the experience itself. We help you plan the budget either way.

05Can we bring guests?

Absolutely. Most of our elopements are just the couple, but you can fly out the people you love. When you do, we partner with a local planner who takes care of the venue and reception.

06Do you work with same-sex couples?

Of course we do. We’ve photographed many same-sex couples. Everybody is welcome, and we’d love to have you.

07We’re really not good in pictures.

We hear that a lot. Raïs can make just about anyone laugh, and we document you as you are, with no stiff posing. She calls it the art of unposing. You’ll be surprised how much you enjoy it.

08Can we book photography only?

No. Photography and film always come together. We work as one crew, and a day like this deserves both the still that ends up on your wall and the film that brings back the wind and the voices.

09How do we begin?

Tell us about yourselves using the form above, or email info@raisdeweirdt.com. We’ll reply personally and set up a call.

A bride and groom stand at the edge of a cliff above a valley filled with mist at sunrise

Live lifefor you.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end. We think that says something.

Start the conversation