Thirty Days to Elope: A Swiss Alps Winter Story
They reached out on December 7th. We met on Zoom on December 10th. They booked on December 13th for January 5th.
A & F were coming from the United States for a once-in-a-lifetime trip through the Swiss Alps. They already had accommodations lined up across Lucerne, Interlaken, Grindelwald, Zermatt, Crans-Montana, and Montreux. What they didn’t have was their elopement planned. They just knew they wanted it to happen.
Not a traditional wedding. Not managing family expectations. Just the two of them, their love of nature, and the most amount of fun together in the mountains.
When Conditions Changed
Winter in the Alps doesn’t follow schedules. A multi-day whiteout settled over the region in early January. Complete loss of visibility. Helicopters grounded indefinitely. On January 4th, the helicopter company called. The earliest possible flight window would be January 10th. Even that wasn’t guaranteed.
A & F and I had a video call that day. I laid out what we were facing and what the options were. They could keep their original January 5th date and lean into whatever conditions showed up, creating something cozy and intimate at a mountain hotel. Or they could wait for January 10th and hope the weather cleared enough for the helicopter and glacier landing they’d envisioned. They chose to wait. January 10th, no matter what.
Morning in Crans-Montana
I arrived before sunrise. They’d been getting ready together in their hotel room, moving around each other with the kind of easy rhythm that comes from knowing when to give space and when to step closer. When it was time for her dress, I helped with the corset. Custom-made. The kind of detail that requires patience and extra hands to get right.
The ground outside was too slippery for the first look we’d planned. Ice from days of cold and the whiteout that had finally lifted. So we stayed on their balcony instead. Sunrise light beginning to fill the sky.
As we prepared to leave, the hotel staff stopped us. They’d lit a fire on the main restaurant terrace for them and wanted them to see it before we left. We stood there briefly. Warmth meeting cold. The view spreading wide after five days of complete whiteout. They’d arrived in Crans-Montana without being able to see anything. This morning, the mountains finally showed themselves.
They were excited, a little nervous about speaking their vows. We loaded into the car and headed for the Kandersteg car train – one of those very Swiss solutions.
Oeschinensee
The winter picnic, which included the sledge service, couldn’t shift to January 10th: they were already fully booked. We used my children’s wooden sledge instead and packed what we needed. Fresh snow covered the trail to Oeschinensee. Quiet all around. Crampons were essential from the start. he pulled the wooden sledge behind us, the backpack sliding easily over the snow.
Early January is still early winter in the Alps. Some years the lake is fully frozen by now. This year, it wasn’t. Oeschinensee sat half frozen beneath white clouds, the open water still and intensely reflective.
They stood together at the shoreline and spoke their vows, voices steady even as their bodies shook from the cold. No shelter. No sun. Just the two of them and words that mattered enough to say here.
Then, as they finished, my phone rang. The helicopter was confirmed.
Please note: As of 2025, landowners no longer permit elopements, weddings, or photoshoots at Oeschinensee.
The Glacier Landing
We packed quickly and started back toward the trailhead. The trail that had taken time on the way up now demanded speed. Crampons biting into ice. The sledge behind us. Cold air burning in our lungs. We made it.
The helicopter lifted us out of the valley and into a different world. Higher. Colder. The clouds thinning just enough. And then, as we approached the glacier, the sun broke through. Not everywhere. Just where we were. The kind of timing you can’t plan, only receive.
The landing was warmer than the lake below, the sun breaking through as we stepped onto the ice. An aperitivo on the glacier. Wine poured. Small bites unpacked. Light on ice. Space to breathe. They stood together, no longer shaking, just present.
A Secluded Valley
From the glacier, we continued into a secluded valley tucked between peaks. We’d flown over it earlier in the day. Now we stood inside it. Champagne opened. Celebration that had been held through cold and uncertainty finally released. Lanterns came out as the last light faded. Laughter carried easily here. The sun lingered longer in this pocket of the mountains. After the intensity of the morning, the valley softened everything.
Blatten was my favorite village in the Swiss Alps. I brought A & F here in January 2024, and another couple in summer of that year. On May 28, 2025, a glacier collapse sent millions of cubic meters of rock and ice into the valley, destroying the village and taking a life. The landscape in these images no longer exists. I’m grateful I could share this place with couples who loved the mountains, before it was lost.
Building a Day in Record Time
After our initial call and the detailed stories they shared in my questionnaire, I recorded a 25-minute video walking through location options, logistics, and what winter conditions in the Alps actually mean. I sent it the same day.
On December 17th, we met again and made decisions. The second half of December was spent finalizing the timeline and booking what they’d chosen: a helicopter with glacier landing and a winter picnic with a sledge service to haul everything to a half-frozen lake.
By year’s end, they had landed in Switzerland.
Dreaming of Your Own Swiss Alps Winter Elopement?
If the idea of eloping in winter conditions resonates with you, let’s talk about what a Swiss Alps winter elopement could look like.
Whether your celebration involves helicopters and glaciers or frozen lakes and quiet mountain hotels, it will be shaped to fit both you and whatever the mountains offer.
