Of Love and Bison: Elopements in Yellowstone

“What’s our bison plan?”

I get this question every time I officiate a wedding in Yellowstone. Half-joking. Half-serious. And my answer is always the same:

“If bison show up during your ceremony, we pause. Everyone stays calm. We witness them. And when they move on, we continue exactly where we left off.”

Because here’s what I’ve learned after 500 weddings in Montana’s wild places: the unexpected moments aren’t interruptions. They’re invitations. Invitations to feel something deeper than you planned for. To understand that you’re part of something ancient and holy. To let the earth itself participate in your promise.

That’s what Yellowstone offers.

Sacred Ground Beneath Your Feet

Yellowstone is sacred ground in the truest sense.

For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples recognized the spiritual power of this land. The geysers. The thermal pools. The way the earth visibly breathes steam into the sky. This wasn’t scenery. This was living proof of forces larger than human understanding.

When you stand at the edge of a hot spring, you’re standing above a supervolcano. The earth is alive beneath you—molten, churning, creating and destroying and creating again. I felt this monumental power the first time I visited when I was 5 years old, and I’ve been honoring it ever since.

You’ll sense it too – that deep power beneath your feet, the unsettled rumbling in the caverns, the excitement of an eruption, and you can’t help but feel humbled by it all. I’ve learned to tune into the park’s sacred geography—not just the iconic locations everyone photographs, but the quieter places where the earth’s power is just as present and the crowds are absent. Places where you can actually feel the sacred instead of dodging the sightseers vying for selfies.

To make your vows in these places is to make them witnessed by something ancient. Something that was here long before you and will remain long after. Most couples don’t think about this when choosing a wedding location. They think about views. How it’ll look in photos. What they will look like holding hands at a waterfall. And those things matter.

But there’s something else that matters more: What does this place want to give you?

Yellowstone wants to give you and experience that takes you out of your everyday life. Its profound beauty and stoic vistas somehow make your promises to each other matter just a little bit more. That they’re not just words exchanged between two people, but commitments spoken into sacred space. That the ground itself is listening and the vows you take will echo through the ages.

It’s not something you can manufacture. But it’s something you can feel—if you approach the ground with reverence and if you have someone guiding you who understands what sacred space requires.

The Bison as Marriage Teacher

The bison is the iconic symbol of Yellowstone, carrying eons of power, mystery, and sustenance. And they will most likely photo bomb you at some point in the day. But what many people don’t realize is that bison have long symbolized the deepest values of partnership and love. Native Americans revered the bison for sacred reasons that still speak to us today—lessons that are woven into the very fabric of what marriage asks of us.

Strength and endurance. The bison survives conditions that would break most creatures—brutal winters, drought, predators, centuries of near-extinction. And still it persists. Still it roams. Marriage asks the same of us: not the absence of storms, but the willingness to remain standing through them. To be still and strong when everything around you is howling. To know that surviving together makes you stronger.

Abundance and prosperity. To Indigenous peoples of the plains, the bison was life itself—food, shelter, clothing, tools. Every part of the animal was honored, used, sacred. Nothing wasted. In marriage, abundance works the same way. It’s not about what you accumulate, but what you make of what you have. The love you grow. The trust you build. The richness of a life where nothing between you goes to waste.

Community and the herd. Bison don’t survive alone. They move together, protect their young together, endure together. When you marry in Yellowstone, your community gathers around you—family, friends, the people who will hold your marriage in their hearts for decades. You’re not just making promises to each other. You’re asking your herd to witness and strengthen what you’re building.

Sacred connection to the earth. Perhaps most powerfully, the bison represents the bond between the human and the holy. The seen and the unseen. The promises we make in the physical world and the spiritual weight those promises carry. Standing on ground where bison roam reminds you that your love story is part of a much larger story—the story of life persisting, of creatures enduring, of sacred bonds that transcend time.

When you marry in a place where bison still roam, you’re marrying into that everlasting sense of commitment and endurance.

How I Make Sacred Ground Real for You

You know that your marriage will be sacred, but I want the ceremony to be sacred too.

Here’s the challenge: getting married in Yellowstone isn’t simple. You can’t just show up and make vows anywhere. You need a license and a permit. Specific locations to choose. Regulations to understand. Seasonal restrictions. Weather contingencies. Wildlife considerations.

For someone planning their first wedding? It’s overwhelming.

But after 15 years officiating in Yellowstone, I’ve facilitated ceremonies in every corner—from riding into the backcountry on horseback to holding sacred space where hundreds of tourists watch while an excited couple say their vows timed by a geyser eruption (you know the one!). The possibilities are endless, and everyone has their own reasons for where they want to marry in the Park.

Not only do I know the amazing spots which evoke a sense of wonder and eternity, but I also understand practical issues such as accessibility, parking, flat ground, privacy, and how mountains can be cloaked by clouds in seconds. We plan accordingly, and every time Nature reveals iself in ways you could never imagine. Nothing can really capture what it feels like to say your vows in such a sacred place.

And yes, we also talk about the bison plans, as they show up when you least expect it.

Bison Wisdom Beyond the Wedding Day

The ceremony creates sacred ground for one day. But marriage asks you to tend that sacred ground for a lifetime.

So what happens when the beautiful location is gone and you’re facing the ordinary reality of sharing a life with another person? When the camera is packed away and you’re just two people navigating conflict, disappointment, disconnection?

How do you keep that sense of sacred ground alive?

This is why I created my Sacred Relationships course. Because the ceremony is the consecration. But marriage is the practice of honoring what was consecrated—over months, years, decades. It’s learning to see your relationship as sacred space that requires tending, attention, respect.

It’s recognizing that the bison’s wisdom isn’t just for one day. It’s for every day.

Strength and endurance when you face hard winters together. Abundance built from nothing wasted—no resentments allowed to fester, no love taken for granted. Community holding you, supporting you, reminding you why this matters. Sacred connection to something larger than yourself.

The ceremony gets you there. The course keeps you there.

For Couples Ready to Feel Something Sacred

When the call of the Bison invites you to pledge your lives to each other in Yellowstone, you know that your ceremony is going to be sublime, timeless. And so the ground beneath your feet feels different. The vows sound different. The promises land deeper. You leave your wedding day not just married, but transformed—aware that you’ve entered sacred territory and committed to tending it well.

You don’t have to choose between a logistically sound wedding and a spiritually meaningful one. You can have both. You deserve both.

And hopefully the bison show up to guide you on your path.

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