If snow covered adventure elopements warm your soul, then you’ve come to the right place! Like many of our couples in 2020, Sarah and Brad had a wrench thrown into their wedding plans due to all the government restrictions surrounding COVID19, especially in their home state of North Carolina. Also like many couples getting married during this time, they decided love was not canceled and they did not want to put their marriage on hold. They talked about the possibility of eloping, and the decision was made that if they were going to do something, they wanted to do something different! Being an adventurous couple with a love for travel they started searching around the the open states for amazing locations for a winter elopement. Shortly after they landed on Jackson Hole, Wyoming! A lot of folks would typically avoid a heavily snow covered town like this during the winter unless they were coming to ski (which they did), but true to their nature, Sarah and Brad wanted to do something fun and different!
After falling in love with what they saw online, they eventually decided that they would love to get married at The Wedding Tree! It is by far one of the most popular options for weddings and elopements in the Jackson area. With spectacular views of The Grand Tetons mountain range in the distance and two large trees framing the spot, it’s almost like nature’s wedding chapel! It’s one of our favorite ceremony locations in the area due to the ease of access, open space, and the overall scenery. That being said, it was also January in Jackson (lol). If you don’t know what I mean by that statement, totally cool, if you ever visit during the winter you’ll soon see sometimes the best laid plans can be upended by the snow. We came up with an approximate timeline, and even a back up plan juuust in case the weather decided not to play nice.
We connected instantly with Sarah and Brad, and it turns out they are wedding and elopement photographers in WNC as well! For us it always means the pressure is on, but at the same time it’s always exciting when another photographer looks at your work and says ‘Hey, I want you to document my memories!’ We also thought it would be fun to get to hang at least once before their elopement so we coordinated with them (and their friends they were traveling with) to do a little snowmobiling when they got to town. As foreshadowed earlier, the weather had other plans and once they got about 10 minutes from landing at Jackson airport, we received about 8 inches of snow in a half hour! They actually had to be routed back to Denver and hang for the night. It put a damper on our snowmobiling plans, but we were still able to get together beforehand and hang! The consensus was to still plan on the wedding tree but realistically we were definitely looking at the backup plan because the forecast was calling for snow storms so our timing would have to be perfect! For those of you planning on a wedding ceremony at The Wedding Tree, especially during the winter, if the clouds and snow roll in, the view of the Tetons is virtually non-existent. Not to mention it's fairly short, but with 3+ feet of snow on the ground, the short hike can feel like it takes forever. When their special day did arrive, we ended up going with plan B which is what we call a pop up elopement. We pick an easy to access spot for the ceremony and then when we’re done, we drive around to other easily accessible spots. It’s also great for winter elopements because if you’re cold, you can hop in your vehicle and warm up in between shots. We were expecting temps in the high 20s/low 30s, but when the day arrived we were down around 12. Yes, one syllable frickin 12! (lol) Sarah and Brad were total troopers and rocked it regardless of the frigid temps! Also, wait until you see Brad’s epic snow boots!! They were such a hit on social media! So grab your warm drink, kick back and enjoy following along on this one from the comfort of your warm location!
(Pro tip - watch our for the snow pits!)
Special thanks to Jean from Briar Rose Flowers for the beautiful florals for their big day!