Emrie & Carson’s Oak Hills Wedding Day

Emrie and Carson got married on August 21st at Oak Hill Wedding Reception Venue in Layton, Utah, with the Wasatch foothills doing exactly what a backdrop should do all day… going gold, then gray, then dramatic, then clear again. Their whole story has this same easy, unhurried quality: on their first date, neither of them wanted to leave, so they went back to Carson’s place and put on a movie. He fell asleep before it finished. She stayed anyway. The rest is history.

Getting Ready with Her Vows Already Written

Emrie’s details were perfectly classic and planned beautifully. Their vows books, her shoes, and their coordinating silver rings were the perfect items to start our day with.

A Ceremony the Storm Almost Crashed

The sky over Oak Hills had been getting darker all afternoon, and by the time Emrie and Carson were walking out to exchange their vows under the venue’s iron domed gazebo, the clouds were getting louder and louder… They kept their ceremony simple, with white fabric swagged across the stone columns, calla lily boutonnieres, a bouquet of white calla lilies and roses that Emrie carried down a petal-strewn aisle. Carson dipped her for the first kiss as husband and wife while their groomsmen and bridal party applauded under the pergola. The storm held off through all of it, and the first raindrops started falling while right as Emrie and Carson started receding down the aisle.

CHP Tip: If your forecast looks unpredictable, build your ceremony timeline a little tighter than you think you need to. Sometimes the weather genuinely does wait for you.

The Wasatch Front Framing the Portraits

Once the ceremony crowd scattered for cocktail hour, Emrie and Carson slipped into the tall, sun-bleached grass behind the venue for portraits, the mountains rolling out gray-green behind them under the same clouds that had just held their nerve through the ceremony. Her gown, a strapless satin ballgown with a folded, architectural bodice and a cathedral veil edged in lace moved beautifully across the open field, and the wedding party leaned into it too: the bridesmaids in jewel-toned magenta and sage, the groomsmen in black looking handsome and unified.

Tacos, String Lights, and Ice Cream

Inside, the reception space at Oak Hill turned warm fast. Wood plank walls strung with hanging Edison bulbs and trailing greenery, a neon sign reading “The Knudsen’s” glowing under it, and a taco bar dinner served at long tables dressed in deep red runners and candlelight. Guests ate standing and sitting, kids weaving between the tables, string lights doing the same work overhead they’d do outside later that night. Emrie and Carson posed for a portrait against the neon sign before the dancing really started, still in the same clothes they’d worn all day, looking considerably more relaxed than they had two hours earlier under a threatening sky.

A Sparkler Send-Off Through the Vines

By the time the dancing hit its peak, Emrie laughing under pink and purple lighting, guests swinging each other across the floor, the storm had long since passed, leaving a dark night for the exit. Guests lined the vine-wrapped arbor walkway with sparklers lit, and Carson dipped Emrie for one more kiss under the market lights strung through the trees, the same spot where they’d taken quiet portraits together hours before, now lit up gold for one last photo before they left as a married couple.

Book Your Own Layton, Utah Wedding

If you’re planning a wedding at Oak Hill or anywhere else in Utah (or somewhere further out for a destination celebration), I’d love to hear about it. Days like Emrie and Carson’s, where the weather keeps you guessing and the couple keeps their cool anyway, are exactly the kind of stories I love to get to capture.

Reach out at caryshaslamphotography@gmail.com or find me on Instagram @caryshaslamphotography to check availability for your date.