Kylie & Murat | Arches National Park Elopement

Kylie and Murat love traveling and visiting new places together. When they decided on a venue for their wedding, it was clear that they wanted an Arches National Park elopement. Arches is one of their favorite national parks in America, and we managed to check off two new arches for them on their wedding day! With entrance reservations and wedding permits in hand, we met that morning in the parking lot to hike in to the arch together. It’s always a little funny hiking in a popular area on a wedding day – everyone around offers congratulations to the couple all dressed up, their fancy attire a stark contrast to the athletic hiking clothes of everyone else on the trail. We carried packs of supplies and a box with a cake, and set up camp along a rock wall as their officiant helped tourists with photos and ushered them out of the area for our allotted ten minutes beneath the arch for their ceremony.

The two exchanged vows, rings, and a first kiss as a married couple beneath a towering arch – one of the two new-to-them arches of the day – and we asked one of the couple people who stayed to watch the ceremony if they would sign as witness. Carl, wherever you are, thank you for your service! I love that part of weddings in Moab – so often we end up asking a random hiker to witness a wedding, and it is such a fun story for all involved. They get to go home and tell their family they witnessed a wedding at the national park that day, which I’m guessing is a first for him!

After the ceremony we allowed park guests to get more photos with the arch before we set up a cake cutting for Kylie and Murat. They shared a spice cake that was so delicious and we took some portraits with the arch before setting off to explore the rest of the park for more photos and more shouts of congrats from passersby. Take a peek at some of my favorite scenes from their Arches National Park elopement: