About this vendor
SO MANY PEOPLE LIVE THEIR LIVES ACCORDING TO OTHER PEOPLE'S EXPECTATIONS...
And that's bullshit. Especially on your wedding day.
You and your relationship is unique in every way, and it's BS that the wedding industry puts us in boxes that we just aren't born to fit in. You were born to stand out.
I'm Sam, a TEDx speaker, author, and local adventure elopement expert for Oregon. I'm here to make sure you don't half-ass your elopement day because that's what the world is telling you to do.
Think about this: What makes you, you? I'm betting part of it includes your passions, your desires, your dreams, the places you want to see and the things you want to do. Then ask yourself why your elopement day shouldn't include exactly that.
My couples use that empowerment to create a one-of-a-kind elopement day to transform the rest of their lives.
READY TO ELOPE YOUR LIFE?
Let's do this, shall we? If you have any questions, submit the contact form below, our reach out via my website: samstarns.com
ELOPEMENT COLLECTIONS INCLUDE
Custom client portal
The ultimate elopement guide (including all resources from my book “Elope Your Life”)
Extensive planning consultation/assistance
Planning Zoom calls
Your own custom day-of timeline
Custom vendor referrals
Vetted location recommendations and stats on each
Getting to Know You Questionnaire and Zoom calls
Marriage license resources
Permitting information
All hi-res edited digital images
Heirloom album to display in your home
Photographer travel included
Starting pricing and more info about the Elope Your Life experience is available at samstarns.com/experience!
FEATURED IN:
TEDxRoseburg
NBC King 5 Seattle
CBS Good Day Sacramento
ABC AM Northwest
NBC WFLA Bloom Talk Show
Kleinfeld
Gay Weddings Magazine
Details
Business Attributes
- LGBTQ+-owned Business
- Woman-owned Business
Destination Weddings
- Destination Wedding Packages
Photo Shoot Types
- Day After Session
- Engagement
Photo & Video
- Drone
- Photo
Photo & Video Styles
- Documentary
- Lifestyle
Awards and Affiliations
3-Time 'Best of Weddings'
2022.2021.2020.
Best of Weddings
The Knot independently assesses vendors for this award—it’s never self-reported. We base it on firsthand experiences from real couples and guests, and they must have a 4.5-star average across 7+ reviews in the qualifying year.
Popular with couples like you
Check out our featured vendors.
Reviews
Your trust is our goal. Our community relies on honest reviews to help
you make those big decisions with ease.
5
out of 5.027 reviews
Sam is COOL. AS. HELL. Working with her and Rachel was great! All of us felt right at home as our goofy selves. We wanted to feel tiny among a vast world on our elopement day and S...
am totally delivered. We weren’t worried about all these wedding logistics or family drama, instead we just had an epic adventure in Moab with our dogs, our moms, and some new friends. It was freaking magic!
We loved the whole experience, from our own personal client portal (use it, trust me!) filled with resources, planning and location inspiration to all of us building this really personal relationship. At the end, we had a stress-free "best day ever", images to remember it by, and a new friend to adventure with. Do yourself a favor: Elope Your Life and hire Sam and her team!
I would do this every year if we could! It was an absolutely magical day & we are so grateful to have her help us create such incredible memories. I'm writing this on our 1 year anniversary because time just flew by! But it's perfect time to reflect on just how amazing Sam & her whole team are!
Every part of our Glacier elopement was exactly what I hoped it would be. We loved being able to focus on ourselves and not worry about other people. We appreciated Sam being our h...
ype gal and getting us into the mindset on the day with her prompts and things to consider. It allowed us to get connected and be ourselves - it seriously made the whole experience. Also, having the relationship where we could just text Sam photos of dresses, or when we were freaking out? Priceless. “Elope Your Life” has sort of gone past the elopement day with me (Lindsey), and it’s made me realize that if we can have even a modicum of happiness that we experience on our elopement in our everyday life, then it’s worth pursuing. So this gal is starting her own organizing business! If you’re even vaguely thinking that eloping is an option, 100% fucking do it.
