Wedding Date on Mar 20, 2021

COVID sucks, there’s no way to deny that. But if it did even one thing right, it gave us this unbelievable Sedona elopement! We got to spend 2 days with the most incredible humans, and had the most fun EVER. Here’s how it went… WHERE IT ALL BEGAN: Jamie + Mel booked with us aaaaaaaall the way back in October 2019 for a wedding in Harrisonville, MO. This event was initially set to be a 250 person (I think that’s what they said… it was over 2 years ago??) traditional-style wedding on January 2, 2020. Then 2020 blah blah blah, we all know, we don’t need to say it. So when they reached out with their idea to reschedule to an elopement in Sedona with just them, us, their photographer (Juliana Noelle-Jumper …who is remarkable btw) and their officiant (Mel’s brother), we were SO EXCITED!! We had been dreaming of shooting a Sedona Elopement since our first visit. There were a lot of happy dances in the months leading up to their new date! LET’S TALK ABOUT THESE ELOPEMENT DRESSES!! So one of the coolest things about this reschedule is that these two had already purchased their dresses. Believing they would be indoors for their entire wedding day, they each bought these two beautiful ball gowns from Savvy Bridal. They decided they would each get a dress from the same designer so the dresses would compliment each other without being exactly the same! And WHAT. A. SCORE!!!! The juxtaposition of these huge ballgowns, side by side, against the untamed red rocks of Sedona was unbelievably stunning. These dresses were not meant to be there, they were not made for nature, and climbing, and red rocks. But in that same exact way they could not have been more exactly perfect. They could not have possibly been more beautiful. THE DAY-BEFORE ADVENTURE SESSION! Two words: Bell. Rock. Ugh this was so much fun. The day before their wedding, Jamie + Mel met up with us for a hike up Bell Rock. If you didn’t know… Bell Rock is STEEP. Upon our first meeting, we learned that Mel will absolutely make you do the impossible. Also, I ripped my pants. So that was cute. OKAY, OKAY. TWO MORE WORDS: DUNE. BUGGY. After we had damn near died on the side of an absolute cliff, AND I gave everyone a little peek at my butt cheeks, we went to get me some new pants, and pick up a dune buggy! YOOOO!!! THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!!! It also gave us all a chance to see Sedona in a whole different way – which was so awesome. Alright, alright. You get it. And seriously – get the dune buggy. It’s ridiculously fun. ON TO THE ELOPEMENT! Let’s talk about Saturday!! First, we arrived early for an adorable “in-home” type coffee-making session. It was such an amazing piece to have in their film as it showed them hanging out and spending time together. And also, there was this one moment we captured with Jamie giving Mel a hug that will forever melt my heart! From here, Jamie + Mel got ready together, helping each other with their hair + makeup. Put the last few touches on their decor, and then got dressed separately so they could still do a first look!! So after they got dressed and did their first look, we all went over to the Pink Jeep Tours to ride up to Merry-Go-Round Rock on the North Rim for a sunset wedding. This was a super fun, super bumpy ride. We had such a good time! There’s a ton of footage from this ride in their film and you really can’t miss it! It’s too good! That was actually one of the coolest parts of this day. We have a wide mix of footage from several different types of cameras. We had DSLR’s, GoPro, real 8mm film, and even I-phone footage that Jamie + Mel filmed of themselves! It was really awesome to see these come together and create such an amazing day! I think it’s worth mentioning that once we got to the top, and out of the Jeep, this place literally took my breath away. And then I immediately got it back to release a stream of never-ending stream of explicatives because there was just no other way to truly express how breathtaking this place was! We had their ceremony under a gorgeous twister juniper tree and they shared some of the most beautiful and poetic vows I have ever heard in my life. Once we got back down the mountain, we went back to their Air BnB to have dinner, cut cake, and have a gorgeous first dance. Oh, and also to pop champagne 🥳 It was a beautiful day followed by an incredible night of celebrating these two amazing people and we are so grateful we got to be there and be a part of it.