How to have a National Park Wedding The U.S. is full of National Parks that are absolutely amazing – 62 to be exact. From incredible glacial lakes at Glacier National Park , to shores at Channel Islands , the mountains in Olympic National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park , and deserts like Joshua Tree, Arches, and Zion .
Last year, I went through the whole process of planning a National Park wedding myself, and we planned our Rocky Mountain ceremony all the way from Indiana in just 3 months. I had a lot of questions about how the process worked, and spent hours googling answers to my questions, so I thought it would be helpful to put together a list of the biggest questions and the answers!
Here are the questions I’ll be going over in this post about how to have a National Park Wedding: How do I choose a park?
How do I choose a park? This can be a pretty tough question for a lot of people. There are countless INCREDIBLE national parks to get married and picking a spot can be really difficult! If you have an emotional tie to a certain park or state, that might be the perfect start! It’s always so special when a couple chooses their location because they met, got engaged, or had some other meaningful experience there. If you don’t already have a place that’s meaningful to you, a good place to start is to decide what type of environment you feel drawn to. For me, it has always been the mountains, so that was obvious, but there is no shortage of different landscapes to choose from – anything you could possibly think of from deserts, to beaches, to glacial lakes.
Once you come up with a certain landscape you love, I am more than happy to guide you in finding your perfect national park and the perfect spot within the park!
How do I find the perfect spot? Once you’ve decided on a park, the next location option to decide on is where to have your ceremony. Every park is going to have their own list of locations where they allow ceremonies – all of this can be found on that particular park’s NPS website. Each of these spots will have a specific number of people (this number will include you, your guests, photographers, etc.) allowed, and a coordinating specific number of cars as well.
Based on the number of people you’re inviting or know are attending your wedding or elopement, whether that’s 20 or 60, you can choose a spot that works for that number. A lot of these spots will have different levels of accessibility, so that might be something for you to consider as well. For us, this made things pretty easy because I needed a place that had bathrooms, wasn’t too long of a hike to get to since my grandparents were with us, and allowed the right amount of people. Once you have these things figured out, it’s really easy to narrow it down to which spot will work for your needs!
When should we plan our wedding or elopement? This will definitely depend on the national park and the season – but a good general rule of thumb is if it’s a popular park, scheduling your wedding or elopement for during the week will give you a lot more privacy than on a Saturday. If possible, you’ll want to avoid weekends and holidays – unless you’re planning it during the off season of that particular park!
What about permits? And how much time do I need to get one? Once you’ve chosen the spot where you want to have your ceremony or say your vows, you can apply for a permit for a particular day, time, and place. Each spot will have a certain number of ceremonies allowed per day, so the earlier you can apply the better. You can apply for a permit usually around 1 year to 2 weeks before the wedding! Especially if you’re planning a Saturday wedding, it’s smart to start thinking about your ceremony location and acquiring a permit early if you can!
The special use permit does not cover the entrance fees for you or any of your guests, so you’ll still be responsible for that when the wedding day comes around! Plus, these fees help support our National Parks, so we know it will be put to good use!
What restrictions are there for national park weddings? A lot of National Parks are going to have restrictions on the things you’re allowed to do. We already touched on the number of people and cars per site, but there also might be a restriction like no chairs, no confetti (some places even biodegradable, organic, locally sourced confetti is not allowed), or no arch. I think part of the beauty of a national park wedding is the simplicity, but if you want to be a little more involved, check out a state park or national forest!
You’ll want to make sure you’re following Leave No Trace principles as well, so if you’re not familiar, take a look here ! Put simply, we want to make sure the environment is left the same or better than we found it, so that people can enjoy it for years and decades to come.
Can I bring my dog? Unfortunately, most National Parks only allow dogs in very specific locations inside the parks. If you’re really set on having your dog be part of your wedding or elopement, you could always get married at an outdoor venue, your family’s backyard, or a state park that might be more lenient. Another great option is to look into vacation rental houses! You can talk to your host and make sure they’re okay with you having an event. This is actually what we did for our reception just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park and it worked out great!
Check out this list of the Most Unique Airbnb’s in Every State.