Our day was so kickass. It wasn't stressful in the least, and the few loved ones the witnessed our ceremony had a great time too! Working with Sam was SO easy, she made us feel sup...
er comfortable in front of the camera and her resources were everything we needed. Looking to elope? Congratulations! Now go see Sam LOL!
Due to COVID, we decided to forgo the traditional wedding and plan the adventure elopement of our dreams. But also due to COVID, we changed our elopement location 3 times! Not only...
were we impressed with Sam’s flexibility, but with each step, she had an incredible repository of recommended vendors and location suggestions that fit the bill for exactly what we wanted.
How can we put into a short paragraph how amazing our 2-day elopement was across the island of Maui? We got married at 10,000ft at Haleakala National Park, explored a red sand beach with a DRONE, hiked a bamboo forest, and so much more. Sam doing what she does gave us a super solid foundation and empowerment to make our experience exactly what we wanted: spontaneous, candid, and fun. She made it so comfortable, so 2 days flew by! Her direction in front of the camera was also a great balance of serious and funny moments. We’re still laughing at, “Every guy has a condition. It’s called ‘dead hand’.” On top of all that, she knew things about the planning process (like when Google was lying about drive time, or how we’d fit our day together perfectly) that made our life so much easier. Her timeline questionnaire and timeline she crafted from it just put our minds at ease.
Sam cares SO deeply about every couple she meets. From the first conversation we had, the first thing she did was get to know us as people and what we wanted, past the epic images. Since we were all free, we met up the night before our elopement to just have dinner and talk (and share dog photos) and that really stood out to us about Sam’s process too. The whole elopement experience surpassed what we ever could have imagined.
Choosing a great photographer is the most important wedding decision to make, second only to choosing your spouse. We could not be happier in choosing Sam as our adventure elopemen...
t photographer. It was the best decision we made for our day. I went to do some research on Reddit when my (now) husband and I started to consider eloping. The very first post on the Eloping subreddit that day, someone mentioned her and linked to her Wandering Weddings page, where I then found her website.
We were immediately sold, and this choice went on to shape the best day of our life. Sam really helped curate the day and make our vision come alive, just like we imagined. Even better, really. Our day was light, fun, romantic, and we felt so ALIVE. Sam’s direction was fantastic, and we loved her games like, “The Floor is Lava” (if you know, you know). It didn’t even feel like “direction”.
We now recommend Sam before anyone can even ask. We’re always looking at our pictures all googly eyed, and it’s great to have tangible memories that we can share with our family and friends. There were so many intimate moments captured together, so many smiles, so many laughs. It was an incredible experience. It was an unimaginably perfect, PERFECT day.
She knows what she’s doing, a true professional, but it was also so genuine. She wrote a book. She even did a TEDx Talk on eloping!! We were both like whaaaaat!!! Yes, woman, kill it! Seriously, hire Sam, great pics are sooo important, but it was more than pictures, it was an experience. It was worth every penny. I honestly cannot recommend her enough. Break from tradition and do something for YOU that you can share with each other.
Okay, so Sam blended in SO well that G Pam (Matt’s grandma) thought she was a cousin, when she met up with us the night before our elopement for a game night at our Airbnb! The who...
le elopement process was seamless, from our client portal where I could go back and check out resources, to Sam’s “Elope Your Life” Facebook group, to the ways the two of us were able to get more connected in our relationship. Sam meshed so well, our few guests loved her, and we ended up with a new friend! Talk about a great elopement day. Our experience was pretty unparalleled.
Eloping was exactly what we expected, and even more than we could have imagined. We were real hype before, but in the moment on the day, I (Rachael) just knew that was where we were meant to be at that exact second in time. We really felt empowered with Sam doing what we wanted, and felt even more so afterward. It was very much a “hell yeah, we did it!” type of feeling afterward, despite family members who were upset they didn’t get accommodated how they wanted to on our day. Absolutely no regrets!
