Photography & Planning Team
MT
Travel area: No travel restrictions See details
Neal & Alicia Hines
OWNER
AWARD WINNER (2X)
Thanks to recommendations from couples on The Knot
Off the Beaten Path Wedding offers photography and wedding planning, specializing in outdoor weddings and intimate elopements. This husband & wife team love to work with adventurous couples, from breathtaking forest settings to mountain vistas with a view!
Husband & wife team Neal and Alicia Hines combine their talents to help you create life-long memories while capturing every moment with stunning images that you can enjoy for a lifetime.
Based in Billings, they serve the greater Montana and Wyoming region. Let's have an amazing celebration you'll never forget!
Services Offered:
Understanding that every wedding is different, Off the Beaten Path Wedding offers customized planning & photography packages tailored to any wedding's style, size, and location.
Photography services include:
*Full-day wedding coverage (no hourly limit)
*Complimentary second shooter
*Sneak preview and all final edited images delivered in an online gallery
Photo services can be upgraded to include engagement photos or day-after adventure sessions. Additional formats are available for purchase, including custom photo albums and prints.
Planning services include:
*Full planning OR Day-of coordination
*Custom planning portal
*Vendor referrals
*Design vision
*Timeline
*Reception layout
*Budget tracking
*To-do lists
Details
Destination Weddings
Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
Bridal Portraits
Day After Session
Engagement
Trash The Dress
Photo & Video
Digital Files
Drone
Photo
Printed Enlargements
Second Shooter Available
Wedding Albums
Photo & Video Styles
Artistic
Classic
Documentary
Dramatic
Wedding Activities
Getting Engaged
Rehearsals & Parties
Wedding
Awards and Affiliations
Any questions?
Meet the team
Showing slide number 1 out of 2
- Neal HinesPhotographerWe've been together since 2013, connected by our love for outdoor adventures. Neal is a professional photographer with degrees in portraiture & journalism. We love combining our skills to guide people thru experiences – and what greater adventure is there in life than love and marriage! FUN FACTS: In his free time, you’ll find Neal photographing severe thunderstorms.
- Alicia HinesWedding Planner & Second ShooterWe've been together since 2013, connected by our love for outdoor adventures. Alicia has years of experience planning large, complex events and started her career as a community organizer. We love combining our skills to guide people thru experiences – and what greater adventure is there in life than love and marriage! FUN FACTS: Alicia loves rock climbing, hiking and yoga
Reviews
5.0
out of 5.028 reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help you make those big decisions with ease.
Review Summary
This AI-generated summary is a snapshot of this vendor's ratings and feedback.
Alicia and Neal, an outstanding and highly recommended wedding planning and photography duo, have received glowing reviews for their exceptional service, organization, and artistic talents. Alicia's calm demeanor and efficient handling of tasks, along with Neal's energy and ability to capture candid moments, made the wedding planning process stress-free and enjoyable for clients. The stunning photos produced by Neal were described as authentic, creative, and elegantly captured, reflecting the beautiful memories of the special day. Clients expressed gratitude for the seamless experience and the dream-like quality achieved by the duo, highly praising their professionalism and dedication.Review photos
Showing slide number 1 out of 3
Abby S
5.0
12/16/2025
Alicia and Neal were the best ever! You need to pick them for your photography and wedding planners, they are the best duo!! We planned our wedding several states a way and put so ...
much trust into Alicia, and she put our vision to life. Alicia knows all the best vendors and takes care of so much of the communication it was so helpful as someone out of state to have her recommend vendors. She is soooo organized and just so nice, she really made me confident that when I showed up everything would be perfect and it was. The night before and the day if was perfect! Alicia made everything so beautiful and set EVERYTHING up and took everything down easing so much stress from my family and us!! We seriously could not have done it without her. She is just amazing at her job and I would trust her with anything!!! We just got our photos back from Neil and our jaws are on the floor!!! They are absolutely beautiful and don’t even look real. I keep looking through them and cannot believe it’s us in the pictures. He did so good and Alicia and Neil were there ALL day snapping photos and literally caught every moment. It’s so fun to reminisce on the day through all these pictures. They are just perfect, you need to use this duo!!! Our day wouldn’t be what it was without them. THANK YOU BOTH!!!
Jaycee C
5.0
10/08/2025
We had the BEST experience with Off the Beaten Path Wedding Photographers! They took us to a beautiful, off-the-grid location that made for the most breathtaking photos. They reall...
y listened to our vision, added their own creative touch, and made the whole process so much fun! The sneak peeks are absolutely stunning — we can’t wait to see the rest. Highly recommend them to anyone looking for something unique, personal, and full of heart!
