national park wedding

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Zion National Park Wedding at Lazalu Retreat

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Imagine an intimate wedding under the stars of a dark sky in Utah. You’ve brought all of your closest friends and family and, of course, your dogs! The scene for the wedding takes place in a picturesque field that is touching the boundary of Zion National Park. Lazalu is our absolute favorite wedding venue in Zion. Every aspect of this amazing artist retreat turned wedding venue knows that it’s job is to not distract from the amazing vistas that surround it. Sacred and ancient canyon walls rise up from every direction that you look! The sun drops behind the cliffs as you and your guest are enjoying custom cocktails and appetizers and the blanket of stars start to fill the sky. It’s time to move your guests into the oak grove where a lavish scene awaits them. Flowers hang from the sky with the lights and the well appointed tables are set with all the trimmings and special details. Every guest has a place set with a photo and hand written note about what your relationships mean to them. This destination wedding in Zion National Park PARK literally had it all! 

Complete with a photo booth, bounce castle and karaoke, not one single detail was missed.

But most importantly this wedding was absolutely full to the brim with love! The type of people who choose to have their destination wedding in a place like Zion National Park are special. They tend to value their relationships above all else. The couples that a place like Lazalu wedding venue seems to attract are in a category on their own. They choose to build an experience for their guest in a temple that has been constructed by nature.

We started the destination wedding weekend with these two beautiful people with a private vow ceremony in the desert outside of Zion. Just the four of us plus two of the cutest dogs. You can see the full post from that day here.

We shot with both film and digital at this wedding and you will find a mix of both in their gallery below. We feel that shooting with film and digital is the best way for us to honor the documentary wedding style that we love so dearly!

Wes and Noreen. Thank you for inviting us to document your wedding! We hope these photos speak for themselves and that the love, joy and absolute fun shines through every single image. 

ZION NATIONAL PARK Wedding Vendors

Planner: Forevermore Events
Zion National Park Wedding Venue: Lazalu
Hair and Makeup: Beauty By Freckled Fox
Floral: Bloomers
Catering: Kelso’s
Rentals: St. George Party Rentals
Photo Booth: Photo Booth Bus
Entertainment: Festival Sounds
Content Creator: BACHD

Intimate Destination Wedding at Zion Red Rock Oasis | Zion National Park Wedding Photography

Of all the destinations in the world to host a wedding, Zion National Park is up there with the best of them. These high school sweethearts along with their two beautiful children felt the same way. Zion Red Rock Oasis ended up being the best wedding venue to host their closest family and friends and provided the perfect backdrop for their wedding. Jake is himself an accomplished adventure photographer and loved the fact that we are hybrid wedding photographers, meaning we shoot both digital photography along with analog film photography. It is always an honor to be chosen by a fellow photog to document their most important day for them. The red rock backdrop of Zion National Park provided the perfect setting for this national park wedding. The wonderful friends and family that had gathered to celebrate this wedding in the desert provided all of the sweet, tender and fun moments.

Our only agenda for the day was to document everything as it happened, and we were more that happy to oblige! An intimate wedding in Zion National Park that turns into a wild party when the sun goes down? Sign us up!

Vendor List:

Photography: M. Felt Photography
Planning: Poppy Lane Events
Venue: Zion Red Rock Oasis
Floral: Poppy Lane Events
Rentals: St. George Party Rentals
Taylor Made Events
Makeup: Beauty by AllieJ
Hair: Hair by Brooke
Cake: Cake Couture
DJ: Electric Audio 4 U
Bartending: Silver Lining Events Bartending
Catering: Chef Alfredo’s

Zion National Park Wedding Photographer

I’ve been photographing weddings and couples in Zion National Park for the past eight years, and before that, I grew up exploring the mountains and trails in Zion. I was born and raised in St. George, Utah, a lovely town in the southwest corner of the state that is within driving distance to some incredible national and state parks, including Zion. It wasn’t until I moved to Southern California for college that I realized how much I need the mountains and desert landscape in my life! The desert is my home, it’s in my heart and soul, and it’s a place that I’ll always return to.

Over the past few years, I’ve watched Zion grow in popularity for weddings, elopements, and engagements. Even family photos. It’s become one of the top destinations for weddings and elopement in the region, and I can certainly understand why! The beauty of Zion is unparalleled and there really is a magical energy to the place. I grew up surrounded by the backdrop of these red mountains and it’s not something I take for granted. I think the experience of being with couples and families as they explore Zion taking photos helps me fall a little more in love with it every time.

Here’s the different thing about me as a wedding photographer: My goal isn’t just to capture the beauty of the landscape in Zion, which of course I will do, but rather to capture you within that space. Your joy, your love, and the special thing about your relationship that makes you choose this place to be the place where you exchange vows and make that lasting commitment to one another. Think of me like the perfect combination of beautiful scenic photos of your day but also those images that capture how it felt.

In addition to basically being obsessed with this place, I have a lot of experience with the process of having your wedding in Zion National Park. I greatly respect the National Park Service and so I’m familiar with their regulations when it comes to having your wedding in the park. They actually make it pretty easy to apply and it’s only $100 for a permit. You can find out more about that process here: https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/weddings-in-zion-national-park.htm

I often tell my couples that if it’s not feasible to have their ceremony in the park, I know a lot of beautiful spots outside that the park that still offer those beautiful views! And we can always go into the park for some gorgeous photos either before or after the wedding ceremony. I know some good spots for that too, especially with the crowds.

And speaking of the crowds… Zion National Park is the third busiest park in the nation and it continues to grow each season. Zion saw more than 4.5 million visitors in 2017, a 5 percent from the year before. The busiest season is June through August, although April through September can be pretty packed too. But don’t worry! I am quite used to the crowds and I know the best ways to avoid them when possible and work around them when it’s not! It’s totally worth it :)

If you want to learn more, I wrote a whole blog post in my ProTips series about planning your wedding in Zion National Park so you can check that out here!

You can also read this super helpful blog post from one of my lovely brides.

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