Elope (and hit Sam up). You won’t regret it!
We loved our Glacier National Park elopement with Sam!
She took the time to really get to know us through phone and video chats before we met up. The first time we got together in ...
person was for our adventure session a few days before the wedding. We scheduled the adventure session at the end of a 2-day hiking experience totaling almost 20 miles, so we were pretty exhausted at the time. Sam's vibrant personality immediately perked us up and put us at ease. Her prompts were hilarious and we ended up having a fantastic time laughing together while taking portraits. The fun was genuine and it absolutely shows in the photos!
Sam had the knowledge and experience to take us to the right places at the right times to optimize our experience of Glacier's jaw-dropping settings. She was our unofficial guide about the park, sharing knowledge and tidbits along the way. She has such an eye for beauty and light, and was able to capture our special memories in the most beautiful way. Our small group of friends all had a great time with her and her husband, Brian. Our elopement day was full of fun, laughs, Goldfish crackers (Sam and both of us love them), adventure, and authenticity. We even got to go paddle-boarding in our wedding gear; how many people can say that?
Afterward, Sam and Brian joined us at our place for dinner! It was great hanging out with two new friends after experiencing one of the best days.
So many times we thought “Thank goodness for Sam”. She was flexible with COVID, helped with our timeline, and was super responsive. We didn’t have to worry because she took care of...
us. I (Bret) wasn’t expecting that our photographer would be this involved and care enough to build a relationship with us, but Sam’s whole process, from the “getting to know you” Zoom calls to our wrap up call when we got to see our images and album draft, was fantastic and helped build connection between all of us.
Sam’s view on eloping really aligned with how we feel. Eloping really just reaffirmed that, while we do care what people think, there are days and times where we’re going to ultimately do what we feel is right for us, and that can be regarding any typical societal expectations, like buying a house or having children or how we get married.
Our elopement day was adventurous bliss. We wish we could recreate it again and again, and it was so fun working with Sam.
From the beginning, Sam was more involved in our wedding and marriage than a typical photographer. She was invested in our elopement experience and even busted butt the day-of (wit...
h the help of our floral designer, Nicole) to create a whole new whale watching boat adventure when our initial reservations for a helicopter ride fell through due to COVID-19.
Our friends have either said they wished they got married how we did, or that our day is exactly like how they want to get married. After all was said and done on our big day, I began to think, “Why exactly was I so worried about what others thought in the first place?” I mean, I know it was societal pressure, but after the fact, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Sam's concept and book on "Elope Your Life" has really opened our eyes to doing things we want and not caring so much about what society and tradition says is “right” – including being a little bit more spontaneous in our everyday lives.
Something else we didn’t anticipate? Gaining a friend out of this whole thing. I read Sam’s reviews before and thought, “That surely won’t be us”, but we’re really all excited to be calling each other friends. We have someone to visit and hang out with in Oregon when we go back (and we definitely will be going back!).
"Huge shout out to Sam for making our elopement day PERFECT! Prior to the big day, she referred me (Cindy) to hair and makeup artists, vendors for florals, and answered all my sill...
y questions for how to prepare. On our big day, she whipped out a mini tent from her car so I could change into my wedding dress. Then my honey and I went for a canoe ride while Sam followed us in a motorboat shooting awesome photos. Then she showed us the best that Crater Lake had to offer. We couldn’t have asked for more. We loved that our elopement experience was just for us. There was no one to please (except ourselves), and no one was around to judge.
On the topic of “Elope Your Life” – I have had a lot of time to think about the concept. I tend to not make a ton of decisions on my own. But since deciding to elope and knowing Sam, I’ve been more inclined to do what I want, knowing that I don’t really need anyone’s permission. In general, Elope Your Life has instilled more confidence in me and my abilities.
The cherry on top of this whole elopement experience is that we’ve gained a friend. Sam is da bomb!"
