The Best Places to Elope in Arkansas

Looking for the best places to Elope, get married or have a micro wedding in Arkansas? I know when I moved to Arkansas from Austin, Texas I had no idea what to expect. I was completely blown away by this best kept secret that Arkansas had to offer. My outdoorsy and adventurous husband was the one who showed me all around this beautiful state! We are avid rock climbers, campers and hikers so we have found some pretty great places along the way! This blog will showcase the most popular places to Elope, but there are a few secret places I like to keep to myself! When you reach out for an elopement or photos I always have a facetime date with you to go over what you are looking for and where I think might be the best fit! I also threw in some options for people with more families / elderly folks. I always want to reiterate if you are traveling to a National protected park or state park always use LNT (leave no trace) practices.

photos taken by me :)

WHITE ROCK MOUNTAIN

White Rock Mountain happens to be one of my favorite places to photograph at! You get beautiful and never-ending views of the Boston Mountains! I would have to say this is by far the best place to watch a sunset in Arkansas. They offer cabins, overnight camping, hiking trails and of course the beautiful overlook! The drive to White Rock is pretty rocky with switchbacks that could take you up to 1.5-2 hours from Fayetteville. The day use fee is $3 (please do not skimp out on leaving money, the park system does everything they can to make this accessible for you) Once you get to the top all you have to do is park and walk downhill just steps away from the overlook! Your wedding must be approved so please reach out to Amber with an email of phone call FIRST if you are planning a wedding there.

THE BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER -STEEL CREEK CAMPGROUND

Many of you may not know this, but my husband and I actually got married here in 2017! This place holds so many sentimental memories and it’s a place my husband I go to each summer and relive our day while canoeing on the river. Steel Creek is the campground where you can get a permit (ours was $100) and choose between the two locations to get married! I would suggest the open field with the glorious bluff line in the background! We had our ceremony at the campground and had our reception at the Cedar Crest Lodge owned by the Buffalo Outdoor Center. It’s this beautiful three story lodge where we had about 45 guests attend. Please contact the National Park to get started on reserving your day and getting a permit!

ST. CATHERINES AT BELL GABLE

I have photographed many weddings at the beautiful Scottish Chapel! It totally feels like you are in and on the Scottish countryside eloping in one of the most beautiful quaint chapels! You can have your ceremony inside the chapel or outside on the lawn! The grounds are beautiful for wedding portraits after the ceremony! The also include a mini reception with cake and champagne! For larger receptions they have a rustic barn on the other side of the property that you can be taken to by golf cart! I will say the best thing about eloping here are the owners. They are so passionate and work every wedding themselves and have been nothing but so kind to me.

tulip tree shelter + YOUR BACKYARD

OK HEAR ME OUT! One of my favorite weddings I have ever photographed had their reception in their backyard and it was simply the most beautiful set up! The wine was flowing, everyone was laughing and the dinner that had been catered in was to die for! There’s something about hanging string lights, eating an al fresco dinner under the stars and listening to an acoustic band play. I actually love day dreaming details on how to style backyard elopements and actually helped with Jacquelyns here! The Tulip Tree shelter is at Crystal Bridges Museum and is a stunning architectural dream of a place to get married outside of the nationally ranked museum. Please contact Crystal Bridges to reserve the shelter!

AIR BNB // VRBO

Okay so maybe your backyard isn’t completely wedding ready like ours (Pleas send help & a pool!!!) There are a ton of beautiful and unique air bnb’s out there that you can rent for the weekend! Vendors will still come out to houses! When my husband and I got married we housed our entire wedding party at the cabin lodge for the entire weekend and our families stayed across the street in a cabin! Think about being able to party and celebrate the entire weekend, not having to drive home from a wedding and the amount of money you will save vs paying for a venue for 8-10 hours! Micro weddings have become somewhat of our new normal amidst living through the Covid-19 Pandemic and it’s truly been some of my favorite weddings to photograph to date. This is from a sweet micro wedding at a lake house!

Thorncrown Chapel

This chapel is a little farther than St. Catherines which is located in Fayetteville but I can’t help but say this may be one of my favorite chapels in Arkansas. Thorncrown is located in the quaint hippy town of Eureka Springs! If you haven’t been out there definitely make a day trip of it in the fall or spring time to shop, eat at the local restaurants and listen to live music under the stars! The biggest attraction in Eureka Springs is definitely the famous (haunted) Crescent Hotel where you can even have your wedding reception. Every time I have a wedding at Thorncrown my husband and I always make a fun little getaway weekend out of it! Thorncrown itself has the beautiful glass windows and unique darker architecture which differs from the Mildred B Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista!

Mildred b. cooper chapel

I can’t leave out this chapel because I do love photographing weddings and elopements here and it’s easily accessible for elderly family members and more guests. I will say this chapel has the best lighting all day for ceremonies where at Thorncrown you have to be careful when getting married in the middle of the day due to harsh shadows. The bright and airy gothic architecture is so dreamy and photogenic it gives every ceremony INCREDIBLE photos. I have had couples have their ceremonies here and take a party bus back to their venue (examples have been Theatre Squared and even restaurants) Bella Vista is about 45 minutes from Fayetteville and closer to town than Thorncrown!

sam’s throne

Sam’s throne has always been another special place for my husband and I. It’s one of the places I first learned to rock climb and spent many memorable camping trips over the years. Even before becoming a photographer we always took photos of each other on the scenic exposed overlook! The great thing about Sam’s Throne are the beautiful views, the second best sunset in Arkansas and the short hike to the overlook. It truly only takes 5-10 minutes to get there but I will say it would be hard for elderly family members as you are traversing a narrow trail. This wouldn’t be ideal to have chairs or any kind of wedding backdrop here. These photos were taken during the middle of winter but you should see it with the lush green trees in the spring / summer! This is definitely the farthest of them all bringing us to a 2.5 hour trip from Fayetteville! We always love to stay and camp after an elopement and get some climbing in the next day!

I’ve decided that this will be part I of my blog on Best places to Elope ( or get married / have micro weddings) in Arkansas! Stay tuned for Part II!