How to Elope in Glacier National Park Montana
Updated 2025
Elopement & Wedding
Planning Guide
How to Elope in Glacier National Park in 7 easy steps - Ultimate Montana Elopement Guide
First a few Bonus Tips
GNP is the ideal place to elope with just the two of you or with closest friends and family.
Most ceremony locations allow for up to 15 people total (including guests, the two of you, photographer, officiant, and videographer) Groups larger than 15 are limited to a few ceremony locations or the campground amphitheaters.
We do help our clients with choosing the best location to fit their needs.
You can view the park’s wedding rules &, regulations here Getting Married in the Park - Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
The park has also put together a very handy FAQ’s page that you can find here Weddings: Frequently Asked Questions - Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
For information on the different wedding and elopement ceremony locations offered in Glacier National Park please visit this pageWedding Locations - Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
We photograph the majority of the weddings within Glacier Park each season and up to 150 elopements between the two of us each year.
First of all, there are soooo many blogs on this subject that have inaccurate information written by outside of the area photographers or vendors. Please know that we photograph the majority of the weddings within Glacier Park each season and up to 150 elopements between the two of us each year. We do work directly with the park each year to pass along to you the most accurate and up to date information.
Want to get in touch ASAP & chat about your big day!?
BOOK YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER
STEP ONE
Hey! It's Carrie Ann & Stella!
We are a mother/daughter photographer team specializing in elopements & intimate weddings based in Glacier National Park Montana. We photograph the majority of the weddings within Glacier Park at over 150 weddings each year and definitely consider ourselves experts on the subject. Carrie Ann is entering her 19th season as a wedding photographer in Montana with over 1000 weddings & elopements photographed to date. Stella is entering her 5th season as an elopement photographer with over 200 elopements photographed to date.
Let's talk about what you should look for in a photographer.
Your photographer should be there to help you throughout your planning process & give you a lot of reliable information. Making sure your photographer has years of experience photographing elopements and weddings is a must in our opinion.
Be sure your photographer lives in the area year-round, specializes in weddings in Glacier National park, and can share with you at least 20 full galleries from the GNP minimum so you can view their work in all lighting situations.
An experienced local photographer will book up fast, if there is a certain date/season you are wanting, be sure to reach out as soon as possible to ensure you can lock in your date!
CHOOSE YOUR
DATE & SEASON
STEP TWO
We recommend evening ceremonies leading into sunset time.
(Check sunset times here)
Our sunsets here are very late. This can get in the way of any sort of traditional dinner/reception with family & friends on the same day as your wedding. We offer great suggestions to our couples on how best to handle this.
Things to think about when choosing your date & season:
November - March in the park is limited to the West Glacier area and are our Winter months
April & May are our Spring months
June offers the snow capped mountains!
July & August are our peak Summer months
September & October are our Fall months
Going to the sun road does not fully open until late June or early July. The full park is open July-September.
CHOOSE YOUR CEREMONY LOCATION
STEP THREE
Five main locations in the park:
WEST GLACIER
LOGAN PASS
TWO MEDICINE
MANY GLACIER
POLEBRIDGE
Each of these locations offers mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and wooded areas. When choosing a location, I recommend looking at several wedding galleries in each location and choosing what strikes you most.
STEP FOUR
APPLY FOR YOUR SPECIAL USE WEDDING PERMIT
To be married or perform vows within Glacier National Park a Special Use Permit is REQUIRED.
To view all the information you will need click HERE. We do provide our booked couples with a step by step guide with location and timing suggestions.
BOOK YOUR OTHER VENDORS
STEP FIVE
We offer all inclusive packages including the most common services.
We also now have lodging in our cabins or farmhouse. Check out our new Montana wedding chapel micro venue.
Check those out options below:
Plan the rest of your trip to Montana
STEP seven
Now for the fun stuff!! Make those travel plans and start dreaming of your perfect Glacier Park & Flathead Valley wedding day!!!
Check out our favorite lodging below:
