Are you dreaming of celebrating your love with a national park elopement?! Well, fantastic choice!! Keep reading for 8 steps on how to elope in a national park!

Step 1: Pick a time of year

First things first: you’ve gotta pick what time of year you want to elope in!

Are you big fans of bein’ warm & cozy, and hate being cold? Opt for a summer elopement, and embrace warm nights and golden sunsets.

Or maybe you’d rather be a little chilly and breathe in the fresh air, instead of sweating through your clothes. Go for a fall or late winter elopement!

Make sure you pick out a season that will allow you to be comfortable and feel like your best self. If you choose a winter elopement even though you know that you HATE winter and despise being cold, and won’t be able to wear your dream dress because you’ll freeze your ass off, you’re not going to fully enjoy the day.

Your elopement is all about having the BEST day of your life with your partner. So if you’re constantly worrying about your goosebumps or can’t fully be excited/comfortable because you’re cold as shit, it’s not going to the best day possible for you!!

A few things to keep in mind when choosing your time of year, other than the weather:

Crowds

Summer is popular for elopements for a reason: many people would rather be warm than cold! Summer is also a time when a lot of people are out of school or have time off from their jobs. And that means that national parks are OFTEN extremely busy during the summertime.

You’ll need to consider how crowded different national parks will be at different times of the year. If you’re dreaming of eloping at Taft Point at Yosemite right in the middle of the summer, when Yosemite is the busiest, you might end up with 50 people nearby as you say your vows, which you wanted to be a private moment. And then alllll those 50 strangers will end up in the background of all of your elopement photos.

Vendor availability

You’ll also want to consider vendor availability when choosing the time of year for your elopement. Depending on where they’re located, many vendors are often busiest during the late spring, summer, and fall, and have their dates book up super quickly for those seasons.

So if you’re planning a summer elopement somewhere where summer is the busy season for weddings, make sure you plan far enough in advance that you’ll be able to get your dream vendors!! The last thing you want to have happen is that your dream photographer is booked on the one date you had in mind. So it’s also important to be flexible with your date, and wait to nail down your date until you’ve hired your most important vendors!

Most vendors will be busiest on weekends, and may offer lower rates for weekdays - or will simply have much more availability on weekdays. Especially in the off-season!

Accessibility

Depending on the national park you want to elope at, you’ll also need to consider accessibility as far as the weather goes.

If you’re wanting to plan a winter elopement at Mount Rainier National Park, for example, you’ll likely be out of luck because of how snow-covered the roads & trails get.

The National Park Service’s website is super helpful in keeping park websites updated with road closures, trail statuses, weather conditions, etc. - so be sure to keep an eye on those and do your research ahead of time.

Step 2: Choose your national park

The next step (an exciting one): choose your national park!!

You’ll want to choose somewhere that’s going to be meaningful to you, your partner, and your elopement day as a whole.

Is there a certain park you’ve ALWAYS wanted to visit? A park you take a trip to every summer together? A park you grew up going to?

Find a park that fits your vision for your day. If you want to go hiking to get to epic views, consider somewhere in the Tetons, Mount Rainier, or Rocky Mountain National Park.

If you’d rather just drive and arrive at a beautiful place, without necessarily having to hike, consider somewhere like the Grand Canyon, Saguaro National Park, or Bryce Canyon National Park.

Don’t just choose a park because you’ve seen it on Instagram or Pinterest - pick one that will truly make your day special and feel like YOU.

Step 3: Hire your vendors

This is an important one: next, you need to hire your vendors!

I always suggest hiring your photographer, videographer, & planner/coordinator FIRST, because they’re the most likely to book up way ahead of time. Our dates are their inventory - we’re not like florists, who could work multiple elopements/weddings on the same date!

Here are a few ways to start your search for your dream vendors:

Instagram stalk - go to your Instagram search bar and start typing! Search terms like “Colorado wedding videographer,” or search the national park you’re going to, and then see if you can find any vendors tagged in public wedding photos at that park.
Google search - just do a Google search!!
Local publications/magazines - find a publication or magazine local to the national park you’re looking at - e.g. Rocky Mountain Bride is a fantastic wedding resource for anyone eloping in the Rocky Mountain region!

Also, make sure that any vendors you’re hiring are down + able to do the activities you’re wanting on your elopement day! E.g. if you want to go on a 10-mile hike, make sure your photographer is up for that. Or if you want to elope at sunrise, find someone who will be able to make the trip & get up early with ya!

Step 4: Nail down your date - then hire more vendors

The reason I suggest hiring your photographer, videographer, & planner/coordinator BEFORE picking your date is because it’ll be easier to nail down your date once you know their availability. I don’t want you to nail down your date without any flexibility, before hiring your photog, only to find out that your DREAM photog isn’t available on that one date!!

Pick out your season, and maybe your month, and see when your dream photographer is available within that month. Then, nail down your date and stick it on your calendar!

