Wedding Date on Nov 7, 2020

How it began… Baylee + Caleb emailed me last March with the DREAMIEST destination wedding plans - a welcome party in Sayulita Mexico, a catamaran cruise to Punta de Mita, a beachside wedding at Don Pedro’s Palapa, and an adventure session to high peaks + secluded beaches. Their plans were practically perfect! The only problem was a little bug called COVID-19. Baylee + I exchanged emails at least 59 times during the summer of 2020 as we monitored COVID-19 and determined how it would affect her wedding plans. By the time fall rolled around it was clear that a destination wedding simply wouldn’t work. It was heartbreaking news of course, but we scheduled a zoom call right away and began crafting a plan B. Baylee + Caleb were going to secretly elope + then resume their destination plans on the anniversary. The elopement planning… There were so many Instagram worthy places to choose from, so we chatted about what Baylee + Caleb valued most. Baylee emailed me one afternoon letting me know that a winery was their #1 priority. She said, “I think it just tells a special story of us and what we love. It feels like the calm after the storm of relaxing with a glass of wine and my best company ;)”. She also mentioned she’d like to make the most of an elopement and visit some places she had never been. It became pretty clear that California was where we’d be heading for the elopement. Baylee found a charming chateau in Salinas that offers picturesque vineyard views and is about an hour's drive from popular destinations like Carmel-By-The-Sea, Big Sur, and 17 Mile Drive. It wasn’t their dream Sayulita wedding, but plan b was undeniably a gorgeous option. The secret elopement was dreamy af. To maintain the original plan of a November wedding, Baylee + Caleb secretly eloped on 7 November 2020. It was just the two of them, their photographer Taryn Baxter, their pastor Jason Green from Celebrations Church, and me! We all flew into California the day before to get ready for the secret elopement. I met up with Baylee + Caleb at Mantranga Floral Market and we chose out some California native florals to make her a bouquet. Taryn and I drove through 17-mile drive and down to Big Sur to scout out the perfect location for the ceremony. As the sun was setting we discovered the oh so gorgeous Garapatta State Park. It was a clear winner for the elopement location. It has the perfect “I am getting married on a cliffside by the ocean and it isn’t going to get more beautiful than this” sort of feel. The elopement day was simple, sweet, and meaningful. Baylee included thoughtful details in her planning including wearing her mother’s wedding earrings. She surprised Caleb and contacted his father who wrote a poem for them to listen to after a first look. They face-timed their parents, who had agreed to keep their elopement secret. They rented a light blue classic Thunderbird, which had a little difficulty starting, but we made it work like we always do. The ceremony at Garrapata State Park was everything and more. The ceremony began right at sunset. Vows were given and tears were shed. We returned to the vineyard chateau and the married couple shared wine and a first dance.