Alaska Micro Wedding

Jaimie & Sam

Salted Roots Wedding – Seward, Alaska

A two day wedding with whale watching, kayaking and a beautiful glacier lagoon

A Colorful Two-Day Intimate Alaska Wedding with Wildlife Cruise, outdoor dinner party & Glacier Kayaking

Jaimie & Sam traveled up to Alaska with 28 of their closest family and friends to spend three unforgettable days exploring Seward together.
Their intimate wedding at Salted Roots was a full day adventure that began with all the guests boarding a school bus to the Seward harbor for a 4 hour wildlife cruise to ending the evening around a campfire. In between was filled with a gorgeous ceremony by the ocean, cocktails at a swanky cocktail bar, incredible food and lots of meaningful moments.

When Jaimie and Sam initially reached out, in addition to wanting beautiful photo’s they wanted someone who could help shape the experience from beginning to end. Together we built a wedding weekend that blended thoughtful experiences with plenty of room for spontaneity, creating a celebration that felt relaxed, and personal. From suggesting favorite venues, activities & vendors to compliment their day to helping them envision what their dinner reception could look like… I had so much fun working with these two to bring their vision to life!

How They Got Married

Jaimie & Sam’s Wedding Details:

  • Elopement Month: June
  • Where They Eloped: Seward, Alaska
  • Elopement Adventure: Group Wildlife Cruise & Bear Glacier Lagoon Kayaking

The Package They Booked:

Multi Day Photography & Planning Package

What’s Included:

  • 2 Full Days of Photography Coverage
  • Planning that includes customized recommendations for venues, vendors and activities
  • Customized Wedding Timeline
  • Day Of Coordinator 
  • Sneak Peek Gallery within 48 hours
  • Full Gallery within 30 days
  • Unlimited communication with couple by phone & email
  • Customized Itinerary & Travel Tips & Vendor Recommendations

Ready to plan your own wedding?

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Why Salted Roots Is One of My Favorite Alaska Wedding Venues

This beautiful seaside property is tucked into spruce forest’s just outside downtown Seward on Lowell Point. It sleeps up to 24 guests across 4 gorgeous A-frame cabins, and a super cool renovated retro bus. You and your guests will also enjoy gather around the wood fired sauna and fire pit. The ceremony platform by the beach looks across Resurrection Bay with huge mountain views.
One moment you’re surrounded by lush forest.
A few steps later you’re standing on the shoreline with snow-covered peaks filling the horizon.
It gives couples the best of both worlds—an intimate venue where everyone can stay together with gorgeous Alaskan scenery that is also close to town and fun activities!

Jaimie & Sam’s Wedding Adventure Began Before Anyone Got Dressed Up

One of my favorite parts of this wedding happened before the “traditional” wedding festivities began.
Rather than spending the morning getting ready inside, everyone boarded a small Major Marine Tours vessel for the four-hour Resurrection Bay Wildlife Cruise.
The weather cooperated and gave us one those rare, sunny Alaska days everyone hopes for but never expects. We had clear skies and calm water!
The guest enjoyed spotting otters and bald eagles.
Midway through the charter we were treated to a couple different Humpback whale tails & fins waving at us.

This was the perfect way to spend their wedding morning and guests (many of whom had never been to Alaska) were treated to an amazing experience!

Once back to the harbor everyone boarded a school bus got transported back to Salted Roots to get ready for Jaimie and Sam’s ceremony and reception.

“If we hit “rewind” on the wedding planning process and went all the way back to the beginning, we would 100% choose Ariel again!

She is all the things a wedding planner and photographer should be: calm, patient, creative, resourceful, and well-informed. Her kindness and positivity was a key part of us feeling comfortable during a stressful time. We had our micro-wedding in Seward, Alaska, and her strong connections to vendors in the area opened so many doors to different possibilities for our wedding vision. Her photography was gorgeous and she got some truly jaw-dropping shots that will live on in our marriage for the rest of our lives. At one point she even burrowed through some bushes to get the perfect landscape shots of us! When we shared our gallery with our guests, they were all totally blown away! We can’t recommend Ariel and AMW Studios enough, and will encourage our friends to book Ariel if they decide to do something adventurous and unconventional for their wedding like we did! Rest assured, you are in very good hands :)!!!

– Jaimie & Sam

Pre Wedding Cocktails at The Flamingo Lounge

After their first look in the woods at Salted Roots just one stop remained before the ceremony; The Flamingo Lounge. Salted Roots’ sister cocktail bar might be one of the coolest portrait locations in Seward. Plush red booths. Vintage lighting. Classic cocktails. Retro artwork.

It feels like stepping into another era.

Jaime and Sam ordered a cocktail & sat together at the bar. A perfect pre-ceremony celebration for just the two of them! The whole vibe of the Flamingo Lounge fit Jaimie & Sam’s style perfectly!

One of my favorite portraits from the afternoon happened in the bathroom beside a vintage bourbon advertisement featuring glamorous women from another generation. Yay for impromptu bathroom photoshoots!

Sample Two Day Alaska Wedding Timeline

Day one included a group experience, ceremony, reception and celebration with guests. Day two was a glacier adventure for just the couple.

