Our Joshua Tree Elopement

Welcome to the most magical day of my life.

As some of you may know, Tylar and I have been together for eight years now. We were high school sweethearts. He proposed to me in Laguna Beach last October, and we've finally tied the knot. Luckily for us, we were planning to elope from the get go, so COVID never altered our plans like it did for a lot of 2020 brides.

We ventured out to Joshua Tree on Friday, September 25th to exchange our vows. Just us. We wanted this day to be centered around our love. The idea of a wedding is great, but that journey wasn't for us. Between financials, both of our families and friends being back on the East Coast, and wanting to make sure our big day was stress-free, we decided that elopement was the way to go.

We've been together for so long. We've been living together for years. It honestly feels like we've been married since 2016. That's why we wanted this day to be all about us. About our love, about this union, and about the celebration of spending forever together. Though we know many people would've loved to celebrate with us, we were too afraid that people, stress, planning, vendors/caterers, etc could've made the day an anxious one when it's supposed to be the best day of our lives. On top of that, California weddings are way out of our price range and we didn't want to get married anywhere but here. California is where we truly started our lives together, and it's where we wanted to exchange our vows.

My brother was the officiant, my friend Hannah was my photographer, my friend Jessica was my hair and makeup artist, and my friend Rhett was our videographer. It was amazing to combine our vendors with the people we love, especially since we didn't invite any family or friends to join us on our day. There was so much love there, even with just the few of us.

My bouquet was based on a warm, fall color palette to match my hair color, created by the beautiful Urban Flora.

My ring is a gold Cambria ring by Heidi Gibson. It has a morganite center and a white sapphire halo. Engraved on the inside is "But Never Doubt I Love", which is the last line of the poem that Tylar ends all of his love letters with.

Yes, I had two dresses. Why not?

My first dress is called the Orion gown from Willowby by Watters (the name of the dress gets me every time... it was meant to be). I got it from Love & Lace Bridal Salon in Irvine, which carries a ton of unique classic white and boho/bolder wedding gowns. The owner was so nice and the marketing director really helped me find the gown of my dreams, I highly suggest stopping here if you're in Orange County! They carry a lot of Watters, Made With Love, RISH, Evie Young, and AleenaLeena Bridal.

My shoes for this dress are a pair of bedazzled boots by Betsey Johnson. I had to wear close-toed shoes since we were in the desert and these were the perfect, glittery match for my star gown.

My accessories were a pair of celestial earrings from NastyGal and the hairclips were from Amazon. Jessica gave me a boho-inspired half updo to compliment the stars on my dress and frame my face without taking away from the look.

My second dress is the Beaded Sheath V-Neck Dress with Godets from David's Bridal. It wasn't at all what I expected to be the one, but I love it. I altered it from the original silhouette, giving it a drop waist and an open back. I've linked it here, however it looked super different on me than it did online. My boots for this dress are the White Snake Caty Boots by Matisse Footwear.

Tylar is wearing a black leather Moto jacket on top of his off white satin shirt and black jeans. We went for a super affordable, bad ass look for him instead of the typical formalwear. Though he looks great in a suit, our wedding was super relaxed and I wanted him to wear something more his vibe. The belt is a western belt from ASOS. His shoes are a pair of suede, flame embellished, Chelsea boots from ASOS. His ring is an Onyx and gold ring that I got from Kohl's on Black Friday last year. He wanted something a little more unique than just a band, so we got him this one and he loves it.

We rented a white '69 mustang for the wedding so that I could stay hidden until it was time for me to walk down the invisible aisle. Plus, it made for some really rad pics. We rented it from Newport Mustang Rentals and Gary was super flexible with us so that we had enough mileage to get to Joshua Tree and back. It was worth every penny. I can't tell you how amazing it felt to drive through Joshua Tree at dusk after the wedding with classic rock blasting through the stereo.

Our wedding was at the Quail Springs Picnic Area in Joshua Tree National Park at 5pm. Quail Springs is the first pull off inside of Joshua Tree, so it's the easiest and quickest location to get to. It was only 88 degrees, so it was pretty hot, but definitely doable. If you elope here, don't forget to get your wedding/photography permit! I suggest applying for this at least two months out from the big day if you can. Don't forget to print it out and have it with you the day of your elopement!