Florida
Elopement photography · Miami
In short
Elopement photography in Miami starts at $2,200: 4 hours on location with a photographer who works in Miami, and 200 edited photos delivered to a private gallery within 3 weeks.
Why choose Elopement photography in Miami?
An elopement in Miami is four hours of photography with more than 200 retouched images, priced from $2,200, built around a ceremony of two people and an officiant. Miami makes the legal side unusually quick for visitors: a couple who live outside Florida can collect a Miami-Dade marriage license and marry the same day. The planning effort goes instead into place, because the region’s parks belong to different authorities, and some do not allow a ceremony at all.
Worth knowing about Miami
The Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court issues a marriage license for $86, and Florida residents must then wait three days unless they have completed a four-hour premarital course; couples from outside Florida are exempt from the wait, and the license stays valid for 60 days. Separately, the City of Coral Gables does not permit wedding ceremonies in its city parks, so a Gables elopement is photographed there only after the vows are said elsewhere.
What does the session in Miami look like?
- Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne
- Vows beside the 1825 lighthouse in the first hour after the 8 a.m. gate, while the east-facing beach is still quiet.
- South Beach at sunrise
- A two-person ceremony on open sand before the lifeguard stands open, with the sun coming up out of the Atlantic behind the couple.
- Matheson Hammock Park, Coral Gables
- Mangroves and the atoll pool for the portraits after the vows, on a county permit that the elopement plan includes.
What does elopement photography in Miami include?
- 200+ retouched photographs
- Four hours of coverage
- Guidance on which permit you need, where and when to apply
- Location and timing planned around sunrise or sunset
- Private online gallery within 3 weeks
- Print release for personal use
Permits at these locations: Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne: $8 a vehicle entry. Open 8 a.m. to sundown every day, so sunrise itself is outside opening hours. Matheson Hammock Park, Coral Gables: Miami-Dade County generally requires a film permit for photo shoots in its parks and on its beaches, through its film office.
FAQ — Elopement photography in Miami
Can out-of-state couples elope in Miami the same day?
Yes. The Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court exempts non-Florida residents from Florida’s three-day waiting period, so a visiting couple can get an $86 Miami-Dade marriage license and hold the elopement ceremony the same day. Florida residents wait three days unless they complete a premarital course of at least four hours.
Where is an elopement ceremony not allowed in the Miami area?
The City of Coral Gables states that wedding ceremonies are not permitted in its city parks, which rules out a Coral Gables park as the setting for Miami elopement vows. Miami-Dade County parks, Miami Beach and Florida state parks each set their own rules, so the elopement photographer confirms the specific site’s position before the date is fixed.