Vegas natives Sara and Anthony decided to marry away from the neon lights, wanting something a bit quieter, that felt more like them. They had visited the park together many times so when it came time to plan their wedding, they knew it would be the perfect place. They even booked the same AirBnB that they stayed in on their very first trip together. “We wanted our theme to be a mix of our love of the desert, our Vegas roots, and a little edge,” they explained. “The inspiration was ultimately the things we love and who we are.”

Planning a wedding in a national park came with a to-do list that wasn’t especially romantic. Permits, strict environmental regulations, limits on what they could bring and where they could set up. Finding a quiet moment in a public space was also a challenge. But they made it work.

“Even planning an elopement takes up a lot more time than one would think”, Sara admitted. “With eloping I thought that we would be able to bring it all together quickly but that wasn’t the case. We had our wedding only six months after our engagement. It was a quick turn around and there were more things than we initially anticipated that needed to be organised prior to the wedding.”

Their ceremony took place between two Joshua Trees at Cap Rock. It was just them, an officiant, a photographer, and the desert. “We decided on having private vows together and we finished the ceremony with a champagne toast. Shout out to our photographer for bringing champagne!” she said. After the ceremony, they explored the area and took portraits while the sun began to drop.

Instead of a reception, they went back to an AirBnB, had dinner, cut a cake topped with a tiny figure of their cat, and opened a bottle of the same wine they drank on one of their first dates. Later, they returned to the park for a nighttime shoot under the stars. They’re regulars at Dark Sky festivals and knew they wanted that atmosphere captured as part of the day.

Sara concluded, “There were so many small things along the way that make our wedding uniquely us – a personalised pennant from one of our favourite stores Oxford Pennant, and a curated wedding day playlist including all of our favourite songs through our relationship. We went back and forth on whether to elope or not, it was the hardest decision to make but ultimately, we decided that eloping felt the best for both of us and we are glad that we did.”