Day 1 – Wedding Day at Salted Roots

  • 8:30 – Pickup at Salted Roots for all guests + Jaimie, Sam & Ariel! Drops off at harbor for Major Marine Boat Charter!
  • 9:30 – Departs for 4 hour cruise, lunch will be served on board the boat!
  • 1:30 – Boat arrives back in Seward & Guests are transported back to Salted Roots
  • 2:00 – Bride Hair and Makeup Begins
  • 3:30 – Groom gets into suit
  • 4:00 – Bride gets into dress
  • 4:30 – First Look and then promptly afterward we depart for pre-ceremony cocktail at Flamingo Lounge
  • 5:40 – Guests walk to ceremony on the beach platform
  • 6:00 – Ceremony Begins
  • 6:30 – Family/Group pictures with appetizers by the water.
  • 7:20 – Introduce Bride and Groom and First Dance
  • 7:30 – Dinner is served
  • 9:00pm – Firepit is lit, dessert and games! 

Day 2 – Bear Glacier Kayaking

  • 7:30 – Meet at guiding company headquarters for safety briefing and gearing up
  • 8:00 – Depart on jet boat for Bear Glacier Lagoon
  • 9:00 – Arrive in Bear Glacier and spend about 3 hours paddling around icebergs
  • 12:00 – Back on Boat to head for Seward

Kayaking Adventure at Bear Glacier Lagoon

Because why stop after one incredible day?

The following morning we climbed aboard a jet boat headed toward Bear Glacier Lagoon.
After getting suited up in dry suits, we launched kayaks into one of the most surreal places in Alaska.
Blue icebergs drifted silently across perfectly calm water.
Fog rolled across the lagoon.
The only sounds came from paddles cutting through the water, cracking ice and our laughter.
I can’t think of a better way to ending a wedding weekend than kayaking among floating glacier ice.

Planning Your Own Intimate Wedding

If you’re dreaming about a destination wedding here in Alaska, I encourage thinking out of the box… don’t feel like your day has to begin with getting ready and end after dinner.
Some of my favorite celebrations with guests include experiences that bring everyone together on an adventure—wildlife cruises, glacier treks, helicopter flights, sea kayaking, private chef dinners. Spend several days exploring Alaska with the people who matter most to the two of you!

Start Planning your Alaska wedding

Frequently Asked Questions About Salted Roots Weddings

Salted Roots is particularly well suited for intimate weddings of up to 24 people. If you have a larger group their sister property, Rustic Roots can also be reserved so you can sleep 42 & host up to 75 guests.

Yes—and this is one of the biggest reasons I love Salted Roots for intimate Alaska weddings. A Salted Roots buyout includes five cabins with accommodations for up to 24 guests. Add their neighboring property Rustic Roots so you can sleep 42. Have more guests? There are plenty of airbnbs & hotels to lodge additional guests in Seward/Lowell Point.

Currently, Salted Roots requires a three-night minimum for property buyouts and large-group reservations.

I think that’s actually one of the advantages of choosing this venue. Three nights gives you enough time to plan something beyond the wedding itself—a welcome dinner, wildlife cruise, hiking adventure, kayaking trip, sauna evening, or simply a slow morning together after the wedding.

Salted Roots is located in Lowell Point, just outside downtown Seward – less than a 10-minute drive from activities in town.

The location is one of my favorite things about it. You get the quiet, wooded, waterfront feel of Lowell Point without being disconnected from restaurants, the harbor, and everything else we might want to incorporate into your wedding.

I highly recommend having a rental car so you can get around at your leisure!

Salted Roots has private beach access and a beachfront ceremony platform overlooking Resurrection Bay and the surrounding mountains.
Other options depending on group size and adventure level are; chartering a boat, helicopter or hiking for a ceremony off the property.

It’s Alaska, so having a weather plan is important.
I recommend approaching your Salted Roots wedding with some flexibility rather than planning everything around a perfect sunny forecast. Rain, clouds, fog, and changing weather can all be part of a Seward wedding—and some of those conditions photograph beautifully.
Depending on group size you’ll want to plan on renting a tent for your Salted Roots Wedding, that way even if the weather is rainy you’ll have a dry place to enjoy dinner & dancing!

Salted Roots’ outdoor spaces make it possible to create a really beautiful intimate reception surrounded by the forest. For this wedding, Forest & Fern created long dinner tables between the cabins, complete with colorful florals, candles, vintage details, and string lights overhead.

It felt more like an incredible dinner party in the woods than a traditional wedding reception—which was exactly the point.

Salted Roots provides the venue and accommodations. I recommend having someone specifically responsible for the logistics of your wedding day.

For Jaime and Sam, I provided additional hands-on planning assistance as part of their photography experience, helping them put together the timeline, activities, vendors, and overall flow of the weekend. On the wedding day, I brought in Forest & Fern for day of coordination & design so that I could step behind the camera while they handled the moving pieces and set up.

Yes! My all inclusive packages often include a stay at Salted Roots and it’s the perfect place to base out of for your Seward elopement!

I would be so honored to be a part of your story

Hi, i am Ariel

Your Elopement Planner & Photographer
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Inspiration For Your Elopement Adventure:

Some of the Celebrations we’ve planned & documented over the years