Do You Need a Permit to Take Wedding Photos in Grand Teton National Park?

Before the NPS and the hipsters jump down our throats, I will start this blog off by saying YES.  If you plan to hold your wedding ceremony, elopement ceremony, vow renewal, vow exchange, commitment ceremony, or one of the other various names people oftentimes give to a wedding ceremony, then yes.  You will need to go through the process of getting a permit approved to get married without the boundaries of the Grand Teton National Park.  If that’s the route you’re planning on going, be sure to click here to to go to the NPS website and find out more about the process or click here if you’re looking for more information on ceremony locations within the park!

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s jump into the gray area that is portraiture, specifically wedding portraits!  To give you the short answer here, no.  If you’re just taking wedding portraits within the boundaries of Grand Teton National Park, but there is no formal ceremony, you are good to go!  In fact, I would say almost half of our “elopement couples” take this more laid back approach throughout the year.  You may want to consider this approach for a couple of reasons.  Mainly, availability and making the process (potentially) easier.

Availability & Process

National Park elopements have been growing in popularity throughout the years, but especially since 2020.  After many couples had to postpone or downsize their wedding, we did see an even more drastic industry shift towards elopements and micro weddings.  Now, truth be told there’s not an actual black and white concrete definition of what constitutes an elopement or micro wedding vs a traditional wedding as every wedding vendor is going to handle those gray area definitions a little differently.  I just wanted to get that out of the way so people don’t get too caught up in definitions.  The take home, many couples in 2026 are opting to downsize from let’s say a big 150-200 person wedding at a venue or two, and instead, they are looking for a more intimate celebration surrounded by the beauty of nature in more picturesque settings than your traditional wedding venue.  They are looking to down size their guest list, expenses, and more importantly, stress.  As elopements and micro weddings have continued to grow in popularity, permit caps for national parks are starting to fill up faster and faster every year.  With this, a lot of our couples decide to take the no permit just portraits in wedding clothes approach and do their legal marriage back in their hometown.  They are still able to get the pictures of their dreams but without the added red tape and extra coordination required to get their marriage license in Jackson.  If you’re someone trying to avoid a lot of the extra stress or you simply just didn’t get your permit application submitted in time, consider getting married legally at home or doing something very small and intimate for friends and then just doing your portraits out here.  A lot of our couples have expressed that they have taken the opposite approach as well, getting their photos here and then sharing the news via a party/gathering for friends and friends later at home.  There’s no right or wrong here, just what’s right for you!

In addition to the blog links above covering information regarding the permitting process and site specific ceremony locations, if you’re considering just getting elopement style photos in the Grand Tetons, be sure to check out the link below for more location inspiration and ideas!  As always, if you have any questions or are looking to book your elopement session in The Jackson Hole area, be sure to give us a shout by clicking here!