Working with Sam was amazing. We always wanted an intimate wedding and having one just reaffirmed our decision. We were able to be present for the whole day and Sam came to the tab...
le with great ideas, and inspiration. We wish we could tell everyone getting married that they need to have an intimate wedding or elopement, otherwise they’re missing out! We wish we could experience our wedding day over and over again.
Sam is such a fun photographer to work with, and it’s even better to know that not only does she have your back when it comes to crafting an adventure wedding, but that you’re on the same page as people too. Our initial consult and Zoom chats were great and the questionnaires she sent in our client portal were super helpful. Everything was crafted in a way that both of us could be involved in the process, and get connected with each other as we went. Sam's directions and cues got us and our families to express real emotions that she captured perfectly. Being in the Elope Your Life group was also incredibly helpful, with all the resources and other couples’ input that Sam has worked with. Overall our experience was fantastic!
"Our elopement day felt comfortable, open, relaxed, and above all – happy. I don’t like photos of myself, but I was able to feel relaxed working with Sam. We loved all the location...
suggestions she provided, and ended up changing our elopement spot after we saw all the options she shared! It was important for us to be able to laugh, have a great time, and show our true selves. After our first call with Sam, we had a gut feeling and didn’t think we’d be as comfortable with anyone else capturing our day. I have only positive things to say – even our two friends that attended loved working with Sam!
Our first “elope your life” moment was when we moved to Oregon from the East Coast. Eloping for our wedding naturally followed. Next step, eloping my career into something I love!"
"Working with Sam (and her husband, Brian, who tagged along) was awesome. Even though it rained on our adventure elopement day, we wouldn’t have had it any other way. It made our d...
ay more fun and our images more intimate. Sam was super easy and fun to work with, and she knows her way around Glacier and other locations she travels to!
Even though some friends and family were confused or a little sad about our decision, we spoke to them and expressed our ideal day. They quickly realized they didn’t want to do things like get up before sunrise for a sunrise ceremony or hike somewhere. It became clear that changing our day to fit their desires meant it wouldn’t have been about us and who we were anymore. Sam was right there to back us up, too. Your wedding day won’t be important to anyone else in 2 months, but it will still be important to you. So don’t fall down the slippery slope of making one small tweak to please someone, because that can snowball into changing your entire plans.
Deciding to elope and working with Sam was one of the best decisions we’ve made. You have someone truly interested in a relationship with you and your partner, so together you can craft a day that’s totally “you.” Our day was fun, wet, cheerful, and full of laughs with Sam’s help."
It was awesome working with Sam! Our elopement originally was meant to happen at Glacier National Park, but due to COVID-19 reasons, we had to completely change locations 3 weeks b...
efore the big day. Sam sent over a ton of Oregon Coast location options and helped us choose the perfect spot. Our day was still so magical, wild, free and super meaningful. I was nervous about switching up locations, but the whole point is to marry your best friend, so I knew ultimately it would work out. And it did!
Sam made both of us feel so comfortable (like we could be our goofy selves), and even our friends who weren’t in attendance noticed that my husband looked way more relaxed than usual in front of the camera! It felt so good knowing we had a friend in our corner to help us feel empowered, and who we could talk to if we had questions at any time. If you’re considering eloping, really think about what’s important to you. With a traditional wedding, you can easily start to lose sight of yourself and your relationship. Be true to yourself and start to elope your life with an elopement! Then reach out to Sam. She’s got your back.
Our adventure elopement day on the Oregon Coast and California Redwoods was perfect, carefree, intentional and just absolute bliss. From getting to have a great conversation over l...
unch at a brewery with Sam, her husband Brian, and our good friends Leah & Mike (who also had Sam capture their elopement), to exploring both the Redwoods and Oregon Coast, it was everything we wanted it to be. We were able to be intentional about every single part of the day, and didn’t have to worry about what anyone thought except ourselves, mainly because Sam is an absolute rock star. From the moment we hired her, she helped us make every decision without any stress involved. Sam bears the burden of every aspect of the day including any possible hiccup that could come up, so you don't have to have a worry in the world on the best day of your life.
