When Jake and Sara first contacted me, they didn’t want a wedding. They didn’t want a planner, a venue, a seating chart, or a list of vendors to coordinate. What they wanted was simple, and completely specific: they were passionate hikers, had met on a trail in Colorado, and wanted to celebrate their elopement the same way they lived their life — outdoors, moving, with the feeling of being completely free.
They had spoken to a traditional wedding planner. The planner had offered them a beautiful terrace and a table for two. It was lovely. It was not them.
When they found me, something was different. Because I am not just a photographer. I am an elopement photographer-designer — and that distinction changed everything about how their day came together.
What Is an Elopement Photographer-Designer?
The elopement photographer-designer is a relatively new professional figure, and one that I believe represents the future of intimate weddings in Italy.
The simplest way to explain it: an elopement photographer-designer is a photographer who uses the full depth of their visual and creative knowledge to design a complete, tailored experience for each couple — not just to document it.
A traditional photographer arrives on your wedding day and photographs what is in front of them. An elopement photographer-designer has been involved long before that moment: listening to who you are as a couple, understanding your aesthetic, your energy, your story, and then designing a day that reflects all of that — with the additional advantage of knowing, from the very beginning, exactly how every element will look through a lens. This is the key difference. And it changes everything.
Why Choose a Photographer-Designer Instead of a Planner?
This is the question I get asked most often, and it deserves an honest answer. A wedding planner is extraordinary at logistics — contracts, timelines, vendor coordination. If you’re planning a large wedding with 150 guests, a planner is essential. But for an elopement, the priorities are completely different.
A photographer knows light. Before I suggest any location, at any time of year, I already know exactly what the light will do there — that the Dolomites in late September have a quality of morning light unlike anything else in Italy, that a Lake Como elopement should be timed for late afternoon, when the mountains reflect in the water and the golden hour lasts almost an hour. A planner can find you a beautiful location. A photographer-designer can find you the right location at the right moment.
A photographer has a different network. My vendor contacts — florists, celebrants, makeup artists, drivers — have been chosen not just for professionalism but for aesthetic. These relationships were built through years of working together on elopements, outside the referral-fee system that often drives traditional planner recommendations.
A photographer thinks visually about every decision. When I suggest a picnic in a wildflower meadow, or a boat on Lake Como at dusk, I’m not just suggesting an experience — I’m designing a visual story. Every element is considered for how it will feel and how it will look.
It Starts With You
The foundation of this approach is something traditional wedding planning rarely prioritizes: a deep conversation about who you actually are. Before I suggest a single location or vendor, I want to know everything. What do you do on weekends? Are you the kind of couple who wakes at 5am for a sunrise, or prefers long lazy mornings? This isn’t small talk. This is the design brief.
“None of these days were designed from a template. All of them were designed around a specific couple.”
Jake and Sara at Lake Como: A Real Example
After our first conversation, I knew immediately that Lake Como was right — they were a naturally elegant couple, drawn to water and mountains together, and the lake has a quality of stillness that suited them perfectly.
We started in the late morning, arriving by private boat to a small village on the western shore that most visitors never reach by car. The ceremony happened on a stone terrace above the water, with the mountains reflected in the lake below and the kind of silence that only exists when you are somewhere genuinely off the tourist path.
After the ceremony, a private lunch at a small restaurant I’ve worked with for years — no sign outside, a menu that changes with whatever arrived from the market that morning. No formal service, no wedding package. Just the food and wine of that specific place, at that specific time of year.
By late afternoon we were back on the water, moving slowly along the shore as the light shifted from white to gold to deep amber. The mountains behind Bellagio turned pink. Sara took off her shoes and sat on the edge of the boat. Jake put his arm around her. I photographed none of it from a distance.
Jake told me afterward that it was the best day of his life. Sara said it felt like the day had been written specifically for them. That is what an elopement photographer-designer does.
Is This Approach Right for You?
This model isn’t for everyone, and I say that honestly. If you’re looking for a large, traditional wedding with many guests and an established venue, a traditional planner is the right choice. But if you’re a couple who values experience over event, authenticity over formality, and a day that reflects who you actually are rather than what a wedding is supposed to look like — this approach was designed for you.
Italy is the perfect country for it. Lakes, mountains, ancient cities, coastline — whatever your story, there is a place in Italy exactly right for it. My job is to find that place, design that day, and make sure the photographs tell the story of who you are, not just what a beautiful location looks like.
Ready to Start Designing Your Day?
If you want to tell me your story — what you love, where you dream of going, what kind of day would feel completely and specifically yours — I’d love to hear it. That conversation is where everything begins.
Roberta Perrone is a Rome-based elopement photographer-designer specializing in tailored intimate experiences across Italy — from the Dolomites to the Amalfi Coast, from Lake Como to the ancient streets of Rome. She works with a small number of couples each year to design elopements built entirely around who they are.
You might also enjoy: Why Your Elopement Photographer Is Your Best Planner · Where to Elope in Rome · Italy Elopement Photographer — Portfolio
Tell me your story.
Where you dream of going, and what kind of day would feel completely yours.