We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marissa Forbis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marissa below.

Marissa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

There’s something to be said for thinking that no matter what, your career started at the “right time” for you & your life, and that is something that I try to lean into to the greatest extent possible. That said, I do wish that I had truly leaned into the portion of my business that brings me the most joy MUCH sooner than I did.

I started my photography career at a good time, when I still had a full-time job to fall back on, as well as a husband with a stable position in his career. I was eventually able to leave my full-time job in the conservation education field to put my all into my photography business when we were expecting our first child. THIS is when I wish timing might have been a bit different.

I thought that I had to put my all into traditional wedding photography if I wanted to be able to contribute substantially to our family, and I found myself wishing for more variety in my life. I spent most weekends out at wedding venues, surrounded by people that were tense for most of the day, and didn’t have time to lean into their actual experience. I wanted my couples to have time to actually enjoy each other on their wedding days. I longed for the feeling that I got while spending my weekends out in the woods with my family, rather than in a crowd of hundreds, trying to manage and shield my couples from the expectations of hordes of guests. I started to feel disillusioned by the wedding industry as a whole.

Then I captured my first adventure elopement, and suddenly everything felt clear.

Wedding days didn’t have to be chaotic. My two worlds could be combined. I could use my knowledge of nature as a whole to help couples create an elopement that felt fully and authentically like THEM.

So do I wish I had started my career in photography sooner as a whole? No, that came right on time. But do I wish I had followed my gut and chosen to focus on adventure elopements sooner? ABSOLUTELY.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am an adventure elopement photographer, focused on helping couples plan their elopements and intimate weddings in the mountains of Washington and Colorado, along with our nation’s public lands across the country!

As one might expect, all of my elopement photography packages include…well, photography! My couples can choose their length of coverage from options ranging from half-day to multi-day, in order to create their ideal elopement. They receive a preview of their images (usually 30-50 photos) within 3 days of their elopement, and then receive their full gallery within 8 weeks. Along with the images in their online gallery that they have the ability to download & print, my couples ALSO receive a highlight video as a part of every elopement package!

In order to help my couples end up with the best experience (and gallery!) possible, I also include planning assistance in all of my elopement and intimate wedding packages for celebrations with under 50 people. This can encompass everything from location scouting & complete timeline creation, to activity and additional vendor recommendations. No matter what, I know that my couples aren’t cookie cutter, and deserve to have a celebration that is every bit as unique as they are.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

As I make sure to tell all of my couples now: I did my wedding day wrong, and I want to help them choose DIFFERENTLY. I gave into pressure to have the “big wedding” and include all of our family and friends, and I regret that even now. My husband and I are both introverts, and would have been much better off having a quiet morning together, adventuring off into the mountains to say our vows privately, and returning to a quiet evening and dinner with only our very best friends at an Airbnb for the night. Knowing that we can’t be the only ones who have had this regret is what pushes me to help my couples plan out wedding days that are actually true to THEM and their love story.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of my job is absolutely the fact that I get to document one of the most wonderful days in my couples lives, and get to help them every step of the way! Getting to spend a large portion of my time planning locations, hiking to scout special spots, and then documenting love stories amongst the most beautiful venues of all (aka the great outdoors)? This is truly a dream job, that fits me and my desired lifestyle perfectly, and I make sure to never take that for granted.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.forbisfotography.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forbisfotography/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ForbisFotography
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@forbis_fotography

Image Credits

Forbis Fotography