A Brienz Elopement Across Five Days in the Swiss Alps
Emily & Luke traded the wedding venue for cable cars, glacial lakes, and mountain passes. This is what five days in Switzerland looks like when you elope the way you actually want to.
What a Brienz Elopement Actually Looks Like
When Emily and Luke started planning their Switzerland elopement, they knew one thing for certain: they did not want a traditional wedding. They wanted time, movement, and the kind of scenery that makes you feel genuinely small in the best possible way. The Bernese Oberland delivered all of it.
Their five-day elopement journey took them from the valley town of Lauterbrunnen up to a mountain summit hotel at 2,000 metres, then across mountain passes, along the shores of a glacial lake for their ceremony, and finally through the historic Ursern valley to cap it off. No reception hall. No seating chart. Just the two of them, a celebrant, and the Swiss Alps as their backdrop.
This is what full elopement planning looks like: every hotel, train, cable car, picnic, and dinner reservation handled before you even land. You show up. I handle the rest.
“All the photos are absolutely stunning — we look transported to a magical fantasy land. You have truly captured our special day and adventures so, so perfectly. We also feel you’ve captured our love for each other in the sweetest way possible. We can’t thank you enough for giving us the smoothest and stress-free process the entire time. The 5-day itinerary was so much fun, and our beautiful elopement day was exactly how we envisioned. There is nothing we would have changed. It was perfect. We knew you were the right fit for us the moment we came across your website.”
Emily & Luke / Brienz Elopement, Switzerland
Getting Married by a Glacial Lake in the Swiss Alps
Morning: Getting Ready in Lauterbrunnen
The elopement day began at the Hotel Silberhorn in Lauterbrunnen, where the valley walls rise almost vertically and waterfalls drop hundreds of metres around you. Getting-ready shots, first look portraits, then a short drive to Interlaken for a grocery run before the real adventure began.
Midday: Cable Car and Picnic on the Lake Shore
A cable car ride carried them up through forest and rock face to a mountain lake surrounded by snow-dusted peaks and glaciers. At the water’s edge, they spread out a picnic for two — bread, cheese, charcuterie, Swiss wine — with nothing but the sound of the lake and the wind in the pines. A rowing boat on the glacial water followed, drifting between the reflections.
Afternoon: The Ceremony
The ceremony took place lakeside, with their celebrant Marylin leading the exchange of vows as the mountains closed in around them. No audience. No seating. Just two people and a moment that belonged entirely to them.
Evening: Sunset and a Michelin-Star Dinner
The last light of the day found them at a second lake for golden-hour portraits, the sky going amber above the Eiger. The evening ended at a Michelin-starred restaurant before a transfer to their hotel in Interlaken, all logistics managed so they never had to think about directions or timing.
The Full 5-Day Brienz Elopement Itinerary
In keeping with Leave No Trace principles and to protect the most sensitive locations, exact site names remain undisclosed.
Arrival in Zurich + Lauterbrunnen
Train from Zurich to Lauterbrunnen, arrival in the valley, an afternoon exploring the town on foot with a recommended map, local rosti for lunch, then a cable car ascent to a mountain summit hotel at 2,000m. Dinner at the mountaintop restaurant. A short evening hike to the ridge with views of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau. Overnight at the Mannlichen hotel.
Sunrise on the Eiger, Mountain Hiking, Lauterbrunnen
Wake up alone on the mountain at sunrise. The first cable car doesn’t arrive until 9am — that morning silence is yours. Breakfast at the summit, then descent to Wengen and an iconic open rack railway up to another viewpoint for lunch at the Chaletbar. Afternoon: train back to Lauterbrunnen, then ascent to another iconic Swiss summit. Evening: descent to Murren, then back to Lauterbrunnen. Dinner: Swiss fondue at the Hotel Silberhorn.
Elopement Day (guided by Amber)
Getting ready and atmospheric portraits from 9am. First look at 10am. Grocery run for the lakeside picnic, cable car to the mountain lake, picnic on the shore, rowing on the glacial water, lakeside ceremony at 4pm. Sunset portraits at a second lake from 6:30pm. Michelin-star dinner from 8:30pm. Overnight at the hotel Interlaken.
Alpine Road Trip and Mountain Passes (guided by Amber)
A full day on some of Switzerland’s most dramatic roads. The steepest passenger funicular railway in Europe carries them up at 11am for lake and mountain views. Lunch with a view at a mountain pass. Afternoon: a green glacial lake framed by rock faces. A drive through an iconic high alpine pass with photo stops. Overnight at the Radisson Blu in Andermatt, with mountain pool and spa.
Lucerne and Return
Morning taxi to the train station. Train to Lucerne, arriving in time for a full day in the city: the Chapel Bridge, the old town, the lake. Evening train to Zurich for the flight home. End of the adventure.
Why Elope in the Brienz and Bernese Oberland Region?
Accessibility Without Compromise
The Bernese Oberland is one of the most dramatic alpine landscapes in Europe and one of the most accessible. Trains run directly from Zurich and Geneva, cable cars link valley floors to 2,000m summits in under 20 minutes, and the infrastructure for mountain travel is world-class. You don’t need to be an experienced hiker to have an extraordinary elopement here.
A Landscape Built for Ceremonies
Glacial lakes ringed by 3,000m peaks. Valley towns straight out of a 19th-century watercolour. Waterfalls that fall 300m in a single drop. The Brienz and Lauterbrunnen area offers ceremony settings that no venue could replicate — and since they exist outside any permit system (with the right guidance), your ceremony can happen exactly where it feels right.
Year-Round Elopement Potential
Spring brings waterfalls at their most powerful and wildflower meadows above the snowline. Summer offers long golden-hour light until 9pm. Autumn turns the valley forests amber and rust. Winter covers the peaks in deep snow and empties the trails of tourists. Every season offers a completely different version of the same landscape.
The Leave No Trace Commitment
Every elopement I plan comes with a Leave No Trace agreement built into the contract. I don’t share exact ceremony coordinates publicly. I don’t bring couples to locations that are already overrun. Switzerland’s wild spaces stay wild when we’re careful with them.
Read the Full Switzerland Elopement GuideThe Hike That Wasn’t in the Plan
We had finished the ceremony and were heading back along the lake to the cable car when we took one look at the trail continuing around the water’s edge and collectively decided to keep walking. No plan, no map, no real sense of how long it would take. The lake was too good to leave.
We missed our train back. By a fair margin. Emily and Luke thought it was the best possible outcome. I scrambled quietly to rebook the next leg. This is also elopement photography: being genuinely present for the day, even when the day decides to change its own schedule.
This Elopement Won 3 International Photography Awards
The images from Emily and Luke’s Switzerland elopement were recognised by three international wedding photography organisations.
Photos from Emily & Luke’s Brienz Elopement in Switzerland
103 images, ordered from the first morning to the last pass. Click any photo to open in full screen.
Planning Your Own Brienz Elopement?
Every Switzerland elopement I plan includes the full itinerary, all logistics, photography, and on-the-day guiding. You show up. I handle the rest.
