Sunrise Sedona Elopement with Grand Canyon Sunset Vows
Sunrise Sedona Elopement with Grand Canyon Sunset Vows
This gorgeous elopement showed off the best of Northern Arizona, with a sunrise first look in Sedona, and vows at the Grand Canyon!
Anika & Brandon
About time I share this incredible Sedona and Grand Canyon elopement!
Oddly enough, while I photograph proposals and other sessions all the time at the Grand Canyon South Rim, this is the only time I’ve ever photographed a real Grand Canyon elopement! It’s surprisingly not a huge destination for weddings, despite its general popularity. Sedona, on the other hand, is a massive wedding destination (and for good reason - it’s breathtaking).
You can imagine how excited I was when A & B reached out, hoping to have a Grand Canyon elopement. I was even more excited when they were open to my suggestion to make it a Sedona elopement as well, and really get all the best of Northern AZ.
To avoid worrying about getting a wedding permit for Grand Canyon National Park, they decided to get legally married ahead of time back home in Maine. (Funnily enough, I had a Tucson elopement with another couple from Maine just a month earlier! It makes sense that Arizona is such a sought after destination for folks from the Northeast. Such different places!) In a lot of parks and public land, if you aren’t getting legally married, you don’t need a wedding permit. It definitely varies per park though, so always know the rules of where you’re planning to go. :)
Sedona elopement: sunrise first look & champagne pop
First we met up at this beautiful semi-secret spot in Sedona with an incredible sunrise view of Cathedral Rock. It really showed out for us! Despite arriving in the same car, A & B managed not to glimpse each other before sharing a lovely first look as the sun rose. They then popped some champagne and we took some more fun photos around the area.
Sedona elopement continued: fall colors in Oak Creek Canyon
After we wrapped up at the red rocks, we headed down into Oak Creek Canyon, just a short drive away. There we enjoyed views of Oak Creek and some beautiful fall colors! We couldn’t have an elopement in Northern AZ in November and not try to find some fall leaves. :)
Grand Canyon elopement: sharing chilly weather vows before sunset
After a break for the rest of the morning and some of the afternoon, we met back up at the South Rim for the Grand Canyon elopement portion of the day! (Side note: I definitely understand why some photographers prefer to do consecutive hours of coverage, but I love splitting time throughout a day! As long as the break is long enough to get some real rest, I love doing this so we can do both sunrise and sunset, as well as enjoy places that may be a couple hours apart.)
Even though it was a gorgeous clear day and not yet the dead of winter, for some reason it was about 40°F tops when we got there! A & B were such troopers through this half of the day. They shared their heartfelt personal vows in the crisp white pre-sunset light. Not a dry eye in “house.” :’)
Grand Canyon elopement: sunset portraits & star photos
Onto the final part of the day! A & B bravely faced the nearly freezing temps for some amazing sunset photos at Lipan Point. Like I said, absolute troopers. (Most of the cute hugging you see was just natural because it was cold.) Then we headed over to Moran Point to take a few star photos before we all got too cold to continue.
This was such an amazing day in some spectacular places! A dream day of work for me and a dream Arizona elopement for this beautiful couple. :) Thank you so much, A & B!
