Our Alabama Hills Elopement
Date: July 13, 2019
Location: Lone Pine, California
Photographer: Cedar & Pines
Wow. I can’t believe we’re coming up on three years since we got married in one of my favorite places on earth! If you’re here to learn more about how to elope in Alabama Hills, check out this resource guide I put together. Below, I’m talking more specifically about our experience eloping, and hopefully our story can inspire some of you to get married YOUR WAY!
The morning of our wedding began at 4 a.m.—we woke up in our old Chevy box truck (our first home, named Gertie) and after getting ready met our elopement photographers at a trailhead. Sunrise was still about 30 minutes out, so we wandered down trails watching as the Sierra Nevada mountains turned from blue to orange. We found a natural stone arch in the granite where we sat down and snuggled up to each other in the chill morning air.
The day began with fun—our ceremony was planned for later in the day, so all we had to do during this sunrise session was explore. We wandered the natural slot canyons between tower granite rock faces, hopped from boulder to boulder, kissed about a 1000 times, and smiled until our cheeks hurt.
When the sun finally peeked out from the east, the air immediately began to warm up. I’m not sure what the temperature was that morning, but I noted that it reached 103F degrees in the afternoon. For myself, it was perfect! I live for the desert dry heat—which is why Dillen only half jokingly calls me a lizard.
We spent about 2 hours with our photographers that morning before splitting off to get ready for the celebrations with friends in the afternoon. Our goal was to nap throughout the heat of the day, but we also took the time to decorate our campsite—we used climbing cams to string lights up between the rocks, lay out blankets and pillows for a dinner picnic/reception, and I (late as usually) wrote down my vows. Around 3 p.m. our friends started rolling in—many came from across the mountains in the bay area, but a few from my side drove or flew down from Washington.
The reunion was incredible! This this day we’ve been lucky to see many of these incredible folks once or twice, but the year or two prior had been tumultuous for both Dillen and myself—our wedding was in amny ways an opportunity to visit with some of our closest. Because of this, we’re really glad we did not invite more than a dozen people. Any more and it would have felt rushed to try and spend time with everyone—instead, it was a perfect day.
The most “traditional” part of our wedding was the ceremony, and even that felt incredibly laid back. I’m not very good with being the center of attention, so when she arrived about 10 minutes prior I asked my friend Kylie to “lead the ceremony” (basically just get the whole shebang started). I tell Dillen all the time how much he means to me, but it feels extra weird expressing those feelings in front of parents and friends. I’ll be the first to admit, he won the vows—he had me laughing, crying, and smiling SO big! Believe it or not, we didn’t ask our dog to walk us down the aisle. Below you’ll see our old Australian shepherd, Samson, walking with a big smile as we went down the “aisle” to meet our friends and family. It was such a comfort to have my best four-legged friend sitting with us on such an important day.
After the ceremony we invited everyone back to the campsite for vegan tacos. We set up a really simple spread and invited everyone to help themselves—gotta say, tacos are 100% the easiest way to feed a group of any size! Plus, we made way too much food and had leftovers for days. Dillen and I snuck off after eating for a few more sunset portraits, which I love! Check them out below—there’s something so soft and beautiful about sunset in the eastern Sierra high desert.
Our wedding experience was so perfectly us.
We were relaxed, mildly sunburnt, well fed, and so happy our cheeks hurt from smiling! The only thing I would have done differently given the chance is made the experience last a few more days. I never wanted to leave, and I still want to go back to this moment in memory as often as possible. Damn, maybe we should just get married again!
Our Alabama Hills Wedding Vendors
Photographer | Cedar&Pines
Earrings | Mountainside Made
Vow Cards | Little Canoe
Cake | Sinners & Saints
Dress | Leanne Marshall
Groom’s Attire | Patagonia
Groom’s Ring | Aide Memoire
