The Photographer Who Made Elopements Cool: My Origin Story (and the Birth of Eloping Is Fun)

by Jenny Mac, Founder of Eloping is Fun

People always ask me how Eloping Is Fun started, and honestly, it’s not a neat little elevator pitch. It’s more like a long, winding mixtape that jumps from punk shows at CBGB’s to trekking with a backpack, from shooting for Newsweek to accidentally throwing a marching band wedding on the Brooklyn Bridge. But every part of it led me here: building a company where couples get to skip the rules and celebrate their love their way.

Me at CBGB’s a long time ago, where I officially became a professional photographer 👆

A Camera, a Punk Show, and My First Paycheck

My career started at 13 years old, when I got my first paycheck for a photo I shot at a punk show at CBGB’s. That was it! I was hooked. Growing up in the NYC skateboarding and punk subculture gave me the kind of education no classroom could: I learned to pay attention, to notice the details, and to capture real life unfolding. My camera became my all-access pass to the world.

I lived out of a backpack for a year and took a million photos 👆

From Backpacker to Photojournalist

After a round-the-world backpacking trip, I returned to NYC and studied photography at the School of Visual Arts. I set my sights on becoming a humanitarian documentary photographer and pursued that path for years. I also flirted with fashion before landing in photojournalism and editorial travel photography.

My work took me around the world, shooting stories for magazines from Glamour to Newsweek. Alongside assignments, I continued a personal project documenting the Tibetan diaspora throughout Nepal and India. I exhibited that work in Mexico City in 2011, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama attended the opening. (Mic drop.) I accomplished many of my goals as a photographer, and I’m deeply grateful for the experiences, the people I met, and all the places my camera took me.

I still cannot believe this happened but it did! 👆 Those are my photos in the background, The Dalia Lama liked them 🎉

Weddings, But Make Them Cool

In my late 20s, all of the photo editors and art directors I had been working with started getting married. At the time, there were no “cool wedding photographers.” But these photo editors have impeccable style and taste and did not want to hire a traditional wedding photographer.

These photo editors, who had become friends over the years, recognized that through my work and life experience I had developed invaluable skills: quickly connecting with my subjects and putting them at ease. These skills translated perfectly into the role of a wedding photographer. So I started shooting weddings for a set of fashionable NYC art directors and magazine editors and never looked back.

I quickly discovered that photographing couples at the height of this awesome life adventure of getting married was the most authentic and powerful way to share my gifts and talents. My photos had a real impact and would be treasured for generations. I traveled worldwide shooting weddings, from Bali to the Blue Mountains, and I fell in love with working with couples to capture their vibe and magic through their wedding photos.

One of my very 1st weddings 👆 A guest took this photo ❤️

Finding My People in Elopements

After a few years of those stylish Brooklyn weddings, I found myself shooting more City Hall ceremonies. And immediately, I knew: these were my people. Elopement couples had the same punk, DIY, unapologetic spirit I grew up with. I’d found my tribe.

But City Hall itself? Total nightmare sometimes. After a few experiences that nearly broke me (still recovering, don’t ask), I knew couples deserved better. They deserved freedom, beauty, and something personal.

So I built it.

I launched Eloping Is Fun with one simple mission: give couples everything City Hall couldn’t. I called up my community of artists, poets, and performers, got them licensed as officiants, and we just started experimenting.

Seeing what we could get away with in the early days of Eloping is Fun👆

The Early Days

The early days of Eloping were Fun and a blast. We tested things out and experimented around NYC to see what worked and, quite honestly, to see what we could get away with. 😂 At one of our early weddings, we had a New Orleans-style marching band on the Brooklyn Bridge, and I was absolutely sure we would all get arrested. It turns out the cops were into it!

Now, we’ve grown into the “adulting” phase. After pulling off more than 1,000 elopements, Eloping Is Fun now has a whole elopement and micro-wedding team: planners, photographers, officiants. We handle destination elopements, curated NYC itineraries for couples and their guests, and seamless wedding days for couples flying in from around the world.

But just because we’re smoother doesn’t mean we’re boring. If you want something wild, we’ll find a way to pull it off!

What’s Next?

Elopements weren’t “cool” when I started. Now, they’re everywhere. Over the past five years, there’s been a massive influx of elopement photographers as elopements have become more common and accepted.

I like to think we played a small part in that shift. And the spark that inspired us from the very beginning? It’s still here. It’s about innovation, pushing boundaries, and creating possibilities for couples who want to do things their way, in their style.

We owe everything to our cool-ass couples who refused to settle for the ordinary — and we’re still carving that path together.

I feel so blessed that I get to do this for a living, and we are slowly growing and expanding our gospel. Don’t be surprised when Eloping is Fun shows up in New Orleans or Mexico City in the near future.

We are just getting started.