Once you’ve picked out your date and know that your priority vendors are available for it, it’s time to hire the rest of your vendors! Here are a few that you won’t want to forget:

Florist
Hair/makeup artist
Officiant
Rentals/decor
Caterer/food or drink provider

Step 5: Make it legal

This is one of the not-so-fun, but super important ones: it’s time to consider the legal stuff. This means:

Your marriage license
Any permits/passes you’ll need for the national park you chose

Do your research to find out what you’ll need in order to legally get married in the state you live in, as well as the state your chosen national park is in. Find out whether you need to have witnesses if you can self-solemnize (like you can in Colorado!!), if you need to have guests present, where/when you need to file, etc.

This step can easily fall through the cracks among the more exciting parts of elopement planning, but trust me - you don’t want to forget it!!

You’ll also need to research and find out what permits/passes you’ll need in order to legally get married in the national park you chose.

Please do this step well ahead of time, because permits can often take a while to be accepted & to get to you. Read through the National Park Service’s website page for your national park, and look carefully at what’s allowed + what’s not allowed. Many national parks, for example, won’t allow any rentals or setups of any kind, confetti throwing, or more than a certain number of guests + vendors.

It’s really important that you follow this step carefully so that you’re not going against any rules or restrictions of the national park you want to elope in. The rules are in place for a reason: to protect the beautiful land you want to say your vows on!

On that note, please be sure to also look at the 7 Leave No Trace Principles & plan ahead so you can make the least impact on the land possible on your elopement day!!

Step 6: Brainstorm activities + elements of your day

Next up, it’s time for some more fun stuff - figure out what kinds of activities you want to include in your elopement, and allow yourself to DREAM!!

Here’s a list of ideas to get you started, ranging from ways to spend time together on your elopement day, to ways to get adventurous, to unique ways to celebrate. This is really the time to think outside of the box, allow yourself to have a super open mind, and get creative with how you can make your elopement day most like YOU + the best day ever!!

Take a helicopter tour to the top of a mountain where you’ll say your vows
Rent 4x4’s to drive up some rocky trails to an epic viewpoint
Go on a hike to an amazing spot for sunset portraits
Bring your doggo(s) along to celebrate with you
Rent a cabin or an Airbnb to stay at for a few nights
- You can also invite your friends + fam to stay with you and make a weeklong or weekend-long party out of it!!
Have a picnic for lunch - charcuterie is ALWAYS a good idea
Take a swim at the end of the day if there’s an ocean, lake, waterfall, etc. nearby
End the night with s’mores & beers by a campfire, and camp under the stars
Get ready together instead of separately
Head to a local bar/brewery or your fave fast food restaurant for dinner

Want even more?! Check out these 5 Unique Elopement Ideas!!

Step 7: Find a place to stay

Don’t forget to book a place to stay!! Whether you’re going to stay somewhere for just a night or two after your elopement, or you want to make a weeklong trip out of it, find somewhere that’s super comfy, cozy, and that you can truly relax in.

Here are a few things to consider when looking at places to stay:

Will it just be you two? Or do you want a few friends + family members to stay with you and make a great time out of it?
Would you rather live in luxury for a few days to celebrate or would camping under the stars feel more right? Maybe you’d rather rent a camper to drive around in?
How far of a drive are you willing to make on your elopement day from where you’ll be staying?

I suggest looking into Airbnb’s, lodges, cabins, and National Park glamping options - yes, National Park GLAMPING is a thing!!

Under Canvas is a company that offers upscale outdoor accommodations at Lake Powell, Acadia, the Grand Canyon, Moab, Yellowstone, Glacier, Zion, the Great Smoky Mountains, and Mount Rushmore. I highly recommend looking at this company if you want to go glamping and have a super unique experience for your elopement!!

Autocamp is another one of the coolest accommodation options, in my opinion. They offer outdoor experiences at Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Zion, the Russian River, Cape Cod, & the Catskills. And their accommodations range from campers to luxury tents to suites and MORE. It’s seriously one of the coolest ways to experience those national parks and truly have an incredible experience.

Step 8: Plan your timeline + location scout

And finally, you need to plan your timeline + pick out your exact locations for your elopement!!

Here are a few of the most important things to keep in mind when planning your timeline (which your photographer can help with):

Sunrise vs. sunset - which would you prefer?
Weekdays vs. weekends - weekends are always more crowded
Best times to avoid crowds
Weather at certain times of the day
Travel time between locations/from where you’re staying
What activities you want to do + when you can do them
If certain parts of the park are closed in the afternoon/evening/early mornings

As far as picking your location(s) go, you can use Google Earth to check out what certain locations at your national park will look like at different times of the day. This is also a part of planning where it’s important to trust your photographer and what they recommend!

PHEWWWW that was a TON of info. But I hope these 8 steps are helpful to you when planning your elopement - and don’t forget to CELEBRATE once all the planning is done!!