Woman Owned, LGBTQ+ Owned
Woman Owned, LGBTQ+ Owned
Sam Starns Adventure Elopements
The Badass ‘You’ on your Elopement Day Should be the ‘You’ Every Other Day of your Life
SO MANY PEOPLE LIVE THEIR LIVES ACCORDING TO OTHER PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS.
And that’s B.S. Especially on your wedding day.
I’m Sam, a former Oregon park ranger, and I regret my wedding.
I spent part of my wedding day in tears, and not the happy kind.
I’m a whole-asser, do-it-for-the-plot type of adventurer who never fit into a nice, neat box of societal norms. Someone who craves travel, novel experiences, connecting with the world around me, and experiencing all that life has to offer.
But I had a nice, traditional wedding where I aimed to please and impress everyone, inviting folks because they’d feel left out, or because my parents strongly requested they attend, because that’s just what you do right?
Well screw that.
I’m now a former park ranger-turned-professional enabler with a TEDx Talk, book on Eloping Your Life™️, and a decade of helping couples elope under my belt. I specialize in helping fun, & free-spirited couples create bold “Elope Your Life” wedding days. Days that are intentional, full of meaningful details, and do-it-for-the-plot adventure in dramatic places like:
- Alaska (A couple eloped in an ice cave via helicopter before attending the Iditarod start this past March!)
- Oregon (You can elope on a desert playa, have an intimate wedding on the Oregon Coast before whale watching, or witness sunrise above a volcano caldera)
- California Redwoods (E&J eloped on a redwood canopy walk before walking a lantern-filled path through old-growth redwoods)
- Scotland (want to elope on the Isle of Skye and then witness the Jacobite Steam Train like Adrianna & Cam did?)
- Norway (two brides just boarded a sailboat to elope in the Lofoten Islands the first couple days of Pride Month)
Then my couples use that empowerment to transform the rest of their lives.
ELOPE
/əˈlōp/ – verb To have an intimate wedding that represents the interests and passions of you and your partner, however nontraditional they may be in terms of weddings.
ELOPE YOUR LIFE ®️
/əˈlōp yôr līf/ – verb To take the confidence and empowerment of eloping and use it to transform other areas of your life in order to live unapologetically and authentically. The ‘Elope Your Life’ philosophy is built around a simple idea: choosing to elope, to design your day around what actually matters to you instead of what’s expected, takes a specific kind of confidence. My couples leave with that confidence. They use it. I’ve watched it change careers, relationships, and how people move through the world.
Sam Starns is a TEDx speaker, author, elopement expert, and movement leader in adventure elopement photography. After regretting her own traditional wedding, she began her mission to empower individuals to become unapologetically themselves by creating a wedding day and life that they can be uniquely proud of.
With nearly a decade of wedding experience, Starns has traveled to numerous states (The PNW, Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, and beyond) and countries for elopements to jumpstart the transformation for real change to encourage anyone to become their authentic self.
Sam Starns’ debut book, Elope Your Life, is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, and more.
With a passion for protecting our public lands and a love for the outdoors, Starns donates a percentage of services, including photography packages and book sales, to a nonprofit dedicated to helping preserve public lands.
Based in
Oregon, USA
Works with couples
Worldwide
Elopement packages start at
$6500
I work with couples of all different backgrounds, sizes, and orientations. It’s important to me that each person feels valued for the uniqueness they bring to the table. My view of inclusivity includes protecting those who may not fit society’s traditional mold and the only thing I don’t tolerate in my couples is intolerance. That means if someone doesn’t appear to respect the fact I have diverse couples (i.e. gets offended I have a pronoun field in my contact form), I politely but clearly decline their inquiry and explain why. It also means I refer my couples to other inclusive vendors and outfitters – I want my badass couples to feel safe in every aspect of their planning.
Based in
Oregon, USA
Works with couples
Worldwide
Elopement packages start at
$6500
I work with couples of all different backgrounds, sizes, and orientations. It’s important to me that each person feels valued for the uniqueness they bring to the table. My view of inclusivity includes protecting those who may not fit society’s traditional mold and the only thing I don’t tolerate in my couples is intolerance. That means if someone doesn’t appear to respect the fact I have diverse couples (i.e. gets offended I have a pronoun field in my contact form), I politely but clearly decline their inquiry and explain why. It also means I refer my couples to other inclusive vendors and outfitters – I want my badass couples to feel safe in every aspect of their planning.
What’s a piece of advice you find yourself giving to all your couples?
I always tell my couples to think of your elopement as an adventure first and a wedding second. The wedding industry puts us into such small boxes from such a young age that we often don’t realize we’re in them when planning. When you think of your day as an adventure, you’re more likely to brainstorm ideas to include on your day that represent you and what you love. Then we can incorporate the wedding details like a dress and ceremony. I’ve had couples not mention their bucket list includes flying in a helicopter simply because they thought of their day as a wedding first, and thought, “Well, I’ll be in a dress so that’s not possible”. Spoiler alert: IT IS POSSIBLE!
How can lovers make their wedding day special?
Intention, intention, intention. Don’t just slap things together because it’s convenient! Don’t wear a suit you already wore as a groomsperson just because you have it unless it has special meaning. Don’t neglect putting intention into the backdrop you’re getting married in or the details of the day. It’s amazing what a thought-out outfit will do for your appearance (whether it’s a specific color or a fun personality tie-in with a cool pattern) or incorporating an activity that’s special to you. Be intentional with each choice in your planning! Your day will turn out looking and feeling amazing.
Do you have a favorite quote or mantra to live by?
If there’s one thing they’ll put on my gravestone, it’d be this quote: “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing” (Mythbusters). Take this as: I don’t do anything half-ass, and I encourage my couples to do the same!
