For Amanda and Darian, their Death Valley proposal plans had to change. A courthouse wedding was chosen instead in light of Darian’s potential deployment as a nurse in the U.S. Army. Almost a year later, these two were so excited at the idea of Death Valley photos in honor of their original plans!
Choosing Death Valley Photos Because It’s Just Right For Both of You
While Death Valley had always been the proposal plan, ironically, it was never the park where these two envisioned eloping. That vision had always been mountains and big trees. But, as they expressed, “Death Valley was not a disappointment. It was different but beautiful and we’re so thrilled we eloped there.”
Death Valley National Park held so much meaning after experiencing their favorite sunset ever in the salt flats a few years prior during their first visit. Describing themselves as a huge “chasing sunsets” couple, Death Valley photos had always been in their sights.
More than anything, the couple was looking forward most to the adventure of it all. Amanda and Darian have made it their life-long goal as a couple to visit all of the national parks. Upon arriving in this park, they couldn’t wait to go for a hike and explore the area!
As they explained, “national parks are a huge part of our relationship. We have to hike and camp in the parks to count them. We are huge national park junkies so we knew we had to be in one to truly capture our relationship. It only made sense for it to be part of our wedding.”
Both brides are ER trauma nurses which can be a pretty high-stress job so they often need to get outdoors to “remember ourselves and be able to keep ourselves sane. Adventuring and traveling is our absolute favorite thing to do.”
Making Plans Then Checking Them Twice
All of this was pretty easy to plan until we found out that the road to Badwater Basin was closed. This really threw us for a pickle! It also affected our ability to even hike to other locations on their list such as Artists Palette and Golden Canyon. Luckily, Amanda and Darren found Cottonwood Basin which definitely has a similar look.
While it is still a salt flat, the main difference is that it doesn’t get that puzzle piece kind of texture like Badwater Basin. But, it still has beautiful sunsets!
What started as a small adjustment to an original plan led to a multi-day experience spreading out the celebration over the course of three days! Here is the Death Valley National Park photo itinerary that they chose:
- Sunset at Zabriskie Point
- Dante’s View Dark Sky Photos
- Dante’s View Sunrise Hike
- Elopement Day at Cottonwood Basin
- Celebration Dinner at The Ranch 1849 Restaurant
- Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes
I really love trying out taking dark sky photos. It can take a lot of time to create one image which can prove difficult for the couple when it’s cold and windy. We were lucky that it was a bigger moon on the night we attempted.
Wedding Day Touches That Matter To The Two of You
Knowing what was important to Amanda, Darian made plans for flowers and a way to incorporate the memory of her dad who had tragically passed away the year prior. I knew this was a job for my work wife, Sarah Kay. In addition to her work as a wedding officiant, she also offers couples her skills in wedding florals and boutonnieres.
I got her involved early on in the process so she could beautiful pieces for these Death Valley photos:
- Rose gold locket with a photo of a father-daughter moment in a sunflower box since those were his favorite flowers.
- Lace from Amanda’s mother’s wedding dress wrapped around the handle of her father‘s favorite shirt turned into a rosette flower in the bouquet.
- Darian’s bouquet wrapped in romantic black lace similar to her dress style.
- All the flowers chosen for each bouquet are intentionally from spring and summer.
Being huge fans of beautiful objects, the couple was equally excited about seeing their bouquets and revealing their rings to each other for the first time. The couple found this to be “thrilling and so exciting because they were so much better than they could have imagined!”
While I thought Sarah Kay’s involvement would be limited to these creations, she also offered to do a short elopement ceremony which didn’t require a permit since these two were already married. One final way that Sarah Kay and I affected these Death Valley photos is actually really funny!
While on a call with Amanda and Darian, we mentioned how another couple had decided on all-black for their wedding outfits. These two got so excited by the idea that they couldn’t stop thinking about black wedding dresses.
After a research deep dive, they realized that the color black could be very romantic without going too goth. As the couple shared, “The black wedding dresses were the best choice once we were able to find the perfect feminine ones!”
The Place Where An Elopement Photographer Wants to Be
Death Valley is really one of my most favorite places to be! For many years in my slower seasons I would drive out and spend weeks there at a time. I did a bike packing trip there for my 40th birthday and I’ve canyoneered from Christmas to New Years (which I’m doing again this year!). There are peaks I’ve still not climbed and hot springs I haven’t ventured to so I can’t wait to return!
While these two had not originally planned for much, going for Death Valley photos turned their elopement into a beautiful memory. Amanda and Darian both agreed that spending money on a special wedding for themselves was money well spent. They deserve to have a special moment that they can cherish, and we gave them just that!
Wedding Vendors
Destination | Death Valley National Park
Bouquet | Sarah Kay
Photographer | Terri Attridge Photography
PIN THIS
