PhotoOkinawa · Okinawa Prefecture

Elopement in Okinawa

In short

An elopement in Okinawa costs $1,000 for 30 minutes of photography and 15 edited photos, delivered within 10 days. That covers the ceremony itself: vows in your Onna resort’s chapel or on its beach, and a few portraits straight after. Getting ready beforehand and sunset portraits at Cape Manzamo, 10 minutes away, are added with extra hours at $150 each. The legal marriage is arranged separately.

Starting from: $1,000
Duration: 30 min
Edited photos: 15

Why here

Why choose Elopement in Okinawa?

Okinawa is Japan’s main destination for resort weddings, so an elopement here can use what the industry has built: a sea-view chapel on the Onna coast with its own coordinator, booked through the hotel, and a beach a few steps away. The photographer’s job is to cover the vows without getting in the chapel’s way, and, if you add time, to use the light before sunset.

How the shoot is planned

How a session in Okinawa is planned

The route

The 30 minutes starts at the chapel: we stand where the coordinator allows, usually at the back and side aisle, and cover the vows without flash. Afterwards, ten minutes on the hotel beach with the chapel behind you. With extra hours, we arrive earlier while you finish getting ready and photograph the details — rings, letters, the view from the room — and after the beach drive the short way to Cape Manzamo, walk the railed clifftop path and finish facing west over the East China Sea as the sun goes down.

The timing

Chapels schedule ceremonies in fixed slots, so the photography is built around the one you book; if you add hours for Cape Manzamo, ask for a mid-afternoon slot so the portraits run into sunset. Sunset is around 18:00 in October and November and after 19:00 in midsummer. Cape Manzamo has opening hours that can end near sunset, so we check them for your date. April–May and October–November are the most comfortable months.

What’s included

What Elopement in Okinawa includes

In the package

15 edited photos
Vows and the portraits right after
Location and timing planned with you or your planner
Private online gallery within 10 days

Fees and permits on the route

Cape Manzamo: About ¥100 entry; opening hours apply
Kerama Islands (Furuzamami Beach): Ferry fare from Naha; beach free; national park rules apply
Shuri Castle: Outer grounds free; paid area about ¥400; reconstruction in progress

Book online

Inspiration

Elopement: ideas for your shoot

Frames by photographers on Unsplash, credited below — the mood to plan your own shoot against, not our portfolio.

Photos: Pawel Janiak, Ozgu Ozden, Sacha Canivet, Điệp Zader, Andrea De Santis on Unsplash

Before you book

FAQ — Elopement in Okinawa

How much does an Okinawa elopement photographer cost?

$1,000 for 30 minutes and 15 edited photos within 10 days, enough for the vows and a few portraits; extra hours are $150 each. The chapel, its coordinator and any outside-photographer fee the hotel charges are booked and paid separately, as is the Cape Manzamo entry of about ¥100 each.

Can we say our vows on a public beach?

You can stand on a public beach and say them, but you cannot reserve it, set up an arch or keep others away. For a set-up with chairs or flowers, use the hotel’s own beach ceremony, which the hotel arranges and permits.

Will the resort let an outside photographer into the chapel?

Many Okinawa resort chapels include their own photographer in the package and either charge an outside-vendor fee or limit where we may stand. Tell us the venue before you book us and we get its rules in writing.

Same shoot elsewhere