The Wedding Tree

[AlanLichty]

When I met up with other FocalWorld folks at the Tetons one of the places we visited was called The Wedding Tree. I dutifully shot the site since I was told that this was an iconic scene but was left wondering why it was an iconic site. I looked it up when I got home just so I could have a clue how it got it's name. Turns out it's called the wedding tree because lots of people have weddings there. Why do they have weddings there you ask? Easy - because it's called the wedding tree.

Online shots typically move well over to the right so it makes a lower branch of the tree on the right look like it's touching one from the tree on the left but the background behind the trees is rather boring in most of those shots. I positioned myself to best frame the slightly smokey Tetons behind the trees instead.

The Wedding Tree

• AlanLichty
• Oct 20, 2018

The Wedding Tree along the Gros Ventre Road near Grand Teton National Park

C&C always welcome.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Hi Alan, glad you got a shot from there, you noticed that Rick and I went past the trees to get a clean shot of the Tetons.

 

[AlanLichty]

Hi Alan, glad you got a shot from there, you noticed that Rick and I went past the trees to get a clean shot of the Tetons.

Yeah - I waited for you guys to get out of my view to shoot this and then wandered past the trees and shot that view as well. Much better view of the Tetons from there.

 

[Ben Egbert]

Yeah - I waited for you guys to get out of my view to shoot this and then wandered past the trees and shot that view as well. Much better view of the Tetons from there.

We knew we would be out of your shot because the ground slopes pretty good past the tree. It's not a bad place for a sunrise shot. But there are so many good sunrise places in the Tetons that it's hard to skip them for this place.

 

[JimFox]

Very cool looking Alan, you have a nice take away from the cool named tree.

We had discussed why it was named the Wedding Tree, either Ben or Rick filled us in on it's history. But it must have been when you had climbed up that hill to get a different angle? Or maybe when we had gone ahead of you to shoot the Tetons.

 

[AlanLichty]

Very cool looking Alan, you have a nice take away from the cool named tree.

We had discussed why it was named the Wedding Tree, either Ben or Rick filled us in on it's history. But it must have been when you had climbed up that hill to get a different angle? Or maybe when we had gone ahead of you to shoot the Tetons.

I went up that hill to shoot some aspen on the other side of the road when we first stopped so I must have missed the naming discussion. when I shot this the rest of you were on the other side of the trees shooting the Tetons.

 

[rfkiii]

I think I can speak for Ben as well as myself when I say neither of us had heard of the Wedding Tree before our July 2017 Teton trip. In preparation, I compiled a list of spots from a Google search I told Ben I would like to photograph while in the park from which produced the usual iconic spots plus lesser known places like The Wedding Tree & the Patriarch Tree.

The "Wedding Tree" isn't in the park but has a spectacular view of the Tetons in the right conditions. The wedding tree area is actually designated as a campground (you may have seen the rules sign at the beginning of the short trail) and has been co-opted by the locals as a cool place to get hitched. The name is a local one. Thirdly, it's a place where photographers can get a fresh view of the Tetons like the views from the Shane cabins, Hedrick Pond or Shadow Mountain.

Although I have many shots of those trees, I personally find more value beyond the trees with unimpeded views of the valley below and of the Tetons in the distance as you mentioned. Here is one of mine with the wedding tree in the shot:

 

[Ben Egbert]

I concur with Rick on this. His newbie status on our first trip got him a long list of places I had never heard of after many visits, this was one of them.

 

[JimFox]

I concur with Rick on this. His newbie status on our first trip got him a long list of places I had never heard of after many visits, this was one of them.

That's a pretty cool thing that Rick had looked up those places before your trip last year. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes, or just a fresh viewpoint is really valuable, and Rick provided both.