We’re looking forward to introducing you to Tiff Nutt. Check out our conversation below.
Tiff, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What’s more important to you—intelligence, energy, or integrity?
I won’t bury the lede, I value integrity above intelligence and energy. Why? This is how we are wired as humans – we want to believe that people have the best intentions. While this isn’t alway the case in general, I think this is a top tier component of any successful business (on a human level). We all know it’s possible to make lots of money without integrity, corporations do it all the time, but do we trust those companies? No. This also comes down to what you think makes success – is it funds, awareness, growth? Sure, in some ways these are all good indicators of progress. Integrity, however, will last beyond these other fading indicators and allow for true connections to be formed and nurtured.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Tiffany, an elopement photographer and filmmaker who believes weddings don’t have to follow a script. They can be an adventure, a reflection of who you are, and a story told exactly the way you want to live it. Through my brand, I specialize in crafting full-day, experience-driven elopements that go beyond a ceremony. Think mountain trails, cozy coffee stops, golden-hour horseback rides, or late-night bonfires. What makes my work unique is that I don’t just show up with a camera, I help couples design a day that feels like them, then capture it in a way that feels cinematic and true.
My journey has been shaped by chasing stories across Michigan’s wild shores, the mountains of Colorado, and the cliffs of Ireland and Greece. Right now, I’m focused on helping couples who want to break away from tradition and create intentional, intimate experiences because to me, eloping isn’t about running away, it’s about running toward the life you want.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world started layering expectations onto me, I was a kid with a wild imagination … always curious, always creating. I was the one who’d get lost in stories, who’d spend hours sketching or writing or building little worlds out of nothing. I was endlessly fascinated with light, color, and the way moments could be held onto, even if just in memory. Back then, I didn’t think about success or how things “should” be done—I just followed wonder wherever it showed up.
That same creative, curious child is still at the core of what I do now. Photography and filmmaking became my grown-up way of honoring that part of myself, of holding onto the beauty and magic in real human stories. In many ways, I feel like I’ve circled back, not becoming something entirely new, but remembering who I always was and enhancing that persona.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I’d tell her: Don’t rush to trade your wonder for the weight of the world. The curiosity, the daydreams, the way you see beauty in the smallest details. That’s not something you’ll outgrow, it’s the thing that will carry you. One day, the pieces that make you feel “different” will become your greatest strength. Trust that the spark you feel now is leading you somewhere extraordinary.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. How do you differentiate between fads and real foundational shifts?
The wedding industry is full of trends that rise fast and fade just as quickly, so I try to look past the surface. Fads usually orbit around aesthetics, like a specific flower, a viral color palette, or a TikTok-worthy backdrop. Foundational shifts are about values. When couples started moving away from the idea that weddings had to be big productions and leaned into intimacy, intentionality, and experiences … that wasn’t a fleeting moment, it was a cultural shift.
For me, the key difference is asking: “Does this trend just decorate the day, or does it redefine what the day means?” If it deepens the experience, gives couples more freedom, or reflects the changing ways people want to celebrate love, that’s a shift worth paying attention to.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
I’ve learned where true stories live. I’ve learned that love isn’t measured by scale. It’s not about how many chairs are filled or how grand the production is … it’s about the honesty of a moment. Most people assume weddings are about performance, but what I see, over and over, is that the quiet pauses, the shaky hands, the laughter on a trail, the tears no one expected—are where the real stories live.
I also understand that memory isn’t just visual, it’s emotional. When I photograph or film an elopement, I’m not only capturing how it looked, but how it felt. Years later, that’s what couples hold onto—not the trend of the season, but the truth of their experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tiffnutt.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiff_nutt/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@theelopementqueen?si=tV9WrEa8xONE2y59
- Other: I have separate brands for wedding and for elopements – the above (tiffnutt.com) is my elopement brand) and Ink & Opal Co. is my wedding brand. The website for that is inkandopal.com, which is under a rebrand as the moment of submitting this form.
Image Credits
Tiff Nutt
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