Alyeska Resort, Alaska

the hearnes » adventure elopement photographers

danielle + dillon's adventurous anniversary session | alyeska ski resort elopement inspiration

Wow, these two are absolute gems. We honestly feel so lucky to have spent an evening with Danielle and Dillon in Alaska! We were actually in touch with them late last year to plan an adventure photo session for their ten year anniversary. We’d originally decided on an adventure session in Yosemite National Park, but due to some family events they ended up having to reschedule. We had talked about doing a later date in Yosemite, or even sometime in Moab to align with our travel schedule, but then I mentioned we’d be going to Alaska in the summer and Danielle loved the idea! They decided to make a whole trip out of their ten year anniversary celebration and meet us in Alaska. Danielle and Dillon had a super adventurous trip and even did a glacier tour the day before our adventure session!! We met up with them in Girdwood south of Anchorage, and decided to do their adventure session high on Mount Alyeska with a delicious luxury dinner in the middle!! It was an absolutely beautiful evening, with perfect fluffy clouds and gorgeous golden light. After about an hour of hiking around and soaking in the views, we took a break to eat dinner at the Seven Glaciers Restaurant, which was absolutely delicious!! We joked that we were crashing their 10th anniversary dinner, but they assured us it was all good ;) After an awesome dinner, we headed back out for sunset on the mountain. The views were so stunning, with some of the most beautiful pink colors in the sky, perfectly green grass on the steep hillside, and lovely little white flowers all over. 

Danielle and Dillon are so absolutely amazing together, they truly have one of the sweetest relationships. We photograph a lot of engagement sessions and wedding + elopement couples, but there is something so special about photographing couples celebrating a major anniversary. These two have lived so much life together, fought through hard times and experienced some of life’s greatest joys. The bond between them is so special and was so amazing to photograph. We are so thankful for our evening with Danelle and Dillon, and hope we get to do another session with them on their 20th anniversary :)

We are so excited to be heading back to Alaska next summer, this time for three whole months! After our trip out there this summer, we have a long list of places that would be absolutely amazing for an adventure elopement, intimate wedding, or engagement session! If you’re considering eloping and like the idea of a destination wedding, but want to keep things relatively simple, Alaska is such a good option for your elopement! It was super easy to explore and navigate as a US resident (obviously) but felt like a far-off international destination! The landscape in Alaska is so amazing, you could literally have your elopement ceremony on a glacier via a helicopter and then be up on a gorgeous hillside for sunset wedding portraits within an hour. We found amazing iceberg lagoons, hiked some epic mountain passes, and explore some of the coolest terrain we’ve ever seen! We’ll be booking limited dates during our three months in Alaska next summer, so if you’re hoping to have your elopement or intimate wedding in Denali National Park, Girdwood, Valdez, or any of the other epic spots we explored, get in touch with us as soon as possible!

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The Hearnes Adventure Photography is run by Abbi and Callen Hearne, a husband & wife wedding photography team with an emphasis on adventure. They live on the road as full-time nomads in their big white van, allowing them to serve a large portion of the western US including California, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming. They believe love is the greatest adventure and strive to create photos that are epic, romantic, true, and timeless.

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