Breathtaking Santorini Adventure Elopement at Skaros Rock

We’ve gotten SO lucky this year with all of our freakin’ amazing couples, and this Santorini adventure elopement was no different! After nearly two years of planning, countless hours spent dreaming up all the possibilities, and waiting so long to meet Rachel and Chris in person, we finally got to explore Santorini with them a few months ago—and what an ADVENTURE it was. So worth every minute we spent planning and preparing with these two! They’re the type of people that you feel like you’ve known forever, so we were stoked to finally meet up to celebrate them in the most breathtaking destination ever. Can’t wait for you to see all the epic things we did on this day with these two rad humans🤙

Chris + Rachel’s Santorini Adventure Elopement

Chris and Rachel are originally from Arizona, but opted for a destination elopement in Santorini, where we met them! They found us on Google a while back (all the way in fall of 2021, to be precise), and ever since we’ve been thoughtfully designing their dream Greek adventure. We seriously couldn’t have imagined a better couple to fly across the world for😉It’s going to be hard to keep this one brief since we literally had an entire day of photos + exploring, but we’ll do our best so that you’re not spending all day drooling over these photos (though you might anyway, lol).

A sunrise first look + vow exchange at Skaros Rock

We kicked off Chris and Rachel’s Santorini adventure elopement at Skaros Rock (aka Castle Skaro”), one of the most well-known destinations on the island. It’s this insanely cool rock formation & collection of ruins in the picturesque village of Imerovigli, with unreal views of the Aegean Sea. It’s about a 300-step climb from Iverovigli, but every step is worth it!

We hiked down to Skaros Rock for Chris and Rachel’s first look a little after sunrise (we had planned to be there for sunrise itself, but we ended up being a bit late). Even though we didn’t technically catch the moment the sun came up, the lighting was still freakin’ GORGEOUS and sooo soft + dreamy over the sea! The way that bright blue sky looked against the deep brown & orange tones of the rock. . . to die for. And the snow-capped look of the mountains thanks to the white domes of Oia & Fira?! So dang cool!

Chris and Rachel are technically already married, so after their first look, they had a quiet vow exchange up on the rock instead of a formal ceremony. We seriously could not stop taking pictures here; literally every angle was just as spectacular as the last, and the backdrop was insane everywhere we looked! Plus Chris’s blue suit looked fire against the vibrant blue water way down below🔥We were glad to get out of there early because it ended up getting really busy around 8am—something to keep in mind if you’re considering visiting Skaros Rock during your Santorini elopement.

Exploring Oia + elopement portraits at Anastasis Church

The thing we love about adventure elopements, especially ones in phenomenal places like Santorini, is that they allow PLENTY of time to just explore and do whatever you want! Without a strict timeline or schedule of events, you have a ton of freedom to flow with your energy, adapt and make changes as needed, and choose what you want to do as the day goes by. So we spent a good chunk of the morning simply exploring Skaros, the surrounding parts of Imerovigli, and the charming little streets of Oia. Anastasis Church was by far one of our favorite stops in Imerovigli—it’s one of the most picturesque churches on the island, built on the hillside above the village. SUCH a dreamy setting for elopement portraits!

And then there were the stairs. . . holy shit, the STAIRSSS were so insane, but the views were so beautiful! Santorini is notttt an ADA-accessible elopement location at all, as most parts of the island have areas with a lot of stairs. So def be prepared to get in a leg workout as you’re exploring Oia and Fira (in other words, leg day before your elopement is key)! Chris and Rachel were such troopers, doing all this in their elopement attire😅

A traditional Greek lunch at Taverna Romantica

Our next stop was lunch at Taverna Romantica, a little seafood restaurant on top of a hill in Oia. They were kind enough to open an hour early for us, giving Chris and Rachel plenty of privacy (and a great photo op!), and we had the sweetest waiter serving us such awesome Greek food. 10/10 recommend multiple food stops on your elopement day, especially if they include delicious, traditional plates like this cooked with the best local products! After we were filled up with all sorts of yummy bites, we explored another small town nearby and took tonsss of photos in the quaint alleyways + in front of colored doors we found. We ended up at a small local coffee shop for a caffeine break and another snack (because you can never have too many snacks, especially when you’re walking up and down a billion stairs in the heat!).

A dinner fit for royalty at the Fanari Villas

The final stop on this epic Santorini elopement itinerary were the Fanari Villas, a 4-star luxury hotel in Oia that served as Chris and Rachel’s dinner destination. It was the most STUNNING resort overlooking views of the caldera and built right on a cliff, with suites carved in the rock and gorgeous amenities galore. Their fine dining restaurant had a beautiful private balcony, where Chris and Rachel enjoyed a super fancy dinner with unbeatable sunset views—they seriously dined like kings and queens here (as they deserved to)!

An evening haircut + dip in the pool

And the day wasn’t over yet—after nearly 19 hours of driving, hiking, and exploring, we headed back to Chris and Rachel’s dreamy hotel room for a fun, silly “trash the dress” session in their own private pool. Rachel even had an on-site undercut and shaved off the bottom layers of her hair for a killer new haircut🤩Such a fun and memorable way to end the night!

Rachel’s sweet review after the big day

We told you from the beginning that Chris and Rachel felt like long-time friends, so after such an epic day together, Rachel’s super sweet review absolutely blew us away. So grateful to have gotten to tag along on their incredible adventure, and that we got to document every freakin’ moment of it!

“I found Elope with TKM on Google looking for elopement photographers. We were planning on eloping from the USA in Greece (Santorini) and while we interviewed several local photographers I knew from our first chats that TKM was the ONLY photographer for us!

T put up with me harassing her for TWO YEARS about the plans for our 12 hours in Santorini. Literally two years (signed our contract in Sept 2021 and married 10/5/23) and graciously allowed for a monthly payment plan. Plus she flew across the world to shoot our wedding day!

Our wedding and full day of photos was just beyond words. T hyped me up while hiking nearly a mile of stairs (each way) to our wedding location wearing a heavy dress and the world’s longest veil. She scouted locations all over the island for us. She carried my water, made sure we took breaks, and coordinated with our driver for all of our pick up locations. All while making us laugh. I genuinely made a friend for life over the last 2 years. 

The pictures we received are beyond my wildest dreams. They truly capture us as a couple, our journey, and our friendship. Chris and I are truly best friends and it beams through the photos as much as the love we have for each other. 

TKM only does wedding photography so I guess we’re going to have to get married again. Maybe next time Egypt?!”

Egypt sounds great to us—we’re ready when you two are 😉

Santorini Elopement Photographer + Videographer

We’d LOVE to come along on your Santorini adventure and help make it just as epic as Chris and Rachel’s was—learn about our Santorini elopement photography + videography packages here, and then reach out here so we can get this party started🎉