AN UNFORGETTABLE DESTINATION WEDDING, TO say the least
The story begins here- a friend from high school reached out to me last year to see if I would shoot her wedding in Montana and I, a person with a functioning brain, obviously said yes!
I flew into Spokane, Washington with Joe the Tuesday before what would be Emma Beth Photo's FIRST destination wedding! We got three straight days of perfect 75° sunshine to go explore Glacier National Park for the first time and scout out locations for our client's Saturday adventure session. We even got to do photos of our own in the park to commemorate the trip! I'm honestly not sure how I'll ever be able to top this trip, with my first national park visit was Glacier- I really do mean that. Between the mountains, the clean air, the friendly people, the sunsets at 10pm? I'm not sure anything could ever live up to the magic that was Montana. The 4.5 hour drive from Spokane felt like a 30 minute drive in NY. I kid you not, everything is so so beautiful that it made the car ride fly by. I thought Joe and I would take turns driving, but I handled every leg on my own without even realizing it because the view was THAT good.
Now to the wedding. We were mentally prepping all week for Autumn and Robin’s big day, double checking plans to do their adventure session in Glacier- specifically Logan Pass, surrounded by wildflowers- before heading back to their Airbnb to do a small ceremony with their closest family and friends, and a reception to follow. After what our friends in Brady (a small, middle of nowhere town towards the east side of Montana) had said was a weeks long drought enough to scare all of the farmers across the state, it started downpouring Friday morning. And kept pouring. The temperature dropped to 50° after a beautiful 72 the day prior. Even worse- GNP announced early that afternoon that they’d be shutting down Going to the Sun Road indefinitely at 8pm. It was going to SNOW in the alpine sections of the park- aka most of GTTSR, and was most definitely going to be closed all weekend. My heart broke for my clients in that moment, but we ended up pivoting- from a mountaintop hike to a low altitude, foggy, lakeside adventure session (which turned out gorgeous, by the way).
The beginning of the morning still went as planned- I started work at 630am! Autumn was getting hair and makeup done, and then all of her girls would get ready after we were already well on our way- so I had plenty of time to do some detail shots waiting for the first look! Autumn had the most incredible converse embroidered with their names and wedding date, and had created a wedding newspaper with all of their mutual history, shared travels, important dates, and their wedding vendors listed!
After the first look, we headed to the park. We started off at the very end of the accessible parts of the park- they had shut the gates right at the section of the park (Avalanche Lake trail area) where the road starts to narrow, and cars are limited by size. We took photos with lanterns and some GNP umbrellas we bought at the gift shop on the way in. Then, we sought out tree cover on the first extension of Avalanche Lake trail. Joe and I had scouted this spot out Thursday afternoon and I'm SO glad we did. The crossroads between the Lake Trail and Trail of the Cedars was the perfect spot for us to do their private vows. Autumn and Robin had already been married (surprise!) legally since September, but this was the first time they were able to read their vows together. The rain, as loud as it was, was a blessing in disguise- we couldn't hear their vows from all of 10-15 ft away, so they were completely private, like we weren't even there.
From there, we made it back to the truck and headed to another spot that Autumn had suggested- Apgar Village! The rocky beaches on Lake McDonald are absolutely gorgeous- the fog rolling in and the once clear blue water turning dark brought such a moody look to their photos. We actually joked that the park felt like a Twilight movie that day. Robin took it upon himself to point at a spot down the lake, which is a pose I often prompt for adventure sessions when there's something pretty to look at- but he told me afterward that he and Autumn had been talking about their engagement (remember, even from 10 ft away I couldn't hear a word over the rain!) and he was actually pointing at the exact place that he had asked Autumn to marry him! I just love their love so much- they are such thoughtful people and the most incredible couple together.
We ended the session near Lake McDonald Lodge at a patch of lupine flowers I'd found earlier in the week, and an obligatory photo with the national park sign. It rained literally the ENTIRE time we were in the park, mind you. Pouring. Rain. By the time we got back in the truck, I had one water-damaged camera body (yes, I got it checked out and it is now a paperweight lol) and -close- to zero regrets.
