Kevin and Sarah’s Poʻolenalena Beach elopement was filled with family, laughter, and the kind of connection that made the entire evening incredibly fun to photograph. Their elopement was coordinated through Simply Eloped and brought a large group of their family together on Maui to celebrate with them.

Kevin and Sarah were genuine, fun, and completely comfortable around each other. That carried through from their ceremony into their portraits afterward and made the entire evening feel relaxed.

A Poʻolenalena Beach Elopement With Family

Rather than keeping their elopement to just the two of them, Kevin and Sarah chose to share the experience with a large group of family.

Their ceremony took place along the beach with a half-circle floral arrangement framing them as they exchanged vows. With the ocean behind them and their family gathered nearby, the setting still felt intimate even with more people there to celebrate.

The weather was clear and sunny, giving us beautiful light throughout the evening and allowing the landscape around Poʻolenalena to become a big part of their photographs.

The Landscape at Poʻolenalena Beach

One of my favorite things about photographing at Poʻolenalena is the variety of scenery you can find without having to travel between locations.

The beach itself gives you the open ocean and shoreline, while the surrounding rocks and trees create completely different environments for portraits.

For Kevin and Sarah’s elopement, that variety allowed us to move away from the ceremony and explore different parts of the area while still keeping everything relaxed.

Rather than every photograph feeling like a traditional beach portrait, we could use the landscape around them to create a mixture of environmental images and closer moments between the two of them.

Relaxed Maui Elopement Portraits

After the ceremony and family photographs, Kevin and Sarah had time to simply enjoy being together while we moved into their portraits.

This was probably my favorite part of their elopement.

They were incredibly comfortable in front of the camera and spent much of the portrait session laughing with each other. There wasn’t a feeling that we needed to force moments or constantly create something for the camera.

Instead, I could give them direction when they needed it and then leave enough room for their personalities and connection to come through naturally.

That balance created some of my favorite photographs from the evening.

An Elopement That Felt Like Them

What I remember most about Kevin and Sarah’s Poʻolenalena Beach elopement is the connection between them and how much fun we had creating their portraits.

Their day still had all of the intimacy of an elopement, but they were able to experience it surrounded by a large group of people they loved.

Between their family, the floral ceremony setup, the Maui landscape, and the energy Kevin and Sarah brought to their portraits, the evening felt genuine from beginning to end.

Planning your own Maui elopement? Explore more of my Maui wedding and elopement photography.