You’re here because you want to elope in Yellowstone National Park, yeah?? Don’t worry, I’m not the type of wedding photographer who will try to get you to switch locations because Yellowstone is “too busy”. 

Nope, if you have daydreams of geysers and bison and hot springs as the backdrop of your wedding photos, then GO GET ‘EM TIGER! I’m here for it. But I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t share some super important insight for planning your elopement in a place that gets 4 million visitors every year, especially if you’ve got the most iconic spots on your must-do list. 

It’s time for you to meet Jess + Matt, two lovebirds like yourselves who decided it was Yellowstone National Park or bust for their wedding day. And I won’t lie to you, these two had me nearly losing my sh*t when they first told me their plan. 

Old Faithful. Grand Prismatic. Artist Point. Gotta hit ‘em all. 

Hours-long traffic jams and swaths of bright baseball-capped tourists flooded my brain. As an elopement photographer for over a decade, who has photographed couples in the high seasons of Yellowstone and Glacier and Grand Tetons and Yosemite—this was about as *bonkers* of a plan as I could imagine.  

But they were GIDDY over it and really, really wanted to make it happen. So I told them I was down on one condition, which leads us to your first Yellowstone National Park elopement tip…

GO EARLY. You simply have to! Jess + Matt started in West Yellowstone at 7:45 am and I honestly think you could get started much earlier than we did if you’ve got multiple stops on your tour-de-Yellowstone. It is incredibly popular and quite literally thousands of people could be gathered at hot-spot attractions like Old Faithful, but mornings usually bring calmer conditions. 

Because Jess + Matt were staying near the west entrance and applied for their ceremony permit at Artist Point, it made sense to hit their other must-see spots and end their day with the ceremony. (Here’s the link for permitted ceremony spots in YNP!) 

By the time we got to Artist Point, it was insanity. It’s a super small area with nowhere to get off of the trails, leaving everyone packed together like sardines. When you take a look at their elopement photos (keep scrolling to see them!), it looks idyllic, intimate, and sweet under two little trees tucked into a nook. In reality, DOZENS of people were standing right behind me or walking by as they said their vows to each other. 

And with that, we’ve gotta talk about Yellowstone National Park elopement tip #2! 

Be realistic with what you’re walking into (and plan around it if needed). Because Jess + Matt are just a certain type of couple, they were unphased. But so many of my couples would have been extremely uncomfortable in that scenario. By having your ceremony first thing in the morning, you could find a more secluded, private spot to share vows. You could even do them at the Airbnb or accommodation! If you’re a couple who definitely doesn’t feel comfy with loads of strangers around during your wedding day, there are also more off-the-beaten-path areas to explore if you’re willing to skip the hotspots on your wedding day. It’s all up to your preference as a couple! 

If you’re okay with being early risers on your wedding day and don’t feel weird about having some family from Ohio applaud as you take your first just married kiss, then it looks like eloping in Yellowstone is still in the plan! 

Which means you’re ready for planning mode! And that brings you to the third and last tip of this blog. 

Plan your timeline with PLENTY of buffer space. Yes, you will encounter stopped traffic for wildlife and spend time searching for space away from crowds of tourists—and there’s really nothing you can do about it! So planning your elopement timeline with extra time built into it is a necessity to keep you from panicking the day of. If you don’t have the time for some reason, maybe you only booked your photographer for 4 hours or you have a post-elopement celebration planned back at the cabin, then my best piece of advice is to pick your top two spots and see what happens. You never know! The tourism gods might be with you and you breeze through the park no problem, leaving you time to make another stop along the way. But in the case you do get snagged by a timeline hiccup, you’ve checked off the most important boxes and still feel over-freakin-joyed about your day. 

So what do you say, my crazy-in-love new friends? Still up for an adventure?? 

If so, you should know I’ve helped plan dozens and dozens of elopements in highly trafficked, but oh-so-worth-it destinations. Ones that people will tell you are too busy or too popular. And maybe they are! But who cares, it’s your day, do what ya want! I’ll be there right there, scootching away tourists and finding the 2 feet of space we need to get the shot. What do you say? Wanna do this together? Fill out this form and let’s get to chatting! But first, make sure to take a look at Jess + Matt’s stunnin’ wedding photos from eloping in Yellowstone National Park! ↓