If anyone is an oddball of the family, it’s the two of us with our respective families. This decision was unique to us and eloping was the first big decision that went against the grain that family and friends had to accept. That has had a snowball effect on the rest of our lives. We know we can do anything and accomplish anything together.
Our advice to future couples considering eloping: if eloping is even in your vocabulary, that’s the decision you should make. If you aren’t 100% sold on a traditional wedding, you won’t be totally happy on the big day. Our only regret was not having at least 8 hours of coverage for our elopement experience!
Having Sam guide us through the process of planning our elopement was one of the best decisions we made about our wedding day. It was everything we wanted and exceeded our expectat...
ions. Sam was always available and I loved that I could text her about anything, wedding related or not. We really felt like we were more than just clients to her and that she wanted our day to be as intimate, connected, fun, and relaxed as we did. The day was amazing and beautiful, and looking back, the only thing we wish was that we had had more time with Sam (even though our day didn’t feel rushed as it was!). And even though we were living in two different countries throughout the entire planning process, my husband and I were able to get connected with each other on our day, which might not have been as possible with a big wedding and trying to please everyone else. Eloping with Sam by our side was an awesome experience and I feel like we’ve gained a life long friend in her!
We had so much fun on our elopement day. It was the type of day we want to experience all the time, not just reminisce about once in a while. Sam walked us through the process of p...
lanning an elopement in an easy and fun way. She was also so easy to talk to and now we've got a lifelong friend. We never felt rushed, but her timeline kept us on track while still allowing for flexibility.
It’s hard to put into words how we feel about our elopement day. It was empowering because we’ve spent a lot of our lives trying to please others. Sam was 100% behind us in our unique choices that represented us. Getting to do what we wanted, in a way we wanted, was amazing. We were able to be completely ourselves. This experience made us want to carry that empowered feeling on into the rest of our lives.
After spending a considerable amount of time thinking about wedding planning the stress was getting to us and we started looking for alternatives, something that was more represent...
ative of us. In this search we came across Sam’s website and it really spoke to us, it set us on this new path and wouldn't change it for the world.
Eloping and having Sam capture it was a great experience. It was an emotional day full of beautiful places we love! Sam was a great guide through the process of planning our elopement. Yeah, there is some planning involved ;), but Sam’s elopement guide answered a lot of our questions (even those we didn’t know we had) and her timeline helped things run smoothly.
We loved having an adventure session the day before; it allowed us to get comfortable in front of the camera and spend more time together.
Hanging out with Sam was fun and laid back, like a new old-friend, no pressure. Plus, she knew about the local environment and animals - like the gray whale that hung out during our ceremony! It's also so great to look back at your photos and album - it transports you back to those moments. Eloping was such a great experience and we'd definitely recommend it!
Our day went by in a blur and we were glad to have Sam capture all the memories we may have missed or forgotten. She made things super easy so we were able to focus on what was mor...
e important, which was experiencing the day together and enjoying ourselves. Sam was also quick to empower us to do whatever we wanted - whether that was going to a diner in our wedding attire, or getting matching wedding band tattoos! Our day was everything we could have wanted and we felt like Sam was just a friend that was helping guide us through it.
We loved our intimate wedding at Cape Kiwanda - though it went by way too fast! Sam had some great location advice and since she was guiding us through the day, we were able to let...
go of the reins and not worry about making decisions ourselves. She also helped us with the timeline of the day and it turned out her suggestion that we needed even more time than we thought was spot on. It enabled us to capture everything that was most important to us. Our wedding day and ceremony was simple and sweet - just what we wanted.
Sam is the best! She photographed our engagement and elopement - the photos couldn't be more beautiful. She was so awesome to work with and was excellent at responding to emails,...
text messages, etc. She is super professional as well as fun to hang around! She has a lot of great ideas and we couldn't be happier with her work. Thanks, Sam!!!!
