When Kayla and Garet contacted me about their Glacier National Park Adventure Elopement, I was ecstatic! Glacier has been on my bucket list for ages. I was so excited to capture their adventure elopement in the Montana mountains.
Pepping For Their Elopement
As soon as they booked with me, we started planning. Kayla and Garet decided they wanted to bring a few friends and family members (including their 2 sons) to join in their wedding experience.
We came up with different ceremony location options and planned out some of the activities they wanted to do. Glacier is a huge park and has tons of options for scenery. Within the park, you can find waterfalls, glacial lakes, vast forests, and of course huge glacier-covered mountains. The mountains were super important to both Kayla and Garet, so we decided on mountain views for their ceremony.
About a month before their wedding we were faced with a conflict. The road that is used to go through the park (Going-To-The-Sun Road) was closed due to the amount of snow they had. This was not something we expected, because everywhere we researched had stated by late June the road is typically fully accessible. Well, it just happened to be a record-breaking snow season for the park! We didn’t allow ourselves to worry too much though since we had backup locations planned.
Their Elopement Experience
We finally arrived in Kalispell MT the week of their wedding and the views were breathtaking! The mountains surrounded the town, and we were only about a 45 minutes drive from the West Entrance of Glacier NP.
Kayla and Garet decided they wanted a sunrise ceremony. So on their wedding day we were up at 2:30 am and hit the road by 3:30 am. We drove about 2 hours to get to the trailhead. As we drove in the dark you could see the outlines of the massive mountains around us. By the time we had entered the park the sky was pastel pinks and purples as the sun starting to make an appearance. The morning was cold with the wind whipping us all around. This was very different from the warm and windless day we had the day prior. Nonetheless, Kayla got ready in the trailhead parking lot. She then shared a first look with her mom and with Garet. Then we all headed to the ceremony spot!
The ceremony was in a beautiful location in front of a lake with huge peaks on either side. I actually got to perform their ceremony as their officiant! Kayla had written the ceremony script herself. It was a beautiful sentiment and commitment to their relationship with each other, their children, and God. It was an amazing experience to be a part of.
After their ceremony, we visited a couple of different spots for photos. But we decided to finish early due to the cold temperatures. But this wasn’t a problem since we planned to do a ‘Day-After-Session’ in the park the following day!
The Day After Session
The next day we met up for their adventure session. Kayla and Garet wore their wedding attire again and spent some time getting photos of just the two of them! We wanted to get all sorts of scenery, so we drove throughout the park and stopped anytime saw a pretty spot! They decided to conclude with a scoop of Huckleberry ice cream (a Montana staple).
At the end of it all, Kayla and Garet shared when they first got together they joked about running off to Montana to get married. Little did they know that’s exactly what they would do! Their Glacier National Park Elopement was magical, and I am so incredibly grateful that they chose me to be a part of it. I can not wait to get back to those Montana mountains someday soon!!