Any questions?
Josh Schmitz S
5.0
9/05/2025
We can not thank Neal and Alicia enough for all they did to make our daughter’s wedding everything and more than we all could have dreamed of.
Alicia has an amazing sense of calm ...
that surrounds her all the while taking care of a mountain of tasks. Any questions or changes we had, she handled it all with ease. She made us feel like we were her one and only client to concentrate on.
We equally loved Neal’s energy. I heard many times how funny he was, making people laugh and feel natural while taking photos. He made it easy to smile. Long before our daughter’s wedding day, I’ve followed along and admired Neal’s amazing photography talent.
Together Neal and Alicia make such a beautiful team. We will always remember the year, months, weeks and days leading up to our daughter’s wedding as joyful, fun, truly stress free and the perfect build up to the most beautiful wedding they helped us pull off!
Nicole R
5.0
6/04/2025
From the second we booked with Off the Beaten Path, we knew we were going to get the wedding of our dreams. Alicia and Neal were beyond amazing to work with and made our day stress...
free and memorable.
Jessica Kay R
5.0
5/06/2025
We could not be happier with our photos! The images are beautiful and captured our day in a way that is authentic, creative, and elegant. Neal and Alicia were great to work with. T...
hey are kind, considerate, and down to earth while also maintaining high professional standards. Numerous friends and acquaintances have also used Off the Beaten Path, and all had similarly great experiences. Thanks Alicia and Neal!
McKenna G
5.0
11/21/2024
Neil and Alicia were the best photographers we could have asked for! Our day ran so smooth and the photos turned out amazing. They captured all the beautiful memories from the day ...
that we will cherish forever. They are super nice and accommodating. They did so well with working with a large group of people and getting all the family photos that we wanted. The photos were all candid shots instead of posed which we loved. We can't stop looking at the photos. If I could give more than 5 stars I would!
Spencer J
5.0
8/28/2024
We couldn’t have done it without them! Neal’s superb photos have allowed us to relive the day months later, Alicia was an absolute necessity to make our day happen. Plus, we really...
enjoyed spending time with them throughout the process, they’re great people!
Natalie W
5.0
1/16/2024
Had the loveliest experience with Alicia and Neil! From beginning to end I couldn’t have asked for a better duo. They were absolutely amazing and through. They listened to all our ...
wishes and made amazing recommendations. They made our day even more special than it could have been!
Luke H
5.0
10/16/2023
We cannot thank Alicia and Neal enough for helping us coordinate and capture our Wedding. The level of professionalism, quality of planning/photography, and general ease of working...
with are above and beyond.
There were many moving parts, and the day went off even better than we could have imagined! We had a sneak peak fast of some great photos, and once we got back the entire bundle of images, we couldn't be happier to re-live the day.
If we could give them more than five stars, we would. I would recommend them to anyone who needs their services, as they are the best team out there!
Halley G
5.0
9/06/2023
I wish I could give more than 5 stars.
Neal & Alicia are wonderful to work with - communicative but not bothersome, super friendly, organised, and they took the reigns where I need...
ed them to. My husband and I felt very comfortable being photographed by them, they made it super fun and relaxed, and our whole wedding day went very smoothly with pictures because of them. I wish that we lived closer to MT so that we could have had engagement portraits done by them. Alicia was extra prepared and helpful throughout the day, fixing my dress and hair, taking my bouquet, and always being a smiling face. Neal was so chill through stressful situations, always excited about the pictures, and made everything very personable and comfortable.
As of now we have only received our sneak peek pictures, but we are over the moon with them, and can’t wait to see the final pictures!
If we could get married again, we’d hire Neal & Alicia a thousand times over!
Hartini G
5.0
8/22/2023
We couldn’t have asked for a better wedding planner and photographer combo than Alicia and Neal. From the moment we began working together, Alicia’s exceptional communication skill...
s put us at ease. Alicia understood our vision and turned it into a reality beyond our wildest dreams. Every detail was flawlessly executed. Alicia’s dedication to ensuring everything was perfect made the entire planning process enjoyable.
Neal’s impeccable attention to detail and artistic approach truly made our wedding photos come alive. He managed to perfectly capture the breathtaking beauty of Montana and the essence of our special day. The way he framed each shot and brought out the natural charm of our surroundings was simply remarkable.
Alicia and Neal are not only incredibly talented but also a pleasure to work with. Thanks to them, our wedding day was an absolute dream come true!
