Yosemite Wedding Ceremony

Yosemite National Park is one of the most magical places to get married! Especially for people who are adventurous nature lovers! But it’s definitely not the most simple place to plan a wedding. There are a lot of rules and restrictions. So if you are dreaming of having a Yosemite Wedding or Elopement, you’ll want to do some research first. Make sure that you’ll be able to follow all of their guidelines! If you have a very specific idea of how you want your wedding day to go, and want every detail to be perfect, this might not be the best spot for you. But if you’re flexible and want to keep it simple then a Yosemite wedding ceremony could be perfect for you!

Helpful Things to Know

• To have a wedding ceremony, or even just to take wedding photos in Yosemite you have to get a permit.
• You can’t have your ceremony just anywhere in the park; you have to choose from one of their approved sites.
• Each site has different limits on how many people you can have, but most are between 25-50 people max. The site that Natasha and Ethan chose, Sentinel Beach Picnic Area allows up to 100 people.
• If you will be eloping and will have less than 11 people, then you don’t have to stay within one of the ceremony sites listed!
• Unlike a normal venue, you can’t reserve a specific spot. And there’s no guarantee that you’ll have your ceremony spot all to yourselves. All of the spots are first come first served. So there’s always a possibility that you might get to the location you picked out and find that it’s taken by another group. And you’re not allowed to keep other park visitors from the area, so you might have random people wandering around during your ceremony. But if you’re flexible, you can go to a different spot, or wait until it’s free.
• They don’t allow formal receptions at any of the day use areas. They only way you can have a reception in the park is if you book one of the hotels as an all-inclusive type of wedding venue.
• At the ceremony sites, you can’t set up chairs or tables, or put up decorations of any kind.
• Any music has to be acoustic; you can’t use amplification or sound systems.
• You can’t throw rice, birdseed, confetti, butterflies or any other living or inanimate objects.

Here is a link to the national park website that lists the ceremony locations and has all the info you need to know!

Vendors

Venue: Sentinel Beach Picnic Area – Yosemite National Park

Makeup: Erica Alise Russel

Hair: Kathy Rocha

Dress Designer: Essence of Australia

Bridesmaids’ Attire: Azazie

Groom + Groomsmen Attire: Men’s Wearhouse

Engagement Ring – Douglas Jewelers, WI

Wedding Bands: Rogers & Hollands

Photo/Video: Valory Evalyn Photo + Video

Reach out now to book your adventurous wedding or elopement!! And be sure to follow me on Pinterest for more dreamy wedding inspo!