Can I bring my drone? “The National Park Service embraces many activities in national parks because they enhance visitor experiences with the iconic natural, historic and cultural landscapes in our care. However, due to serious concerns about the negative impact that flying unmanned aircraft can have for safety of visitors, staff, and wildlife, they have been restricted in all but a few parks.” – National Parks Service
How should we plan the timeline for a national park wedding? Planning timelines is something that your photographer will definitely help you with. This can vary quite a bit based on what you’re going for, the time of year, the particular park, or any number of variables. If you’re getting married in a really popular park like Yosemite, it would probably be best to start the day early and be out at sunrise. But if you’re not restricted because of the busyness of the park, and you’re not morning people, maybe sunset would be a better time to plan around for you! Then, you can stay up late and watch the stars come out!
Once you decide when you want to have your ceremony, the rest of the timeline should come together pretty easily. Even though you’re choosing to take a route that’s a little more non-traditional, you can still incorporate anything that is important to you! Having your photographer be present for getting ready, your first look, the reception, and your exit (if you’re doing one) is still a great option! This is your wedding day so it deserves a timeline that feels like you and isn’t too rushed.
What should I bring? The answer to this question definitely depends on where you’re getting married and what you want to do during the day – but the basic answer would be: Make sure you bring enough layers to stay warm. Weather can change quickly, especially at high elevations, so being prepared for anything is never a bad idea! I’m happy to help you figure out what things might be helpful.
If it’s going to be cold – leggings (you can find nearly any skin tone in warm leggings, so you won’t even know that you’re wearing them!), coats, gloves, hats, hand warmers, a warm beverage Hiking boots – you can always bring a second pair of shoes if you wanted, too! But hiking boots always look really cute with a dress! If you’re doing a long hike before your ceremony, you may want to bring a change of clothes, but that’s totally up to you, as well! Snacks, water, champagne if you want to do a toast! Headlamps and flashlights are always good to have – especially if you’re planning on getting up early or staying past sunset What about the weather? When choosing your national park, considering the weather is definitely an important factor. Some parks like Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite, and others are only partially opened for most of the year because of driving conditions on snowy high elevation roads. This doesn’t mean you can’t get married in the winter, but you’ll want to check and make sure that the park you choose is open during the time you want to have your wedding or elopement!
Besides that, choosing to get married in nature is kind of a gamble since you likely won’t have much of a backup plan. Embracing the weather is part of the fun and adventure of choosing to have a national park wedding! If something crazy is happening like a white-out blizzard though, it doesn’t hurt to have a little bit of flexibility (which if you’re eloping, you totally have!) and worst comes to worst, you could always have your ceremony wherever you’re staying, or even finding a location that might be a little lower in elevation if you’re in the mountains can be really helpful when it comes to inclement weather.
I love national parks, but I want to get married in a more traditional venue – how can I incorporate that? This is a totally great option, too! You can still absolutely incorporate the National Parks into your wedding if you want to. One option is to have your engagement photos taken at your favorite National Park! I also offer day after sessions (which can be used the very next day or at a slightly later date – like if you wanted to do a session while on your honeymoon!), so if you’re getting married or live close to a National Park or honeymooning near one, we can totally accommodate that!
Here are some of my favorite National Parks and their special use permit fees: Acadia National Park: $50Arches National Park: $185Glacier National Park: $100Grand Teton National Park: $200Grand Canyon National Park: $240Great Smoky Mountains National Park: $50Indiana Dunes National Park: $65Joshua Tree National Park: $150Shenandoah National Park : $150Olympic National Park : $50Rocky Mountain National Park: $250White Sands National Park: $25Yellowstone National Park: $75Yosemite National Park: $150Zion National Park : $100
Great information, so useful! 🙂
I’ve seen a few elopement guides around the web, but I love how you specifically focused on national park elopements! So helpful and details for couples planning! Also appreciate info on doggos too 🙂
So much great info in this post! Your couples are lucky to have someone with so much great knowledge!
Thank you for all this great info! I love how you put in the permit costs at the end!
these are such great tips for couples wanting to get married at a National Park!
What a great blog post about planning an elopement or intimate wedding in a national park! Your couples will find this so helpful!
Love this blog post and all of these images! Great information for couples eloping!
Amazing tips for planning an elopement at a National Park. And all these locations are stunning backdrops for getting married. You are the true expert of National Parks
This is SUCH a helpful guide for couples wanting to have their wedding in a national park! I love the how you answered so many questions in this post.