Stephanie C
5.0
2/07/2023
Want almost no stress? Want the most magic day you could imagine? Neal will capture it and Alicia will coordinate it to your specifications. You couldn't ask for more, the attentio...
n to details and energy from them is unmatched. We could not be happier!
Laci P
5.0
10/19/2022
Both Alicia and Neal are such genuine and down to earth people. They helped make our mountain elopement so special. I cannot recommend them enough. Alicia was so great about giving...
3-4 options for everything. And when things didn't follow the original plan she was amazing at helping me pivot. Neal made us look so good, even when we were exceptionally awkward. Would recommend them over and over again.
Aaron and Kristi L
5.0
10/06/2022
We would give Neal and Alicia 10 stars if we could. They were a perfect fit for our elopement. We set up a time to meet and go over details. The four of us hit it off, like we ha...
d already known each other forever. By time we had our ceremony we felt like we had close friends marrying us.
Neal and Alicia traveled to one of our favorite places in the Bighorn mountains of Wyoming. Between the little details before the ceremony to the few captured moments before, they made our nerves calm and disappear. They thought of everything we hadn't. Alicia put so much heart in our ceremony and Neal put his expertise into the timing and the exact locations of our photos. To say we were pleased is an understatement. These two make a dynamic duo and we plan to use them again for the renewal of our vows. We call it fate that we found them, and we feel very blessed that they were a part of our special day!!
Kristan M
5.0
9/27/2022
Alicia and Neal, as planner and photographer, are without question two of the best professionals I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Alicia is kind, calm and extremely orga...
nized, which was immensely helpful for an older, very busy professional bride planning from 2700 miles away. She has a terrific sense of style, attention to detail and a flare for beautiful aesthetics. Neal, her husband, is a spectacular photographer with a keen eye, an honest appreciation for the beauty of Montana and the western states and a great sense of humor. He wins an award for sure, as he put up with me and all of my strange requests with a smile and patience, and then the day of, laughed with me and took the exact types of photos I’d asked for, helping to calm me down and make the day memorable and so much fun. Every interaction that I, my husband, and our families and guests had with them throughout the day was positive, and people loved them. They are hard workers who truly just want to make your day exactly what you want it to be. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Chris F
5.0
9/23/2022
Working with Alicia and Neal was fantastic. They patiently helped us achieve the vision we wanted for our wedding reception. They were very helpful and made great suggestions throu...
gh the entire planning process. They were always quick to respond and knew their stuff. They’re top of the line in their fields. Highly intelligent and respectful. On the day of the event they took complete charge and made everything happen in a smooth fashion, making it a worry free day for us to enjoy. They exceeded our expectations and produced a result that was the best day of our lives! We enthusiastically recommend their services for anyone wanting to have a first class wedding event. Donna & Chris
April S
5.0
6/26/2022
We chose Neal and Alicia for our Montana wedding and they were an absolute pleasure to Work with. We were an out of state couple and Alicia made planning our wedding easy, fun, and...
nearly stress free. She was very responsive and detail oriented and kept me in the loop every step of the planning process. She made my wedding wishes come to life and our wedding was exactly as we had envisioned. On our wedding day, she made sure everything went exactly as planned. She was a calming presence for a nervous bride!
Neal was fantastic and made sure to capture all of the important moments of our day while staying in the background, which was our wish. Our wedding photos turned out absolutely beautiful. Neal made sure to do family photos quickly after the ceremony so our guests could enjoy cocktail hour. He worked so well with us and our couples photos felt natural, fun, and they turned out amazing. He made sure to grab us off the dance floor while the sun was setting for even more perfect photos at the end of the day.
Neal and Alicia worked well together and truly made our wedding day feel stress free. We were able to enjoy our entire day without worrying about a thing. They fit right in as if they were our own friends and we couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I would highly recommend them for your own wedding!
Shawna P
5.0
1/18/2022
Alicia and Neal were extremely helpful in planning, and captured so many photos of our day that we really love without interfering with what the day was really about - getting marr...
ied! They were great!
Lauren P
5.0
11/30/2021
Alicia and Neal were our wedding photographers, officiant, and planners all in one. They took our dream of getting married and spending a day fly fishing on the Madison River, and...
made it a reality. We completely relied on them for the venue, hair and makeup, flowers, etc. since we were thousands of miles away. The vendors they set us up with were better than I could have imagined. Also, they scouted out venues several times to find our perfect spot, and were willing to change it at the last minute in order to accommodate the weather. The pictures Neal took were outstanding quality, and he made us feel so at ease and comfortable in each shoot. I cannot say enough great things about this duo and would 100% recommend them to anyone looking to get married (or for any type of photos) in Montana.
