How to Look Good Hiking for Adventure Weddings

How to look good for your adventure wedding photos after hiking

How do people look so good after hiking?! From epic hiking elopements to Instagram influencers standing flawlessly on a mountaintop, it seems like just about anyone who hikes in these photos hasn’t broken a sweat!

How to look good after hiking is a question we’re often asked by couples planning an elopement or adventure wedding. As a girl who gets red-faced and curly cowlicks while hiking, I can relate!

Luckily, we’ve written our top tips on how you can keep your wedding style locked in place and still have an adventure of a lifetime!

Read on for our top 10 tips on how to look good hiking for your adventure wedding.

1. Bring touch-up supplies

Bringing a makeup bag can be a lifesaver during hiking elopements! Some essentials to include are a compact mirror, a small comb/brush, mattifying powder, travel-size hairspray, lipstick, blush, and tissues (both for dabbing sweat off your back and tears from your eyes)

2. Carry extra bobby pins and hairspray.

As photographers we always have a good supply of bobby pins and some hairspray in our bags, but sneaking a few more bobby pins into a suit pocket means as soon as you feel your hairstyle loosen you can re-secure it immediately.

3. Consider the most likely weather when choosing a hairstyle

Choose a hairstyle that’s going to hold in place regardless of conditions. The Canadian Rockies are known for windy mountains, and the west coast is known for rain, so plan a style best suited for the most likely weather outcome of the day.

Some of our favourite hiking-proof hairstyles are braids, ponytails, and loose piecey buns that look naturally ‘undone’, so flyaways are no biggie.

4. Change into your wedding clothes AFTER you get to the top

Hiking in the Canadian Rockies usually involves some serious elevation gain, and it’s often impractical and unsafe to do the whole hike in a suit or dress. That’s why we have most couples change once we’ve arrived at the top. Don’t worry though, you can still get cute hiking wedding photos with your backpacks afterwards!

5. Accessories are your best friend

If it’s windy, incorporate decorative bobby pins like Luna + Stone to hold your hair in place. Accessories like a wide-brimmed hat dual as rain protection and a cute bridal look! Anthropologie has some great light-coloured hats to fit any bridal style.

6. Use primers and setting sprays on your makeup

Every makeup artist knows that these two steps are crucial to keeping a makeup look locked in place, and you can easily do this too if you’re planning to do your own makeup!

7. Don’t wear makeup but worried about sweat shine? Use a mattifying skin care routine when you first wake up

This will help a little to minimize sweat-induced shiny foreheads, though a mattifying powder after hiking works best! Don’t be shy, both guys and gals can use powder too 😉

8. Bring your stylist with you!

A lot of stylists (like Blush & Coco in the Canadian Rockies) are willing to come along for the hike with couples, and can do hair and makeup right at the top! How’s that for the coolest getting ready location ever?

9. Pace yourself and take breaks while hiking

We aren’t running a marathon here, we want you to enjoy the hiking experience! Be realistic when planning how long it will take to hike; it’s always better to have planned too much time than not enough! Take your time going up, don’t be shy and take lots of breaks whenever you start to feel out of breath. We love breaks!

10. Embrace it!

When all else fails, embrace what Mother Nature throws at you! This is an adventure elopement. It’s about capturing authentic moments and who you truly are, flyaways and all 🙂