Wedding Photography in Utah

Utah offers more dramatic natural wedding photography than perhaps any other state in the nation. The concentration of national parks — Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef — within a 3-hour radius of each other in southern Utah is unparalleled, and the diversity of geological forms within that region is extraordinary: Zion's sheer Navajo Sandstone canyon walls, Bryce's pink-orange hoodoo amphitheaters, Arches' delicate stone spans, and Moab's red desert valley with the La Sal Mountains rising behind.

Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front form Utah's urban wedding market — the Temple Square area, the University of Utah's Red Butte Garden, Liberty Park, the Gilgal Sculpture Garden, and a growing arts and venue scene in the Sugar House and 9th and 9th neighborhoods. The Wasatch Mountains rise directly behind the city, giving Salt Lake a mountain-backdrop immediacy that few American cities match.

Park City, 30 miles east of Salt Lake, is the Wasatch Back's ski-resort wedding market — with Deer Valley's mountain venues, the historic Main Street district, and the Sundance Resort area (actually near Provo Canyon) serving a high-end destination market that attracts couples from across the country and internationally.

Utah's wedding photography conditions vary dramatically by region and elevation. Southern Utah's canyon country — Zion, Arches, Moab — operates on a spring-and-fall calendar. March through May and September through November offer the most comfortable temperatures for canyon hiking and ceremony access, as the summer months bring genuine desert heat (110°F+ in Moab in July is not uncommon).

Zion National Park's canyon is particularly beautiful in October, when the cottonwood trees along the Virgin River turn brilliant gold against the red Navajo Sandstone walls. Arches National Park at dawn in spring — the light reaching into Landscape Arch or Delicate Arch from the east — is one of the most extraordinary photography experiences available anywhere on earth.

Park City and the Wasatch resorts operate on a summer and winter calendar. Summer (late June through September) at mountain elevation is cool and beautiful, with wildflower meadows at the ski areas and the Timpanogos Wilderness accessible for day hikes with park ceremony permits. Winter brings snow and ski-season ambiance that creates a completely different mountain aesthetic.

Salt Lake City has a four-season climate moderated by the Great Salt Lake. Spring and fall are the finest outdoor photography seasons, with the Wasatch foothills turning amber in October and the canyon-mouth communities of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons showing brilliant fall color accessible within 30 minutes of the city.

Salt Lake City's Red Butte Garden, Liberty Park, the Gilgal Sculpture Garden, and the various venues in the Sugar House and downtown corridors serve our urban Utah market. The Natural History Museum of Utah's canyon-rim site above the university campus is one of the more architecturally distinctive Utah venues available.

For southern Utah elopements and small ceremonies, we photograph throughout the national park and monument landscape. Zion's Angels Landing viewpoint (with appropriate planning), the Narrows entry area, and Emerald Pools all provide canyon settings of extraordinary visual power. Arches' Delicate Arch amphitheater — accessible by permit for ceremony activity — is perhaps the single most iconic Utah photography location.

Bryce Canyon's Bryce Amphitheater overlooks and the Fairyland Trail hoodoo formations, Capitol Reef's Fruita orchards and canyon overlooks, and Canyonlands' Island in the Sky mesa all provide distinct visual environments within southern Utah's red-rock country.

Park City's Main Street historic district, the Deer Valley resort event facilities, and the mountain meadows above the ski runs at Canyons Village serve the Wasatch Back market. Provo's Utah Lake shoreline and the Sundance Mountain Resort venue in Provo Canyon serve our Utah County market.

Utah canyon country has a quality of light — red sandstone bouncing warm color into shadow areas, the high desert clarity that gives distant formations a sharpness impossible in humid environments, and the particular dawn and dusk color when sun catches the canyon walls — that is simply unavailable anywhere else. We photograph Utah weddings with deep respect for that light, planning portrait timing around the geological and seasonal conditions that make each location extraordinary.