An Elopement Doesn't Have to Be in a Field

You don't need Iceland. You need the city you love and the person you're marrying.

There is a version of elopement that lives in the imagination: a mountain, a sunrise, a dramatic cliffside somewhere that requires a passport. It is a beautiful version. But it is not the only one, and for a lot of couples it is not actually theirs.

Some of the best elopements I have photographed have happened within a few kilometres of where a couple lives. A quiet corner of a park they walked through on their first date. A rooftop with the skyline behind them. A neighbourhood restaurant that was empty at noon on a Tuesday. The Scarborough Bluffs at golden hour. The Toronto Islands in September when the crowds are gone.

The location is not the point. The point is that it feels like you. And sometimes the place that feels most like you is the city you chose to build your life in.