Adventure Weddings & Elopements In Southern Utah
We love our backyard – and we love celebrating love. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that we are always excited to help make special celebrations of love possible for our guests at Dreamland. After all, Dreamland co-owners Paul and Sunny know first-hand how magical a small desert wedding can be: they exchanged their own vows in an intimate open-air ceremony high above Monument Valley a few years ago.
That said – we at Dreamland Safari Tours aren’t wedding planners. We are desert guides who specialize in making hard-to-access spots welcoming and accessible to our guests. That’s why we are proud to be partnering with Monumental Arizona Weddings for weddings and elopements here in the greater Kanab area. Read on to learn a bit more about Monumental Arizona Weddings directly from the team in charge, Debra and Mark.
“When the ball dropped in Times Square to mark 2020, we toasted to a very promising year with 85 booked wedding reservations. Little did we know then that it would all come crashing down in a few months.
We have always been eternal optimists with the idea that when one door closes another opportunity comes knocking. And it sure did! For both us and our delighted couples, we were able to complete 132 weddings and elopements by year-end. Granted they looked a little different than they had in the past, smaller groups, mask-wearing, and rescheduled dates and locations. But all beautiful nonetheless.
How did we manage to change the narrative? We found new partnerships and new locations to accommodate small intimate wedding groups and comply with social distancing and turn a couple’s special day into a safe and still exciting dream come true.
In 2019, we predominately conducted weddings on private tours of Navajo Nation Slot Canyons. When the Navajo Nation locations closed, we ventured into Southern Utah and found slot canyons that offer the color, light, beauty, and drama that these sandstone “cathedrals of the desert” are famous for.
We met up with Sunny & Paul the new owners of Dreamland Safari Tours and partnered to deliver a wedding and elopement option at Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon. From our photography director’s viewpoint, the light and color in Peek-a-Boo easily rival the famous Antelope Canyon – which is remarkable and amazing.
Other available offerings through our partnership with Dreamland Safari Tours are The Great Chamber in Kanab Escalante Region and White Pocket which, like The Wave is other-worldly with swirling sandstone and multi-colored rock formations. Pure geological nirvana! Both locations offer exquisite settings for an elopement ceremony.
Some things to consider when traveling to this part of the country are accommodations and venues for wedding receptions. For the five-star crowd, Amangiri is sure to delight. For those looking for a quaint and comfortable quiet little hamlet, Kanab is perfect. The Canyon’s Collection offers lodging to meet all styles from exquisite Victorian boutique to log cabins and a classic 1950’s roadside motel. Small intimate après wedding dining is available at highly rated Sego Restaurant where Chef Shon creates an amazing southwest fusion menu and the more casual Rocking V which is family owned and operated. Great locations for larger wedding receptions are the new Kanab Center located in the heart of town and The Best Friends Animal Shelter with a lovely outdoor amphitheater that can easily accommodate over 100 guests.
We are excited to share these great opportunities for the soon-to-be marrieds, those looking to renew vows, and the newly engaged. And we have yet more uncovered treasures to reveal in 2021. The beauty is not only in the locations but also that you may leave the planning to us. Call and we will take it from there.
Making dreams come true every day!
Debra and Mark Philip”
