A Lago di Braies Elopement
Two Days. No Guests.
Samantha and Anthony chose the emerald lake, fog-wrapped Alpine peaks, and two full days deep in the Italian Dolomites to say their vows. No crowd. No venue. Just the mountains, a wooden rowboat, and everything they needed.
A Dolomites Elopement Built Around the Lake, the Fog, and Two Full Days
Lago di Braies sits in the heart of the Dolomites like something out of a dream: turquoise water, sheer pink cliffs, wooden rowboats bobbing at a dock. Most visitors see it for an hour on a tourist itinerary. Samantha and Anthony exchanged their vows on the water, voices low, mountains listening.
This was a two-day Dolomites elopement built around full immersion: a mountain church at sunrise, a private picnic on the boat after the ceremony, chairlifts up into fog so thick it felt like the whole world disappeared, a sunset over the pass, and a village lunch with local wine the next afternoon. No rushing. No schedule driven by someone else’s ballroom.
This is what a Lago di Braies elopement with full photography and planning actually looks like, from getting-ready moments to the last golden light. Scroll on to see the full story and every photograph.
Vows on the Water: The Lago di Braies Ceremony
Samantha and Anthony exchanged their vows from a rowboat on Lago di Braies, the Dolomites’ sheer northern faces rising all around them. Rain had moved in overnight. The wildflowers along the shore were soaked and vivid. The lake was glassy and still in the way it only gets when clouds sit low.
They had planned a ceremony on the dock. Instead, we launched a boat and they said their vows out on the water. The improvisation made it more theirs. After the ceremony there was champagne, a picnic spread on the wooden planks, and no agenda for the next hour except to sit with it.
Lago di Braies is one of the most recognizable spots in the Italian Alps, and one of the most challenging to photograph at for an elopement. Crowds arrive by 8am in peak season. The light shifts fast. The key to doing it right is knowing exactly when to move and where to stand. That preparation is part of what I bring to every Dolomites elopement I plan.
Getting Ready to Summit Fog: How Day One Unfolded in the Dolomites
Day one started in their hotel room at 10am. Hair and makeup done, dress buttoned, groom in his suit by the window with the mountains behind him. The kind of quiet morning that makes you realise this is real and deliberate and chosen.
After the first look, we drove to a small mountain church, one of those century-old alpine chapels that sits at a bend in the road where the valley drops away below. Then on to Lago di Braies for the ceremony and picnic. By mid-afternoon we were on a chairlift, rising into a fog that closed around us completely. The mountain disappeared. It was just the two of them and a white-grey silence.
Day one ended at blue hour with a golden-hour photoshoot before dinner. We covered getting-ready shots, a first look, a church, the ceremony lake, an alpine summit, and a sunset in a single day because two-day Dolomites elopement coverage makes that possible.
A note from behind the lens
The mountain gave us nothing but fog that afternoon. Thick, soft, and endless. We laughed and said it was just the two of them in the whole wide world, wrapped in a cloud. Sometimes the Dolomites decide what kind of photographs you’re getting. That day, they decided on something rare.
Village Lunch, a Mountain Church, and the Last Light: Day Two of This Dolomites Elopement
Day two has a different rhythm. The ceremony is behind you. Samantha and Anthony checked out of their hotel and walked through the morning fields near the lodge, wedding clothes still on, no particular destination. That looseness shows in the photographs.
We drove into the main valley for a late-morning walk through an alpine village, lunch with South Tyrolean food and local wine, and a wander to one of the Dolomites’ iconic viewpoints. Another mountain church in the afternoon. Then a sunset shoot at the high pass as the sky did exactly what it does up there at that hour.
By the end they had photographs from five distinct locations across two days: lake, summit, valley, village, and mountain pass. That is not the standard elopement. It is what two full days of planning and coverage allows when you hand the logistics to someone who has done this across 24 countries since 2013.
From the start, Amber made the experience feel effortless. She guided us to places we had never seen, tucked-away spots that felt untouched and sacred. Even with the fog rolling in, there was this peaceful, almost cinematic calm that made the whole day feel suspended in time. She captured not just the scenery, but the emotion, the stillness, the little in-between moments we didn’t even notice happening. Every image takes us back, not just to a place, but to a feeling.
A 2-Day Lago di Braies Elopement Itinerary
Location names are kept general per Leave No Trace policy. Full location details are shared with confirmed couples.
Day 1: Wednesday
- 8:00 AMHair and makeup
- 10:00 AMGetting-ready shots and dress help in the room
- 10:45 AMFirst look and hotel check-out
- 11:00 AMDrive to alpine church
- 11:20 AMPortraits around the church
- 12:00 PMCeremony at Lago di Braies + picnic on the boat
- 1:45 PMDrive to mountain lift station
- 3:40 PMChairlifts and cable car to the summit
- 4:00 PMSummit walk and photography in the fog
- 5:30 PMLast cable car down, drive to valley
- 7:00 PMDinner in the valley
- 8:30 PMBlue hour photoshoot
Day 2: Thursday
- 10:00 AMCheck-out and morning field portraits
- 11:00 AMDrive into the main valley
- 12:15 PMWalk to the village restaurant
- 12:30 PMLunch with local South Tyrolean food
- 2:00 PMVillage walk to the iconic Dolomites viewpoint
- 3:45 PMDrive to historic mountain church
- 3:45 PMExterior portraits by the chapel
- 6:30 PMDinner in the valley
- 8:15 PMDrive to the mountain pass
- 8:15 PMSunset photoshoot at the pass
- 9:15 PMEnd of the adventure
Your Lago di Braies Elopement Starts Here
This itinerary was built around Samantha and Anthony. Yours will look completely different, and I will build it the same way: around your pace, your vision, and the version of the Dolomites that makes sense for the two of you.
97 Photos from This Lago di Braies Elopement in the Dolomites
In chronological order, from getting-ready morning through the final sunset at the mountain pass. Click any photo to open full screen.
Planning a Lago di Braies Elopement in the Dolomites?
I have been planning and photographing elopements across 24 countries since 2013. If the Dolomites are calling, I know them well. I will handle every logistic, every location scouting, every permit question, so that when your day arrives, all you have to do is show up.
You show up. I handle the rest.
