Red Rock Desert Elopement at Cactus Joe’s
When Frannie and I chatted during her consult and she told me she had been following me on Instagram for years and knew she had to have me for her wedding day when it came, I was absolutely blown away. So when I say it was truly an honor to photograph their elopement in Nevada I really mean it. It was also crazy to learn how our paths crossed a few time - apparently Matthew and I grew up just a few towns apart in Maryland, and at the time of talking Frannie was accepted into a program at the Kennedy Center just 30 minutes from my childhood home. Now Frannie and Matthew live in Las Vegas and were planning their elopement in the Red Rock Canyon area. I always forget how much beauty surrounds Vegas! Photographing among the red rock landscape and desert shrubs was so inspiring and yes, we were dodging cacti constantly! Cacti and tulle don’t go well together but we made it out untouched and Frannie fully embraced the adventure.
We started the day at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, just 30 minutes outside of Vegas, for their portrait time together where they also exchanged their private vows. Afterwards we headed to Cactus Joe’s Desert Garden & Nursery, one of the most unique venues that offers different backdrops for your ceremony, and then wrapped up their day at a local restaurant for their dinner and a special speech from Frannie’s dad.
I loved that for their day they set aside a lot of time for just the two of them and their portrait time together. This can be tricky when you are including guests because you hate to keep them waiting, but since we got to start with their portraits first this made it much easier to take as much time as they wanted. Another thing they chose to do that helped with the logistics of their day was hiring a pet sitting company! It was so easy to include their dog, Douglas, into their day knowing they had someone to handle him, give him lots of treats and love, and then take him back home after the ceremony. I’ve had a few couple use a pet sitting company before and I highly recommend it! Additionally they hired a planner, Ember & Stone Events, which is the ultimate game changer when it comes to making your day as easy and stress free as possible.
I often get asked how I help couples with their destination wedding if I haven’t been to that location before and it’s a great question! Frannie and Matthew’s wedding is a perfect example.
After chatting in depth with the couple about their needs and desires for the day including things like, how much hiking they want to do, what type of accessibility do they need, what parts are guests included, is their dog coming, do they prefer sunrise or sunset, and much more.
From there I start my in depth research process which includes things like about trails in terms of length, difficulty, recent reviews, wildlife encounters etc, when and where the sunrises and sets, permit requirements etc.
I use tools like Google Earth Pro to track the sun, websites with trail info like Alltrails or Washington Trail Association that have trail reviews from real people at all times of the year and downloadable maps, I use YouTube to watch videos that hikers have shared to have a more realistic picture of what areas look like, I talk to people who have been to specific areas that can share more details. I talk to rangers to get permitting info. And more!
After I gather all that information from afar, I plan my travels so that I can arrive a day in advance to scout the trails/locations in person so I know exactly what to expect, choose the best spots for photos, I can buy any last minute items I may need, and find out any more specific information like if a park happens to close early for an event or if there was recent bear activity etc. This is always the most valuable step.
All of these steps make it pretty easy for me to do research from afar - same as you when you plan your own trips! Destination weddings are my favorite, but since sometimes planning a wedding and a trip in one can be a bit overwhelming I like to help as much as possible so my couples can still have their dream wedding day. And in the end, it’s ALWAYS worth it!