I did wedding photography for about 5 years in college, which was long enough to figure out that it is demanding, difficult, and stressful. I also gained enough experience to becom...
e very picky in how wedding pictures look. How good the images are, how cliche the poses. It’s amazing how much bad photography exists. I spent ten years in a photo lab printing bad pictures and knew I didn’t want that for myself.
So, when I knew I was getting married, my absolute #1 priority was to find a good photographer. I even told my fiancé, now husband, that I’d spend more on the photographer than anything else. Because I have very high standards. Even the prospect of finding the right photographer felt overwhelming at first.
From our first conversation, I was impressed with Sam’s knowledge, professionalism, and talent. And besides her portfolio, she’s also just a really kind, wonderful person. She helped me with deciding on wardrobe questions and finalizing a location. She had local experience that was invaluable. She gave me timelines and questionnaires to help make sure we had all our important content covered.
The day of the wedding, she was instrumental in coordinating everything. She made me feel comfortable and beautiful. I’m pretty awkward in front of a camera and very self conscious. She made me laugh genuinely. She spoke with all my vendors and helped make everything perfect and special. She even got us surprise gifts that made the day incredibly memorable!
And finally, the pictures were everything I ever thought they could be. Everyone who has seen them has commented on how beautiful they are. The composition and exposure are beautiful and she was able to capture pure, decisive moments that went by in an instant.
I really can’t say enough about her. I’d recommend her to anyone who asked. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
We absolutely loved our experience in the Redwoods with Sam. Nothing was rushed and it was perfectly 'us'. Sam caught on quickly to how we interacted and worked together to help cr...
eate an amazing experience on our elopement day (particularly the local bar we went to afterward!). Dylan was worried about feeling awkward on the day, but he ended up having a blast! Sam was super communicative and made the entire process easy. She took so much stress of our shoulders, and we loved her fun personality. Our elopement experience totally exceeded our expectations! We feel like we've gained a friend who we can visit and spend time outdoors together.
Sam was so awesome! She captured exactly what we wanted for our big day and was always professional. We love her!
We'd have had an awesome wedding day in any way we that did it but, with Sam helping out, it was perfect.
Sam did more than I ever imagined a photographer would. We gave her a big...
, empty circle (elopement in Glacier National park) and she helped work out all of the details. From information on locations, to links for permits, to scouting the area days before, she removed any piece that could have seemed overwhelming.
On top of all of that, she’s a fantastic photographer and a phenomenal person. Our wedding day was a group of friends, trudging through the woods (hot tea in hand, thanks to her and her husband), laughing, talking, and getting pictures along the way. The photographs beautifully represent every moment of the day; her style will always amaze me.
The day was still totally about us and we were able to spend it doing what we love. We were lucky to have Sam with us.
When we first came up with the idea to elope to Glacier National Park we talked to about 17 different photographers and weren't really sure what we wanted...until we talked to Sam....
As soon as I spoke to her on the phone we connected and I knew there was no one else I would rather have in my corner to pull off the magical adventurous wedding I had in mind! Sam was super communicative, crazy knowledgeable, and just so much fun to work with! You can obviously see from her portfolio that her photos are incredible keepsakes, but what I wasn't expecting was what a sweet and fun experience she crafted for us with the combination of her effervescent personality and wilderness guile! In hindsight, I can't imagine anyone else standing by our side (or climbing a rocky waterfall with us as it were). Do yourself a solid and cancel your wedding, hire Sam, and run away and marry your sweetie like you really want to!
Sam is an awesome communicator and very easy going. She went above and beyond in helping us the day of the wedding and helped us feel more relaxed during what could have been an aw...
kward photo session of different poses. All of the pictures were even more beautiful than I’d hoped. Could not recommend her enough!!
Contact
950 SE Oak Ave, Roseburg, OR | Oregon, California, Alaska, + more
Sam Starns Elopements