Response from Off the Beaten Path Wedding on 03/01/2022
Lauren and Adam, your elopement adventure was an absolute dream! It was truly our pleasure...
to bring your vision to life & capture all the beautiful moments. We'll never forget that day floating and fishing the Madison, the intimate ceremony with your parents, and spending sunset canoeing out on the lake. Hope to see you back in Montana soon!
Emily K
5.0
11/29/2021
Off the Beaten Path is the absolute best and my husband and I feel so lucky to have found them. Planning a Montana wedding from California was stressful enough but throw in a pande...
mic and we never would have been able to handle it. It was super convenient to have planning and photography in one package but we would have gladly hired Neal and Alicia separately. Alicia was so kind, easygoing and responsive during the planning process. I really had no idea where to start but she walked us through it step by step and made it all manageable. The planning website is actually a lot of fun to use and made it easy to communicate. Her vendor recommendations were so on point and exactly our style. As a skeptic of the 'wedding industry' I was worried going in how to make the day feel like us but Alicia was so helpful narrowing down what was important and in the end we got everything we wanted and nothing we didn't. The floral, decor, food and drink, all of it was perfect. Our wedding turned out better than I even knew it could and I love having all of our lovely photos to remember it by. Neal as a photographer was also so easy to work with. Both my husband and I were a little self conscious about being photographed but Neal had us laughing and at ease. The photographs themselves are so beautiful and artistic as well as personal. We have a great mix of scenery, guests, poses, candid, serious and funny. My husband and I can't stop looking at them! I love how timeless and natural they are. Our inspiration was a laid back hobbit style wedding and that's exactly how it turned out! The weather was a bit dramatic the day of and Neal's storm tracking knowledge came in handy! (plus made for some amazing storm cloud photos) Neal and Alicia work HARD and really hustled all day on our wedding so that we could relax and enjoy. They are also just cool people and we really enjoyed hanging out with them. In the end they felt like friends. Working with Off the Beaten path was the best money we spent for our wedding and you should absolutely trust them with your special day. Ours was so amazing and we will be forever grateful.
Mary H
5.0
11/19/2021
Alicia and Neal did a phenomenal job planning and photographing our wedding. Throughout the planning process Alicia was well-organized, responsive to questions, and a pleasure to w...
ork with. Alicia's event timeline, thorough checklist, advice on vendors, suggestions, and overall expertise made our destination wedding stress-free. Since the wedding was out of state, we met all our vendors for the first time at the event. I think it's a testament to Alicia's skill that the wedding we planned virtually turned out to be exactly as envisioned. She managed everything (including a change of date) perfectly.
Neal is a superb photographer and we've received so many compliments from family on how our photos turned out. My husband and I were impressed with the final product and are so glad he was there to capture the day.
Alicia and Neal make a great team and we highly recommend them. Thank you!
Vicki N
5.0
11/12/2021
Off the beaten path made our wedding perfect. Very individualised and the ceremony was beautifully delivered in the perfect surroundings. The photography was fabulous. I would high...
ly recommend!
Response from Off the Beaten Path Wedding on 11/12/2021
Vicki, we'll never forget your beautiful sunrise ceremony and our morning in the mountains...
! Thank you for choosing us to capture your Montana elopement and officiate, too. Wishing you two all the best!
Eric W
5.0
9/01/2021
Neal did a great job as our photographer! He was super friendly and easy to work with. He did an amazing job of capturing out special day.
Vanessa R
5.0
2/10/2021
Neal and Alicia were amazing to work with. They truly went the extra mile to make us feel special - especially after our first wedding date was canceled and our family could no lon...
ger attend due to COVID. On top of everything, the wildfire smoke rolled in and visibility was terrible. 2020 was not our good luck year! But Alicia found little ways to incorporate our dogs, have an instagram-worthy picnic on the beach, and make the day super special. We went for a hike and Neal's photos ended up beautiful despite the lack of visibility. He really captured my husband and I well, including our emotions and personalities. I am very grateful for everything they have done for us and would highly recommend them!
Tiana M
5.0
9/04/2020
Neal and Alicia are simply amazing - so easy to work with, fun to be around, and are so talented! We got our sneak peek photos two days after the wedding and are already blown away...
. We can't wait to see the rest! If you're looking for incredible photos and super helpful coordinating, these are your people!