After drying off, we headed to the couple’s Airbnb in Kalispell for their ceremony and reception with family. Honestly, it all went perfect- Well, after the girls spent 2 hours drying her dress with a blow dryer lol. The ceremony was fun, full of love, and super colorful, which is always a plus when you edit like I do. The reception space was equally as amazing- the bridal party's hard work really paid off. I was stunned at the difference in the tent between my 6am arrival and 3pm before the ceremony. Speeches were just the right amount of heartfelt without making you sob, and while I usually find myself tearing up at weddings, this one was extra special because I knew Autumn when I was a kid and seriously looked up to her! My life wouldn't be the same had we not met in Model UN during my first year in a new school and her last. To know her is absolutely to love her, and being there it didn't feel like that many years had passed since I'd seen her. It was such an honor to get to be there, and to meet the husband I have seen SO much about in all of her world travel posts.
This is where the story gets EXTRA interesting- and what inspired me to start blogging in the first place!
Around 7pm, Joe took a break from videoing and went to grab a charger out of our rental car- Note: our flight out of Spokane was at 6:50am the next morning, so we were planning to leave Kalispell around 11pm. The keys? Gone. Not in the car, not on the table where we KNOW we left them, not outside. 30 wedding guests helped us search when the wedding ended. We looked again. And again. They had straight up disappeared. Not so pro tip if you're going to lose the keys to your car, but Spokane was way cheaper than flying in or out of Kalispell the week we went—totally worth the drive for the sights, and to save the couple some money!
Anyway, while I was on the phone with the rental company arranging to have the car towed—prepping myself to miss our flight and have to rebook—something insane happened. One of the wedding guests overheard me mention Spokane on the phone (obviously we couldn't get a rental replacement in time to make our flight when they're all closed for the night, so here I was troubleshooting with the nice guy on the phone) and said, “Wait... Spokane? I have to drive through Spokane tomorrow morning anyway."
Enter our hero: a wedding guest who lives van life in a converted ambulance (yes, you read that right), who decided to leave Montana a day early just so that some strangers could make our flight on time. Although, being nomadic I'm sure the company was nice! He's @NomadFlyFisher on Instagram, by the way, and he and his dog Axel were absolute angels. I regret not getting a pic of the rig, but he has plenty on IG! The only photo I have of that journey until my film rolls come back from scanning is this pic of Axel taken while driving thru Idaho and/or dodging Elk. The whole night still feels like some weird fever dream tbh. Had we driven our rental car and hit one of those? Well, I may not be here to write this blog.
The keys? Still missing. Three weeks later (and now, while editing, TWO MONTHS!). At this point, I think they just straight-up vanished into another dimension. Everything happens for a reason right?
Moral of the story is, bring a backup camera. Don’t leave your keys ANYWHERE. And maybe make friends with the guy that owns an ambulance, that might help too.
-Emma :)
PS: I'll leave some phone photos of us and our favorite hikes. More on those later? Maybe when I get my film scans back... xoxo <3
A sweet couple we met on the Hidden Lake Trail Overlook. The orange posts are signs warning that the trail to the lake itself is closed past this point- lots of food accustomed bear warnings this year!
The river on the way to Avalanche Lake. The water is even more blue and gorgeous in person- kinda looked like Gatorade if I'm being honest.
Avalanche Lake- One of my favorite views on the whole trip! The walk there took about an hour and a half- it was ALL uphill so we took a couple breaks! Luckily, after our freezing cold swim, it was only 30 minutes on the way back downhill- we even saw a bear halfway thru!
So lucky that we could snag a short layover for our bestie Courtney to come visit us! Joe and I were staying in Whitefish, MT for about a week, and our out of pocket splurge on the work trip was getting our own photos done!
This was Joe's favorite hike of the entire trip. To get to Hidden Lake Overlook, you have to park at the incredibly popular Logan Pass and follow the trail up the mountain. We were so bummed that the trail was closed for bear activity, but just the view from the overlook was well worth the grueling walk! Note to self- Come back in July or August when we won't have to walk uphill thru snow and ice formations lol.
And of course our obligatory national park sign photo on our first day. I don't think I could've imagined how great this trip would be. Glacier is officially my FIRST national park as someone who's dreamed of visiting them all, and I'm not sure how I'll ever top this. I can't wait to go back!