Amangiri Wedding Photographers | The Hearnes
Utah Luxury Elopement, Part One
When Debi and Scott first reached out to us about their elopement, their only priority was to get married in a beautiful place where they felt peaceful and could avoid the stress of a big production like most traditional weddings. As we talked about elopement location ideas, they were on the fence between getting married in Moab, Utah or at Amangiri, a remote luxury resort near Page, Arizona on the Utah border. We obviously love both places — Moab is our home and we love photographing weddings in the red Utah desert! But we also photograph elopements at Amangiri pretty frequently and can never get enough of the magical, peaceful vibe out there in southern Utah. After a little while, Debi floated the question why not both places? She said they really loved the idea of having their actual wedding ceremony at Amangiri completely with the luxury experience of staying there, having a private world-class dinner that evening, and just the overall relaxing vibe really connected with them. But they also loved Moab and with it being such a special place to them, they decided to road trip across Utah and do a second day of adventures in Moab so they could visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks! The final result is truly a dream adventure elopement with everything you could possibly want. They ended up working with some of our favorite vendors ever, including Lesley Lind and Mae & Co, and Debi rocked two gorgeous Rue de Seine dresses that both fit her personal style so well. It was a blast! We decided to divide them up into two blog posts, so here’s the first one: Their luxury elopement at Amangiri Resort.
Elopement Location: Amangiri Resort, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park
Bride’s Dress: Rue de Seine
Hair + Make Up: Lesley Lind
Planning & Styling: Mae & Co
Bouquet & Florals: Tellurian Events
Day one of Debi and Scott’s wedding at Amangiri started off with truly one of the most beautiful sunrises I’ve ever witnessed. We met up with them in their room and they spent the morning sipping tea, ordering breakfast in, and watching the sky light up. It was so vibrant that the surrounding mesas changed colors from their typical white pigments. One of my favorite things about Amangiri is how the buildings were designed to mimic and flow with the landscape, so it was especially cool to see the sunrise light have the same effect on the concrete structures turning the walls orange and magenta. After just a few minutes together, bathed in the sunrise light, we could tell this was going to be a beautiful and incredibly fun weekend.
After the chill morning, they got dressed in hiking clothes for what was definitely one of the highlight experiences — we all adventured on a Via Feratta on the Amangiri property! A via is pretty much a mix of hiking and climbing, they’re pretty common in the European Alps. Essentially, they’re built on mountains, and in this case mesas, that would otherwise be un-hikeable by adding ladders, safety cables, and suspension bridges. We climbed with safety tethers, but it was very challenging both physically (literally climbing ladders that were more than vertical) and mentally (crossing narrow bridges over 300 feet off the ground!). It was SO much fun watching Debi and Scott encourage each other, and honestly so impressive to see them do this ON THEIR WEDDING DAY. Side note, I was 8 months pregnant with Hyder for this, so I’m pretty proud of myself for doing it, with a camera no less ;)
After the Via, they headed back to their room to shower and get ready for the more formal part of their elopement day while we took a small break to rest our feet and grab some lunch. We met back up with them a couple of hours later and when I tell you my jaw DROPPED when I saw Debi in her dress. She is literally a style icon, the boho desert bride of my dreams in that Rue de Seine dress!! Apparently Scott felt the same way, because he was holding back tears during their first look and just couldn’t stop staring at her the entire day. We wandered around the beautiful Amangiri property taking portraits with the gorgeous architecture that mirrored the landscapes — modern concrete slot canyons, sloping mesas, dappled light, and leading pathways that all remind us of shooting in nature. It’s truly such a magical place.
Soon, it was time to head out to their private ceremony location, another magical little area on the property. As our private transport dropped us off, we arrived to hear the beautiful music of a Navajo flute being played in an alcove nearby. One of my favorite things about Amangiri is how important it is to them to hire local staff and honor the local community. Every employee I’ve spoken to loves working there, including the many incredibly talented Navajo artists, musicians, dancers, and officiants they hire. As we walked up to the ceremony space, their officiant was burning sage for them and the light wind made us all feel like we were in a different world. Their ceremony set up was minimal, a little upside-down arch built to blend with the landscape and elevate the space without distracting from the surrounding beauty (Tellurian Events nailed it!). Debi & Scott shared the sweetest ceremony, and then we spent some time soaking in the stunning landscape.
As the sun began to set, we made our way back to the main property where Mae & Co set up the most beautiful private dinner for them. My jaw dropped (yet again) when I walked into the desert patio space and saw their set up! The custom cake made to look like a desert tower, the beautiful flowers and linens that matched the landscape, and little candles to light table as the sun went down, it was all just perfect. To make dinner even more special, they hired local Navajo dancers who not only played incredible music and showcased amazing dancing, they told stories and shared their hearts about their families, their community, and the meaning of their dancing. It was honestly one of the coolest experiences of my life and I know Debi & Scott feel the same way. Personally, I was emotional hearing their music and stories in this place where they’ve been practiced for years. It was so cool to me that our baby was technically there, that she could hear the drums and possibly even see the warmth of the fire at times. It was truly such a magical way the end the most amazing day, watching the fire reflect on the concrete and rock walls just as it had from the sunrise that morning.
And to think, this was only day one of their elopement. Next up: Moab!
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The Hearnes Adventure Photography is run by Abbi and Callen Hearne, a husband & wife elopement wedding photography (and planning!) team with a major emphasis on adventure.
We’ve completely built our life around adventures in beautiful places, and one of our greatest joys is sharing the adventure with our couples. We lived on the road full time for a few years and then fell in love with a cozy house in the desert of Moab, Utah; our favorite place throughout all of our travels. We still spend about half of the year living on the road, traveling to more favorites like Alaska, throughout the American West, and beyond.
We use our extensive experience and expertise in the outdoors to plan unforgettable custom elopement days for every couple. We usually work with couples to plan everything from their elopement location down to the vendors they’ll work with and the timeline of the day(s) we’ll spend together. We always shoot together and we have kept things intentionally small, working with a limited amount of couples each year such that we can bring our full value to every single planning email, phone call, and of course, elopement day!
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