Moorea Elopement Photos

It’s my pleasure to bring these epic Moorea elopement photos here to your eyeballs today. This elopement was one of the highlights of my career, and you’ll soon see why. Teresa and Matthew are the easiest clients ever – I hesitate to even call them clients because I’m lucky to now call them my friends. They were so relaxed and carefree, which is exactly what eloping on a tropical island should be! We adventured, we relaxed, we went underwater and got all of the coolest photos ever. If you’re thinking of combining your dream honeymoon with an elopement in Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora or anywhere in French Polynesia, check out my Tahiti Elopement Guide!

Beach Elopement Photos on Moorea

Many beaches on Moorea are privately owned. In fact there are only 2 that are public, Tema’e and Ta’ahiamanu. We planned to have their ceremony on Tema’e beach, but on the morning of the elopement we pivoted to a little rocky spit just a stone’s throw from the couple’s airbnb. Absolutely NO ONE would be there.. and for good reason. The tide was coming in and waves were breaking over the rocks. It was a little sketchy, but our heroes Teresa and Matthew lead the way. The views were unforgettable, and then we headed to Tema’e to soak up the sun anyway. They tied traditional Ti leaves around each other’s wrists and swayed to their favorite song on a phone speaker. A stray dog was the only witness as they wrote ‘We Eloped!’ in the sand.

Moorea Elopement Ideas

After a satisfying fresh fish food truck lunch, we changed into more rugged footwear and hiked to Afareaitu waterfall. This massive cascade is not a difficult hike, unless you are wearing a wedding dress. Speaking of which, Teresa’s dress was worn to be ruined. She didn’t waste a single thought on how her dress would look after this epic day. The more sand, seawater, pine needles, and mud- the better! The pool at the base of the falls was perfect to cool off in, and we had the place to ourselves!

Moorea Elopement Photographer

If you have ever read a blog post or even a facebook post by me, you know that I’m a bit of a disaster. It’s not that I love chaos, the chaos loves me! I had more than my fair share of mishaps capturing their Elopement on Moorea. Starting with a mad dash to catch the bus to get to the airport, where I flat-out sprinted a 14 minute walk in less than 7 minutes. I’m no athlete, so please act impressed. Then at the airport, an alarm started going off from within my backpack. It was my underwater camera, that had detected water inside. Except it wasn’t water, it was glue, from where I’d glued extra weights to the inside to counteract the buoyancy. There was glue everywhere, including all over my camera. What a flippin’ great start.

Don’t forget sunscreen..

A trio of performers welcome you to Tahiti with song and dance, even when your flight arrives significantly delayed at 4am. I spent the first day in my cutest bathing suit, snorkeling off the coast of Tahiti. But I paid the price, because I sunburned my a$$ so badly that I could not sit down for DAYS. How bad was it? Well, I probably should have gone to the hospital. I took the ferry over to Moorea a few days before the elopement, and I ran into Teresa & Matt on the boat! I also asked a lady selling burgers if she could help me find Ti leaves, which are used in traditional Tahitian marriage ceremonies. ‘No problem’, she said, ‘You can have the ones growing at my house.’ But her house was actually a CAT SANCTUARY with 19 cats. I almost forgot to get the Ti leaves, and she gave me some black walnut oil for my sad, sad, burned butt.

Hiking at the Belvedere Lookout

The night before an elopement, I always clean out my car. And this time I found an ENTIRE CIVILIZATION of ants living in my dive shoe, which I had just used days prior. It was hundreds of ants, some carrying larvae and eggs. Then 2 days after their elopement, the entire island of Moorea lost power. No cell service, no wifi, no running water in our airbnb. Well, I decided that power or not, I was going to hike to Trois Pinus! At the trailhead, we discovered MORE ANTS in the car. It turns out our rental car came with a bonus ant colony. So we set out all our belongings in the parking lot and let feral chickens pick through. Going for a hike was exactly the same idea as our newlyweds had, and we ran into each other again at the trailhead. This time, with chickens going through all our stuff. You know, like normal people.

Snorkeling on Moorea

On later days, I went both night scuba diving and day diving off Moorea! On the night dive, all of my equipment except for my regulator was stopped working. The next day, everything was working great except for my regulator, which is the part you need to breathe. Luckily I was able to borrow one from the dive shop. However, I then contracted a massive lung infection and spent the rest of the vacation hacking up a lung. Because I could no longer dive, we kayaked out to the Moorea sand bar to snorkel with the sharks and rays. Immediately upon reaching the sandbar, my husband and I capsized the kayak in high winds. Our paddles and snorkel gear went in every direction as we were also swarmed by – you guessed it – sharks and rays! These harmless guys just wanted to taste all of our gear, apparently, and did not have the courtesy to wait until we were finished capsizing. (Rude.) When we finally gathered our wits and our stuff, I was missing one of my fins.. I blame the sharks, who may have taken off with it!

Elopement Photos in Bora Bora

By the time we reached Bora Bora, I was sick as a dog, infested with ants, missing a fin, and my a$$ was peeling. Then Aunt Flo thought it would be a great time to visit. But the show must go on! Teresa and Matt were ready for more photos at their incredible overwater bungalow, so I joined them on the motu on the ring reef around Bora Bora. It was time for FUN – and they jumped in the water and shared some wine as the sun set on their epic Moorea elopement photos. Despite all of the mishaps and hardships and “WTF” moments, this trip to paradise was unforgettably awesome, and I’m ready to do it all again. Well, maybe not all of it.

Thank you Teresa and Matt for giving me the honor of capturing your amazing marriage adventure!