Fall McCall Idaho Wedding

Roxie and Matt’s Fall McCall Idaho Wedding was truly one of a kind. Have you ever been to a wedding that you know in your heart you’ll never forget? From the moment I spoke with Roxie on the phone, I knew exactly the vision she and Matt wanted to achieve for their wedding day. They dreamed of how they wanted their wedding day to feel, more than how they wanted it to look or be photographed. Early on, Roxie told me she wasn’t the type of person who had dreamed of her wedding her entire life. She and Matt wanted to ditch everything traditional that didn’t feel right. Aside from creating a wedding that felt warm, inviting, and FUN, their only priorities were amazing photos to remember how the day felt and a great dance party.

Hosting an outdoor fall McCall Idaho Wedding can feel risky, but these two knew an outdoor wedding was the right option for them. Any mountain wedding has a bit of a risk when it comes to weather. However, the morning of Roxie and Matt’s wedding, the smoke cleared and the sun was shining. All forecast of rain and storm clouds vanished.

I’ll be honest here: Roxie and Matt’s type of wedding is my favorite kind of wedding to shoot.

Roxie and Matt told me they wanted candid photos. I felt their full trust in me to create magic. They wanted moments over posed formal shots. So many aspects of their wedding were extremely personal and I wanted to capture that. Because I felt their trust and knew exactly the feeling they wanted to remember, I had full creative control to observe everything happening on their wedding day. It was absolutely perfect. It’s hard to pick one moment I loved! Being a part of their day felt like watching a movie.

Another thing I loved about Roxie and Matt: they didn’t want a first look. For a non-traditional wedding, they still wanted to save the big moment for walking down the aisle.

A Family Wedding on Private Property

Roxie and Matt’s wedding venue was so unique because it was a family property. They decided to have their ceremony atop a cluster of giant boulders overlooking the lake. Watching all their guests scramble up the rocks in their fancy wedding attire added to the character and feel of who they are as a couple. They didn’t use any wedding decorations for their ceremony spot and let the landscape be the main character. It was simply stunning.

I love reminding couple’s when they’re wedding planning that they don’t have to do anything they don’t want. And that includes taking photos forever and ever. If you don’t want your day to feel like an all day photoshoot, you don’t have to! We achieved all of Roxie and Matt’s “formal” family photos in under ten minutes. And once it was time to take portraits, we disappeared at sunset for less than ten minutes so they could get back to the party. Their party was their number one priority and I wanted to make sure they felt present with their guests. All we needed was 10 minutes anyways to capture the magic of sunset and their love!

Here were a few of my random favorite moments from Roxie and Matt’s McCall Idaho Fall Wedding:

• Both sets of parents walked each of them down the aisle. It was SO sweet.
• Roxie’s grandmother arranged all the flowers and put them on the tables.
• While we were waiting for Roxie’s dad to finish getting dressed for their first look, Roxie peeked out the cabin window and could see Matt and his boys getting ready at their cabin. It was so cute.
• Matt spent the morning playing tennis with his groomsmen. Rather than take traditional “getting ready” photos, we took some photos of him enjoying time with his friends.
• Sitting under the canopy of gorgeous pine trees with twinkle lights hanging above the tables felt like magic. As the sun went down behind the mountain, the reception was lit by twinkle lights that felt so intimate and romantic.
• Foregoing traditional wedding reception timelines, Matt and Roxy didn’t rush through dinner. Toasts happened organically when the timing felt right. Even the first dances felt natural and flowed perfectly. Nothing was planned to an exact time, it all unfolded when it felt natural to move onto the next thing.
• I said it before, but stealing just a few minutes at sunset for portraits was special. A lot of people think you need hours and hours for epic portraits. Nope! If you don’t want to leave your party, you don’t need to. We took photos quickly and captured the moment as it was. Nothing felt too staged or overly directed. The moments of them hugging by the edge of the beach and climbing on the rocks was all them just being together and feeling in love.

Backyard weddings are my favorite. Here is another backyard wedding in the mountains you might love!

10 Tips for Your McCall Idaho Wedding

If you’re hosting a McCall Idaho Wedding, here are my best tips!

1. Hire a McCall Idaho Wedding Planner. Sprout Design and Dreamer Events are two of my favorite wedding planners to work with in the area!
2. Peak season in McCall occurs between June and September. However, if you want to save a little money and have first choice in vendors, getting married in May and October might be a great option!
3. Hire vendors at least 9-12 months before your date. Wedding season is very short in McCall. It’s also a very small town so vendors are limited!
4. Plan more budget than necessary for travel expenses. McCall doesn’t have Uber or shared ride apps, so hiring shuttles or private cars may be necessary to get guests from their hotel to all wedding events. It’s also worth noting that lodging costs have risen significantly due to tourism.
5. If you want a non-traditional wedding venue, McCall and the surrounding area has tons of Airbnb’s and private lodges! Many cabins and Airbnb’s in Cascade, Donnelly, and McCall allow small weddings for an event fee.
6. For catering and bar-tending, I recommend hiring local McCall Wedding Vendors. However, for hair and makeup, florists, photographers, and videographers, I recommend looking at Boise Wedding Vendors.
7. No matter the time of year, always anticipate the possibility of rain. McCall is located in the mountains at a high elevation so anything is always possible! Hire a tent as a backup if your reception is outside.
8. Restaurants fill up quickly in McCall. On a weekend, you can expect to spend an hour waiting for a table at any restaurant. Make reservations further in advance than you think.
9. Think outside the box: venues like Jug Mountain Ranch, Bear Creek Lodge, No Business Lodge, are all outside of McCall Idaho but within an hour drive.
10. McCall is a destination wedding location. In recent years, it’s extremely popular to get married here! Because it’s considered a destination wedding spot, average wedding costs are higher than in Boise or surrounding towns. The average McCall wedding falls above $50,000+ for a 100 guest wedding.