Having a Micro Wedding or Elopement in Glacier National Park is Very Easy...Despite What You've Read.
Have you thought about eloping in Glacier National Park and shied away due to outdated or misinformation you’ve read online? The park has made a lot of changes in the past few years, scaring away a lot of sweet couples like you, by making these changes sound complicated and impossible to navigate through. In reality, a lot of these changes don’t affect your wedding at all!! We’re here to share our local- up to date knowledge with you on just how easy eloping in Glacier National Park really is!! Let’s debunk all the reasons couples may think eloping in Glacier is just too difficult. It’s a dream location that should be at the very top of your list!!
Did you know this system has ZERO effect on your wedding day?! If you and your photographer are taking all the right steps to legally hold a ceremony within Glacier National Park, you will have no need to even obtain a vehicle reservation system ticket for your wedding day! In our experience, this system alone turns away a lot of couples wanting to hold their dream elopement in Glacier Park. If you have obtained a Wedding Ceremony special use permit from the park, that permit takes place of your vehicle reservation system ticket for the TOTAL number of vehicles approved on your permit!
Will you need to obtain a Vehicle Reservation System Ticket for adjacent days of your wedding? Yes. If you would like to enter the park entrance between 6am-3pm on any day other than your wedding day, you will need a vehicle reservation ticket for that area of the park. Obtaining these tickets can be made very easy when getting on to reserve yours the day they are released at 8am. When booking with a local photographer, such as ourselves..they should be able to walk you through just how to get these tickets and what steps to take to make this process as easy as possible for you! Do not worry if you are unable to get these tickets as you can still enter the park WITHOUT a ticket before 6am for a day of hiking or after 3pm to enjoy the quiet long evenings in the park.
2. Obtaining a Special Use Permit
Applying for a special use permit to hold a ceremony or say vows within the Park boundaries can be completed in 4 easy steps! These 4 easy steps being..
Find the link for the special use permit application (or simply click the link provided to you when booked with us (; )
Fill out the special use permit application (All information needed to fill out this application is written out for our booked couples, you simply just have to put the information we provide into the application!)
Email the application in to the parks permit office!
Wait to hear back & sign your approved permit!
-Additional Information on Special Use Permits-
* Special Use Permits are $125
*Special Use Permits are NOT HARD to obtain & 95% of the time you will have no problems getting approved for your desired location and time! Permits are processed now very quickly!!!
*Special Use Permits are given in 2 hour increments, this means, your ceremony can take place at anytime within those 2 hours. Your ceremony must be completed by the time your 2 hour permit is up, however, you may still remain at your ceremony location for family photos, toast, etc. after your permitted time is up. (Please be courteous of a couple that may have a ceremony taking place in the time slot right after yours, you may have to shuffle to a different area of that location to complete your toast, formals, etc. if they are taking place outside your permitted window.) And yes, after that 2 hour time is up for your permit we can go anywhere the general public is allowed for the rest of your photos leading up to our beautiful sunset time.
3. How Many People and Vehicles are Allowed at My Wedding Ceremony?
Every area of the park has designated ceremony locations, and every ceremony location allows for a certain amount of guests and vehicles.
Most ceremony locations within the Logan Pass valley allow for 15-20 guests and most ceremony locations within Two Medicine allow for 15-30 guests. Locations in the Many Glacier area allow for up to 15 guests and West Glacier is 15-20 guests.
There are amphitheaters within every area of the park in the campground areas that allows for more guests ranging from 30-250 guests.
If your party is larger than 30 guests but not large enough to warrant the amphitheaters, we would highly recommend looking into some nearby wedding venues that may offer a micro wedding package & head into the park for photos after your ceremony! We also know of some amazing forest service locations just outside the park to accommodate for these larger groups and you do not need to obtain a permit of any kind to hold a ceremony in these areas.
Vehicles allowed are based on how many guests are allowed at that location-
Up to 20 guests = 4 vehicles
21-60 guests = 6 vehicles
61-100 guests = 10 vehicles
100-250 guests = 15 vehicles
You can check out permitted ceremony locations and their restrictions HERE!
LARGER GROUPS— *Did you know, you do NOT need a permit to just take photos within the park! Soo you can still head into the park for all the amazing wedding photos after holding your ceremony outside the park boundaries! Our sunsets are so late here in MT, your photographer would most likely want to enter the park for those photos after 3pm as well so no vehicle reservation is needed at that time either!*
*Shoulder season which is the 2nd Monday in October-2nd Thursday in May allows for more guests and vehicles at most ceremony locations!*
Who is included in your guest count?
You must include, the both of you, your officiant, your photographer(s), your videographer (if applicable) as well as all your guests in your total guest count. This total guest count (including yourselves and all vendors) must be within your permitted guest count on your permit.
4. Road Closures, Lodging & Car Rentals
Road closures can be a worry here in Montana with unpredictable weather and never-ending construction. However, let us ease your mind on the thought of not being able to reach your ceremony location due to a road closure.
The park WILL NOT issue permits for any location that won’t be accessible on your date, so unless there is an unforeseen and rare occurrence such as a landslide unseasonal snowstorm, you will be able to reach your ceremony site! Now sometimes it does require a longer drive to reach a ceremony site if certain roads are still closed for the winter season, however, if the park is willing to issue you a permit for a location on your date, you can guarantee there will be a way to get there! All road construction within the park is scheduled out far in advance so the park knows which areas they can’t issue permits before the time comes to start issuing them.
Lodging in hotels does book up fast but you are in luck coming to such a tourist destination that we have a ton of cabin rentals or Airbnb/VRBO’s in our area with more rentals being built daily! Our tourism is back to a normal level so we are no longer seeing the lodging shortages we saw in 2020-2021 due to increased travel here during the pandemic.
*Check out 2 amazing VRBO rentals just 20 minutes from the West Glacier entrance HERE & HERE.
During that increased tourism we not only saw a shortage in lodging but it was also almost impossible to secure a rental car for your stay, especially at a reasonable price. Rental cars are no longer in shortage and due to the prior shortage, we now have a large Turo base of cars here in the area as well!
Now that you know just how EASY it is to Elope or have a micro wedding in Glacier National Park contact us soon to start planning your wedding adventure you’ve always dreamed of!! Even if your wedding is 1-2 years out or next week, we know how to help get you that permit and plan in short time and have all of the area’s best resources to do so!! Our all-inclusive packages make it even easier on you to just book those flights and come and say “I do” in one of the most stunning locations on earth! Yes, your family and friends will LOVE you for bringing them here as well!
