Fairytale Fall Leaves & Fallen Snow Elopement at Red Butte Garden
Red Butte Garden - Salt Lake City, Utah
When photographing outdoor weddings, weather always plays a big role. As a wedding photographer sometimes you’re lucky and other times not so much. Is it possible to have both on a wedding day?
J&A decided to marry on their own terms. A big wedding day with lots of guests did not sound like them at all. In fact they confided in me during their engagement session that if it were up to them, they’d just sign some paperwork and call it a day. After discussing with their families, they met in the middle and decided on signing papers and doing a ceremony at the Salt Lake County Clerk’s office… on Election Day.
The couple showed up to the Clerk’s Office in a wedding dress and suit as many folks waited in line to place their vote in the presidential election. The sky was overcast with light snow beginning to fall. It was still a bit early in the fall for snow to be falling in the Salt Lake valley as the leaves were still vibrant with a mix of red, orange and yellow. We didn’t think to much of this before heading into the main building.
It was quite lively at the County Clerk’s Office with many words of encouragement from voters passing by. The couple and their families hung out in the Clerk’s Office waiting room before being summoned to sign some paperwork. A modest ceremony was then held where the couple signed their marriage certificate. Now it was time to head to Red Butte Garden for bridal and family photos.
When we arrived at Red Butte Garden, the sky was even darker than at the County Clerk’s Office. The Red Butte staff was absolutely amazing, having golf carts ready to drive the bride and groom and their family around the garden grounds. The leaves in the upper elevation were even more stunning than in the valley!
As we set up for the first family formals, the sky gave way and snow began to fall at such a rapid rate that it looked like a literal snow globe out there! It was snowing so hard that my camera wouldn’t focus on anything except for the falling snow! It was at this point that I was feeling that luck was not on our side. We were getting to the point of calling it and moving indoors when all of the sudden the snow stopped.
The snow had collected and gifted us with a beautiful contrast of white and vibrant fall colors. This was quite the rare occurrence and we were now starting to feel quite lucky after all. Although it was freezing (especially for the bride and other ladies in dresses) the beauty of the fall landscape at Red Butte peppered with white snow made for some incredible family formals and solo photos of the bride and groom. Red Butte became something that appeared to be out of a fairytale and the bride’s princess dress was very apropos for said fairytale.
What we first thought was a curse instead ended up being a blessing! One of the most exciting things about being a wedding photographer is the unknown and figuring out how to adapt on a wedding day!
