Women Owned
Women Owned
Avonture Elopements
Photos where your essence is captured with a calming and documentary approach, leaving your true legacy alive & creating lasting memories.
How does it feel to take life by the reigns and do what feels right for the two of you? As a person who also chose to elope I know how good that feels, and I can tell you that eloping has a guaranteed no regret policy 😉
I’m Shanmari she/her – the Elopement Photographer & Planner at Avonture – my passion for serving eloping couples, helping them navigate the world of elopements seamlessly & experience a wedding day that makes sense to them – drives from within. I met my husband on my travels and now moved to the United States from South Africa, we also eloped and I wouldn’t change it for the world! I am currently based in Ohio and do tons of Ohio elopements, yet I visit South Africa often and specialize in planning and photographing elopements in the beautiful places South Africa has to offer as well! In fact, the word “Avonture” comes from my home language, Afrikaans and simply means Adventures! In South Africa whenever someone get married we will congratulate them and say “I wish you a lifetime full of (avonture) adventures” and often it simply means a life filled with amazing memories no matter how truly adventurous or not!
So, If you don’t realize it yet, I’m rooting for YOU!
No matter how you want to spend your day or what unique elements you want to bring along – I’m here to help you all the way from the foundation of planning your elopement day from scratch to walking away feeling fulfilled & with a seriously amazing gallery that tells the true story of your day, here’s a small view into how an elopement at Avonture comes together & how I help:
LEGALITIES OF GETTING MARRIED OUTDOORS – from understanding marriage licenses to researching & applying for those tricky event permits at parks, I’ll walk you through it all.
FINDING THE PERFECT ELOPEMENT LOCATION THAT SPEAKS TO YOU – I can help find & narrow down the perfect elopement location that is legal, safe & ideal for your day.
FINDING VENDORS – even in the most remote locations, I love suggesting great vendors from florists to musicians and even adventure guides like helicopter tours, mountain guides & more.
HANDCRAFTED TIMELINE – Putting together a timeline that takes in consideration hiking time, driving time and best time of day for certain activities is a huge (& fun) part of the planning that I assist with.
MY EXPERTISE AT YOUR DISPOSAL – alongside extensive, exclusive planning guides, checklists, packing lists & SO much more that will be all yours. PLUS we’ll be friends at the end of this!
AMAZING PHOTOS – In the end you will walk away with a remarkable photo gallery that not only tells your story, but is also authentically you.
But as much as I am present and love to help with the planning of your elopement – on your day of, I also step back because you deserve an intentionally intimate wedding day – I don’t make your wedding day into a huge photoshoot, I give you and your partner a safe space to relax and enjoy the moments you share on such a meaningful day while I capture those seemingly fleeting moments to last forever.
How does eloping on YOUR TERMS sound?
Based in
Ohio, USA
Works with couples
Anywhere in the world
Average Spend
$6800
Love is love is LOVE!!! It might be an old saying but I feel that it’s so much more true and meaningful now, in the uncertainties of love always being judged one way or another – who you choose to love should be your choice and yours alone. That’s what I stand by, your love is your love to share, to cherish and to have the freedom (without judgement) to use as you wish. At Avonture and in my presence your love will always be respected and a safe space will always be available. To me it’s an honor to be in the presence of YOUR love.
Based in
Ohio, USA
Works with couples
Anywhere in the world
Average Spend
$6800
Love is love is LOVE!!! It might be an old saying but I feel that it’s so much more true and meaningful now, in the uncertainties of love always being judged one way or another – who you choose to love should be your choice and yours alone. That’s what I stand by, your love is your love to share, to cherish and to have the freedom (without judgement) to use as you wish. At Avonture and in my presence your love will always be respected and a safe space will always be available. To me it’s an honor to be in the presence of YOUR love.
How do you personalize a wedding experience for each couple?
I highly believe in the fact that couples are eloping for many reasons and often one of them are the ability to be able to do what they TRULY want for their wedding day, no outside pressures or must do’s. So to specialize the elopement and the planning experience to each couple I start to get to know them right away, through the inquiry and on our initial phone or video call (couples choice) then once they are happy and booked me I send over a really fun info & goodie packed email which includes a really awesome “getting to know you-elopement details planning” questionnaire, there’s questions like “how’d you meet, do you have pets, what’s your reason to elope” etc but there’s also questions like “do you want to hike on your elopement day, do you want to exchange vows, what activities would you like to include” etc. There’s so much more where this comes from. Point being, I take a lot of time getting to know my couples to truly make sure we put together a day that they can walk away feeling relaxed, fulfilled and excitedly married vs exhausted and stressed!
How do you capture the unique personalities of the people you work with?
This also stems from getting to know them, because while I do the effort to get to know them they also get to know me, with tons of communication between us and simply being great friends by the time their elopement day comes along I have the chance to let them be them and for me to simply be me. This way I get to photograph their true selves, whether that’s silly, serious or go with the flow – I love going with each couples vibe as I learn who they are. Along with that I do have a very documentary style eye and love to let couples sometimes just BE, be in the moment however they want to be. I always surprise my couples when I capture their true authentic memories in a very artistic way.
What’s the most unexpected source of inspiration you’ve had?
Wow I have to admit, I find inspiration in the weirdest ways all the time haha! Most of the time it stems from my couples stories and what I am surrounded by especially on the day of their elopement. I’ll find a random fern or tiny mushroom and would want to somehow find a way to incorporate it into their photo album at the end. But also who doesn’t love a good love scene whether that’s from a movie or a book, Pride and Prejudice, The Notebook, Bridgerton! I am definitely a sucker for love stories and often reflect back on my own love story which is quite nice and will many times bring it up to my couples and I pull inspiration from it on the daily!
