Death Valley is ammmmazing in the winter. There are numerous colorful landscapes to enjoy from the Artist's Palette to Badwater Salt Flats, Sand Dunes, Zabrinski Point and numerous slot canyons, too.

I go to Death Valley every winter, twice. I am super familiar with the landscape and willing to offer a discount on photography and elopement planning services in order to shoot an epic elopement here.

I would love to help you plan all of these details from getting ready to the ceremony and and celebration you choose there after. 

Death Valley

Why get married at Death Valley?
The variety of landscapes here are amazing! You can apply for a permit for anywhere or get married in Breakfast Canyon which is closed to visitors. You'll still want to take wedding photos EVERYWHERE. And that's okay, I'm so down for the cause.

Some of my favorite locations are:

How to get a permit for a wedding at Death Valley?
Almost all national parks require a special use permit for weddings. If you have more than 10 people for your Death Valley wedding the permit will be for Breakfast Canyon. You can still take photos in your wedding attire all over the park, without any further permitting.  Requests for different elopement locations in Death Valley are reviewed by a case-by-case basis but the less people you have, the better your chances are of approval. Check out the application. 

Rules for Death Valley weddings:
The mission of the National Park Service at large, is to preserve and protect the visitor experience. This means, that you can ask another visitor to move out of the way or bring loud music. You can't set up chairs, unless it's necessary for an elderly guest. You are not allowed to set up arches and all florals are handheld. 

How to get started planning your wedding at Death Valley:
1. Fill out the permit application.
2. Email it to to DEVA_Permits@nps.gov
3. The park will look at your application and provide info on payment submission. Once it is paid, it will be sent to your for your signature. Sign it and send it back for formal approval.

How much will a Death Valley Wedding Cost:
There are a couple different ways that you can do this. The permit might be $300, if you have guests. However, if your elopement is very low impact and includes less than 10 people, you might not be required to pay for a permit at all. Entry to the park is $30. Then of course, travel, lodging and meals. Let's get into that...

What is the easiest way to get to Death Valley? 
Most all national parks require a little bit of transportation to and from and, in order to really see everything, a car to get around while there. Death Valley feels huge. I've been a frequent visitor for the last 10+ years, I'm not even really sure but I've spent A LOT of time driving around Death Valley and the surrounding area and a car would be good. There are still a lot of things that I haven't seen. I would probably avoid the 4x4 myself as there are plenty of places accessible. 

4x4 at Death Valley 
There are a few places only accessible by 4x4 but I would personally rather avoid those during a wedding as its a huge gamble and risk. The 4x4 isn't as necessary as really good tires, two spares and the ability and time to change them. The road is full of sharp rocks, its not the clearance that the park service highly recommends. Unless you are a regular 4x4 driver and this is a part of who you guys are as a couple, I think renting a regular car to get around is fine, most all other roads are good. If they ever reopen Titus Canyon, than more clearance would be nice and maybe awd depending on what condition they restore the road to. 

Airports to Death Valley
For getting to Death Valley, Las Vegas is pretty easy to fly into. IIt has the reputation for having everything so i bet you could rent or get anything you wanted in terms of last minute wedding supplies. From LAS it's 2 hours. These other cities might be useful too. : Los Angeles - 4 hours and San Diego - 5 hours

Before you go too far, you'll need to get the marriage license
Death Valley is a little out of the way so look ahead to plan getting the marriage licence in California. You can get it from any county in Cali  but call first to double check. Otherwise, you'll need to plan to get it in Independence CA. I can help you with all of this. Alternatively, the paperwork can just be paperwork and you are welcome to share some vows or hold a soul bonding ceremony without worrying about more. Some do it this way and then become legally married at a courthouse later or elsewhere.

Where to stay
I am pretty much a dirtbag and will always camp out when I am in the Death Valley area but if you are getting married, I would totally splurge for the Inn at Death Valley. I absolutely love it there. I almost always stop and go in upstairs to the bar area at least once a trip just to enjoy the ambiance of the hotel. Otherwise I like what some call the pads, I call it the slabs. It's some great free camping not too far from Zabriskie Point. I have a whole list of every option for lodging that is hard to organize here but can provide you this info, if we end up working together.

What's with the weather at Death Valley?
In general, all of my visits have been between November and early April. Anytime in there is perfect weather, to me. It can get a bit cold at night sometimes but I love it. That might be some of the quiestest time at the park, excluding holidays like Christmas - New Years and MLK Day. Maybe a little influx on President's Day weekend. 

What should I do on my wedding Day?
There are so so many amazing things that you could do. You could even split something up into a sunset and a sunrise the following day. I usually like to try to have a bit of a storyline and maybe one part would be:

1.  change into wedding attire in one location before seeing each other for the first time - First look Photos/ Getting ready
2. Gift exchange and or photos with florals
3. Ceremony
4. Celebration - fizzy drinks and cake or cake pops or your favorite beer. Maybe a first dance, but no amplified sounds should be allowed.

Each of those items could be in any of the locations I listed above. You can drive between those locations pretty easily which is cool for getting variety and enjoying the varied views that Death Valley offers. 

What other locations  and photos should I consider?
Man, there are so mannnny amazing places in and around death valley that we could include in photos or do fun things in. We could....
- Camp out under epic spires or run ro ride bikes through them, it looks like another planet
- soak in some super hot hotsprings surrounded by tall grasses and purple mountains
 - share date shakes from a little historic date farm 
- wander through the ramparts of the Rhyolite ghost town 
- look at some sculptures in the desert
- hike to a waterfall in the middle of the hottest place on earth
- stand of the edge of a massive crater
- go sandboarding in the Mesquite Sand Dunes
-  look for opal in Shoshone.
- go bike packing through echo canyon 
- summit a butte
- canyoneering in the funeral mountains


..... and a million and one more things