One of the best Thank You’s ever!

I remember that exact moment in 2016 when she “popped the question!” We were at Kaladi Brothers having our usual wedding pre-planning meeting…”As a thank you, would you like to go on a helicopter ride with Turner and me?” Um, yeah, do birds fly??? And that’s how it happened.

But life also happens, and years went by, and then out of the blue, I got a call. “Hey Lorell, it’s Audry!” It hit me by surprise because for the first 20 seconds or so, I had no idea who I was talking to! She explained that she was now 8 months pregnant, and wanted to do a maternity shoot on a Glacier. Now that’s a whole ‘nother story, like who does that? Oh yeah, hardcore Alaska chicks! Anywhoo, back to my story! “Did I still want to go?” she asked. Again, do birds fly???

I’ve been to glaciers before, but never by way of helicopter. Each time that I’ve been involved in an Elopement there’s never been enough room. See, on a helicopter, there is a limited number of people that can take the flight. Obviously, we need the Bride and Groom, then the pilot (cuz who would fly it) and then the photographer, to capture those special moments. So, if you’ve got a 4 passenger helicopter, the wedding planner is the first one “kicked off the island!” #weddingplannerproblems

When the day finally arrived we met at Alpine Air in Girdwood. And my first thought when I saw the helicopter was “Wow, it’s not as big as I thought it was going to be!” I think my SUV was probably the same size. I was encouraged to take a seat in the front, and to be honest, I was scared to death! But, guess who was the pilot? Turner, himself so I knew I was in good hands! As the helicopter ascended they casually talked about the weather, their day, blah, blah, blah, all while I sat there with a little bit of fear mixed in with a little bit of awe!

We headed out of Girdwood and crossed over Turnagain Arm, and then headed into uncharted territory where the cars don’t go! We even saw a Bull Moose! Which isn’t rare for as long as I have lived here, but seeing a Moose always gets me! As we got closer, I started to relax and take it all in! And then out of nowhere, there it was, right in front of us….Spencer Glacier in all it’s glory. Check out this video of us approaching the Glacier.

We spent a little time on the Glacier taking the first set of maternity photos and then headed over to an area next to Spencer Glacier, that was covered with blueberry bushes. We even got to select where we landed the helicopter. It was beautiful up there! Check out this little piece of heaven!

All, in all, it was an amazing day! A huge thank you to Turner and Audry for giving me one of the best Thank you’s ever! Now, I can finally check Glacier Helicopter ride off my bucket list…CHECK!

Here’s a couple more photos to share!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Want to fly to a Glacier, visit Alpine Air

Looking for a photographer, contact Chugach Peaks Photography

Looking to elope in Alaska and want to do it on a Glacier, of course, contact me at i do Events