Nicole E
5.0
8/27/2020
Oh my goodness, I do not know where to start with Alicia and Neal. Not only a fantastic team but such an amazing couple. They made us feel so stress free from start to finish. They...
made everything so easy for us from the planning, finding ceremony spot, beautiful air b & b , hair and make up salon and straight down to places to eat. They are quick with giving you a sneak peak of photos to share with loved ones until the rest arrive. I would 1000 % recommend
Response from Off the Beaten Path Wedding on 08/31/2020
Nicole, it was such a joy to photograph and officiate your elopement! So glad that life br...
ought you to Montana and that you decided to celebrate your love in the mountains. You two have such beautiful chemistry and are so much fun together! We're so glad it was stress-free, even with just 10 days to plan. Thank you for choosing us to be part of your special day - we'll never forget the experience.
Alicia & Neal
Angie S
5.0
8/25/2020
Alicia and Neal were FANTASTIC! If you're getting married in Montana and need a planner, don't go with anyone else! Alicia was incredible to work with; she thought of every single ...
detail. She went the extra mile to scout locations for us, including taking videos and photos, once even in the rain! She was super flexible when we switched from a micro-wedding to elopement and kept me informed of every government/travel change or restriction when it came to getting married in a different state during COVID-19. Communication couldn't have been better. Since we came in from out of state, we had not met Neal or Alicia until the day before the wedding...which made me nervous, but it was like reuniting with two friends. They made our wedding day so special and really kept to the vision I had asked for; a private elopement with a stunning location. And they didn't disappoint with the stunning locations. We had only seen photos of the ceremony site until our wedding day and it was gorgeous. Their local knowledge made our wedding day and our photos just spectacular. It was such a great day that I'm kind of sad it's over! Our photos are just drop-dead awesome...honestly, even though we hired Alicia and Neal, it was like our wedding day was planned and photographed by our best friends. My husband and I both were just blown away by how awesome our wedding day was. Alicia & Neal, congrats on a job well done! When we renew our vows, we'll be calling you!
Response from Off the Beaten Path Wedding on 08/31/2020
Angeline, it was our pleasure! We had so much fun helping you plan & adventuring with you ...
two for your destination elopement. From the beautiful ceremony with the wildflowers, to dinner together and sunset at 10,000 feet, it was a day we'll always remember too! Thank you for choosing us to photograph, plan and officiate for you. Definitely call us for your vow renewal or next time you're in Montana and want to hike! Love, Alicia & Neal
Rachael S
5.0
8/07/2020
LOOK NO FURTHER! The BEST wedding planner, day-of-directors and photographer duo are right here. Alicia and Neal are the most amazing wedding/elopement planners and photographers y...
ou will EVER find! Our elopement turned into a small wedding, and Alicia put together all of the pieces with ease (venue, vows, officiant, music, food, flowers, cake, decor of multiple venues, invitations, literally clearing the venue of grizzly bears, signage, photos.. I can't even list everything. the list of what
she did to arrange our "small" ceremony goes on and on. It turns out you CAN have bougie, sky-high expectations on short notice with a small budget -- because Alicia will make it happen for you. She was extremely respectful of our budget and kept finding creative ways to help us save money. She was 100% reliable and dependable, and went the extra mile in every way. I didn't know what I didn't know, and Alicia handled it all. She communicated often and clearly, created spreadsheets and documents, and called/emailed frequently. I had not met Alicia until the day of the wedding, but I felt like I knew her because we talked so often and she's so open and personable. The day of, I almost spent more face-to-face time with Neal because he was photographing us for the entire day so he was always nearby (and Alicia was off making everything perfect). He has a very calming presence as the photographer/stager which I needed more than I realized (apparently wedding days are stressful ha!). You can tell quickly that he is an artist who knows what moments to capture. He made so many great memories for us just because he is a pro and knows how to do it and in a flattering light. Our photos are INCREDIBLE and they make me cry every time I see them. We have such wonderful memories of that day thanks to Neal's talent and the care he put into our special day. My (now) husband and I joke (but.. not really joking!) about getting married again every year because it was the best day of our lives. It would have never been so perfect without Neal and Alicia. I just don't know what to say other than I have super high expectations of basically everything, and I would not hesitate to not only recommend them to my best friend or family member, but also use them again in the future. THANK YOU, Alicia & Neal!! We'll be calling you soon for our future anniversary parties & vow renewal.
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Off the Beaten Path Wedding
Neal & Alicia Hines
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Owner
Wedding vendors in Billings
Off the Beaten Path Wedding
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