How your wedding day goes is entirely up to you. Major decisions related to when, where, and how to plan out your time should match your wedding vision. That said, plans can change in order to include family. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t create your wedding dream. Follow along for this couple’s story of incorporating family while sticking to the plan for their Arizona Painted Desert elopement.
When Elopement Flexibility is What Makes The Day
From the start, Madalyn and Klay knew that going the alternative wedding route would fit them best. In fact, every element of their desert elopement was done just a bit differently. These differences began with their elopement locations.
In our initial conversation, the two were fairly open to destination options not having something specific already in mind. They trusted my instincts, wanting only that the location would feel like them. I offered them a variety of destinations and they settled on two. One to include the family and the other just for them.
Their family-inclusive selection was the Arizona Painted Desert for an elopement ceremony. Despite some frustrated moments in the lead-up to the day, everyone arrived happy to be there for each other.
The weather was a bit windier and colder than we had hoped. Our officiant (and my assistant), Sarah Kay, was ready with faux fur shawls for all the women present to wear. While the couple agreed to a shorter wedding ceremony for the family, they decided upon a separate portrait session for themselves at different locations. I guided them around some Arizona favorites for their portraits and wedding events.
Piecing Together An Arizona Painted Desert Elopement Day
The day was very windy at this fall desert wedding so the couple had to delay a permanent jewelry exchange along with private vows done a few days later. I was so sad to have missed photographing this symbolic act of attaching bracelets to each other to wear for eternity.
On the flipside, I found this to be a helpful reminder that we don’t need to do things just for the sake of photos. I am glad that Madalyn and Klay had the privacy and intimacy that they desired without needing to cover every single moment.
We instead traveled to the secret sand cave behind the Shell gas station in Page, Arizona for their wedding portrait photography after the wedding. It was there that we followed the sunset shooting into the dark corners of the cave. This really pushed the boundaries and capabilities of the camera while providing such beautiful looks to their photos!
Additionally, having this extra time allowed us to highlight the iridescent beetle wings that Sarah Kay had sewed by hand into Madalyn’s black wedding veil. She also made an incredible bouquet with a beetle as a focal point as another complement to the bride’s black wedding dress with lace.
Madalyn and Klay chose to stay at La Posada. This is a famous hotel designed by Mary Colter in conjunction with the Santa Fe Railway. There they had their first look in the garden followed by photos with their adorable toddler son.
We took photos of them getting their boutonniere and bouquet while attempting some family photos that are quite honestly hilarious! In the end, the couple’s Arizona Painted Desert elopement accommodated their family as they had hoped while still hitting all of the marks that they wanted.
Wedding Vendors
Ceremony | Arizona Painted Desert
Photographer | Terri Attridge Photography
Officiant | Sarah Kay
Dessert | Morning Glory Coffee & Pastries
First Look | La Posada
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