Our Desert Elopement: A Gallery

They say your wedding day will go by in a breeze, so enjoy every bit of it. As I look back, I couldn’t agree more. After months of planning, the day went by in a blissful swoop. What remains are the memories held within and the photographs captured so artfully by my dear friend Christina Karst. Enjoy this intimate collection of moments captured from our sweet desert elopement.

Tuesday, April 4th, 2023

The Joshua Tree House, Tucson Arizona

A Quiet Rise

Morning meditation with brewed ginger tea and distant chatter from the cactus wren.

Morning walk

We wanted to spend a few hours together on our wedding morning doing things that would bring connection and grounding for the exciting day to come. We took a crisp morning walk through the trail at the JTH. Tuesday, was the coldest day of our entire stay with the high being 62 degrees (and wind). So even though the sun was full bloom by 7am, sweaters were much needed!

Cold Plunge it is

About a month before our wedding, Joe got really into cold showers. He claimed it had a lot of health benefits and strengthened mental stimuli. Debatable- but point is, when he laid eyes on the canyon pool at the JTH he was determined to do a cold plunge the morning of the wedding. In one pod, there’s usually another pea -hence my brother. The two men stripped down and here they are giddy as can be as they jumped into the freezing cold water. Hoorah!

Treasures and Troves

To me a treasure is something that you find sacred, that was carefully crafted or perhaps something that may have found its way to you.

Left: Our custom weddings bands made by Roger from Rings Etc. Fine Jewelry
Middle: Gold and Pearl bracelet given to me by my sweet mother who passed
Right: My “something blue” - my engagement ring made by Kristin Coffin Jewelry

Other treasures:

Joe’s watch from his step-father Doug Mills who has since passed away.

French hand beaded clutch that I found a month before our wedding in an lovely consignment store

Our wedding invite- I made them using minted.com a site that sources independent designers. I loved the desert cacti and florals!

Writing our own vows was really important to us. We didn’t follow templates or rules, we just wrote what felt honest and sincere to us.

Our vows to one another.

Getting Ready

After Joe and I parted ways, we each spent the next few hours doing our own things. For Joe, that looked like riding off road in the Bronco with his dad while they jammed out to old school rap and reminisced about the old days together. For myself, I’ll admit I couldn’t sit still… That shouldn’t surprise you if you know me well… I was bustling about the property making sure all the ducks were in a row. I was thankful for the time to sit down and breathe while I got my make up done.

Joe & Neal in the Agave Suite- like father like son!

Mama bear Caren & I in the Saguaro Suite

En Route

As 4:30pm approached, the excitement jitters were in full swing. Joe and our families made there way to the Labyrinth Trail that led to the ceremony spot.

The walk through The Labyrinth trail winds through gorgeously tall Saguaros and a forest of prickly cholla cacti. As you see below, the cactus wren love making their little nests inside the cholla bushes, where they are protected from other predators. This sweet little one gazed at us as we ventured off into the desert.

Lay of the land

Our ceremony décor was minimal- but after visiting the JTH for the first time in December I realized that’s what the desert calls for- less is more. We laid the aisle with neutral Mexican rugs and I couldn’t have loved it more.

Always my dad

I couldn’t have been more thankful to get to walk with my dad. When we saw each other in the middle of the trail we both spoke at the same time and said “ Well, you look very nice”. I know my mom was looking down on us smiling and giving a little chuckle to see my dad in a suit!

A thousand years

I have died everyday, waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid,
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

Our Ceremony

The one word I would use to describe our ceremony is intimate. As you can see here we had a small group of our family join us and each person we had was intentional in creating an energy and space of support and love for us. Detra, Joe’s mother, officiated our ceremony- and I know I may be biased, but she did the most wonderful job. I am almost glad it wasn’t recorded- as our ceremony was sacred- special- one of one- and the minutes below were for those ears that were there. And some things are meant to be just that.

Post Ceremony Bliss

On a high from all the excitement, we snapped some post ceremony bliss photos in the desert while our family enjoyed a few drinks inside before dinner.

Tablespace detail

Left: Keeping with the minimalistic design I had dried florals on the table and used my bright bouquet to be our centerpiece.

Middle: Pan al tomat by Chef Ezra

Right: Personalized name cards made by my Texas sister and incredible artist Bailey Rue Rector.

A Toast

Neal kicked off our family style dinner by sharing a heart warming story of the famously told - Ilsa was Joe’s RA tale. Yes, yes in fact I was~! And somehow we ended up here :D

It was wonderful and brought a good laugh. When we decided on a small guest list, I wanted to do one long dinner table; a sharing of plates, a telling of stories, and a communal feeling of togetherness. That’s exactly how it was.