Weddings

Permits

Gatherings and commercial activities in national parks often require a special use permit. The purpose of these permits is to ensure the protection of the park's natural and cultural resources, as well as to minimize conflicts between park visitors and your guests.

This page is for you if you are interested in holding a wedding ceremony in the park. There are certain requirements that apply to all wedding permits. Read below for information on regulations, fees, and how to apply.

 

Locations

We permit weddings at the following locations:

Location	Group Size Limit
La Sal Mountains Viewpoint	50
The Windows Section (North Window, South Window, Turret Arch, or Double Arch)	25
Sand Dune Arch	25
Delicate Arch	10
Delicate Arch Viewpoint	25
Pine Tree Arch	25
Landscape Arch	25
Park Avenue	25
Devils Garden Campground Amphitheater	80

 

Regulations

• Your continuous time occupying the area under or immediately adjacent to any arch is limited to 10 minutes when other visitors are present. You must provide a break of at least 10 minutes to allow for unobstructed viewing and photography by other park visitors.
• We will evaluate use of folding chairs on a case by case basis.
• You are responsible for site clean up.
• You must restrict wedding activities to slick rock, dry washes, or maintained areas of the park, and you must be in compliance with all park rules and regulations.
• You may not occupy more than half of a parking lot or pull-out. You must allow for free traffic flow for visitors.
• Any wedding locations requested other than above locations will require a full compliance review.
• Your event must comply with all other park regulations.

The following activities are prohibited:

• Use of rice, birdseed, or any non-native plant seed.
• Releasing butterflies, doves, or any other wildlife.
• Conducting a wedding within any cultural resource site.
• Establishing tents, caterers, sound systems, tables, etc.
• Use of alcohol
• Playing musical instruments
• Amplified sound

 

Permit Fees

• Non-refundable Application Fee - $55
  The non-refundable application fee must accompany each application. This fee is based on an average time it takes to provide initial contact and consultation with permittees and initial review of a standard application or project.

• Administrative Fees - $30
  Once a request is approved, this fee covers the costs associated with issuing a standard permit. This fee includes, but is not limited to, the average time it takes for processing fees, permit development, consultations with the permittee, managerial consultations and billing.

• Hourly Management Fee
  A $50-per-hour rate applies under the following situations:
  
  (1) Monitoring – All activities authorized by permit require continuous, on-site supervision by the National Park Service to assure full compliance with all conditions of the permit. A minimum of 2 hours monitoring ($100) is applied to the cost of every permit upon issuance. The scope and complexity of the activity will determine the level and type of supervision. Fees include travel time for employees involved between activity location(s) and employee duty station(s).

Total fees for an approved permit: $185

Entrance Fees

The standard park entrance fee also applies. We encourage wedding attendees to carpool; space is limited in some places.

 

How to Apply

Please complete Form 10-930s [824k Word document] and mail it (along with credit card information in the application, or a check or money order made out to National Park Service) to the address below, or you can email the application to the address listed in the application.

Special Park Use Coordinator
Southeast Utah Group
2282 Resource Blvd.
Moab, Utah 84532

We will handle applications in the order we receive them. We can process standard requests in 10 business days. Projects that need additional environmental compliance require a minimum of four weeks to process.

The Chief Ranger's Office issues special event permits by authority of the park superintendent.

 

Questions

Call the special use permit coordinator at 435-719-2123.