This Couple Kept Their Stunning Nevada Desert Wedding Location a Total Surprise

When you know for a fact that your wedding ceremony location is going to blow everybody’s mind, why not keep it a mystery until the very last second?

“We decided to keep our ceremony location a surprise,” bride Erica remembers of her Nevada nuptials to groom Trey.“We had all of our guests meet in the Caesar’s Palace lobby to load party buses. The guests were amazed as they drove further away from the strip and into the red rocks of the desert. They figured out pretty quickly they would not be at your usual Vegas wedding.”

The entire guest list journeyed without knowing the destination for more than an hour until they reached Valley of Fire State Park. Towering rock formations. Red clay desert. The arid, Nevada landscape in all its Mars-like glory. “We really wanted to blow their minds!” the couple remembers.

“We knew we wanted our wedding to feel connected to nature while giving our guests an unforgettable experience,” Erica says. “Some of our favorite memories together have come from road trips in the West, discovering landscapes that feel otherworldly. The majority of our guests were traveling from the East Coast, so it felt important for us to bring them somewhere they’d never been before.”

So, at the base of the Seven Sisters rocks, Erica + Trey said “I do.” Ivory floral arrangements and a wedding party dressed in elegant all-black popped against the fiery scenery and extraterrestrial terrain. 

And that was just the beginning.

“For the reception, we wanted the energy of the night to feel just as intentional as the ceremony,” the couple remembers. After the desert ceremony, the whole operation loaded up and drove back to Vegas where celebration ensued at a spot in Las Vegas.

“My husband found our reception venue,” Erica says. “We had our reception at The Front Yard at Ellis Island –one of the only family owned venues just off The Strip. The space was completely transformed – ethereal white linen draped every inch. Green + white flowers and moss created the perfect organic vibe.”

Erica + Trey took all the timeless romance of a chic, elevated B+W wedding and dropped it in the middle of a Martian desert landscape. Ember & Stone Events helped it all come to life. Kassie Gunn captured every moment from behind the camera. And we are so thoroughly obsessed.

A First Look Among the Rocks

“The ceremony was over an hour away from The Strip so we made the decision to have 2 party buses for our 75 guests,” Erica remembers. “Since we were riding on the bus with our guests, I wore a pre-wedding dress (a custom embroidered little white dress)…”

“So when Trey and I did our first look, I had no clue what I looked like! I wasn’t able to try my cape and dress on together before we left Arizona due to an alteration mix up the night before. Our wedding planner stood behind the photographer with a full-length mirror in the Valley of Fire and that was the true first time I saw myself as a bride with the fiery red rocks behind us.”

“After seeing a few of my friends get married I knew that a veil was not for me. Inherently a klutz, I knew I would trip on it, get it caught on something & ultimately rip it out of my hair. I went on Etsy and found the most beautiful wedding cape by Lily of the Valley.”

“The bridal cape was the perfect accessory to enhance my dress,” says Erica (AND WE COMPLETELY AGREE). “The way it naturally blew in the desert wind couldn’t have been replicated if we tried! I paired this look with drop pearl earrings and the drop pearl necklace that Trey got me for our first Christmas together.”

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“I DO” In the Desert

This wedding concept said ‘Design floral arrangements that can make even the desert feel elegant, please,’ and Night Garden said “ON IT.”

“In 2019, we packed up our car and moved from Pennsylvania to Arizona,” Erica shares of the journey that led them to choosing this awe-inspiring location. “Along the way, we made a spontaneous stop at Valley of Fire State Park, just outside of Las Vegas, somewhere I had discovered through one of our favorite DJs, Martin Garrix.”

“The moment we drove into the park, it felt surreal, like we had landed on another planet. It was just the two of us, surrounded by towering red rock formations and mountain goats, and it became our first real “pinch me” moment that we were stepping into a completely new chapter of our lives out west.”

“That day stayed with us in a tangible way, Trey has kept a photo of me from that first visit as his phone background ever since. The Valley of Fire became a constant thread throughout our years of traveling and building a life out west, and six years later, we knew there was no more meaningful place to bring our closest friends and family to say ‘I do.'”

Our Favorite Memory
One of the most memorable parts of our day was having my dad officiate our wedding. Before the ceremony, we jokingly told him that as soon as he said, “you may now kiss the bride,” he had to quickly step out from behind us so he wouldn’t be in the photo.

 In the moment, he was so focused on getting out of the background that he completely forgot to say the final line. Trey & I paused for a second, a little thrown off & looked at him questioning whether we could kiss, our guests started laughing & some even shouted, “you may now kiss the bride!” My dad ended up coming back to the microphone to say “you may now kiss the bride” as we kissed.

We sealed our vows surrounded by the sound of laughter from our favorite people, and it became the most perfect, unplanned moment of the day. It was a prime example of how you can try to plan the details of your day but there will always be little imperfect moments that make your day even better than you could've imagined!

Our Musical Choices
Processional
"Can’t Help Falling In Love With You" - Elvis Presley
Recessional
"No Place I’d Rather Be" - Clean Bandit
First Dance
"All My Love" - Coldplay

Toasting to Forever

Erica + Trey’s love story began when they were teenagers: “We both grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania. We met in 2012, our sophomore year of high school & hung out in similar friend groups. After graduation I moved to Pittsburgh to attend college and Trey also moved to Pittsburgh to pursue his hockey career.”

“Our friendship continued as we both navigated new phases of our lives. The summer of 2016, we both found our way back home to Erie & that’s when we realized there was something more between us than just a friendship. Looking back, it’s clear there was always an invisible string connecting us.”

A round of applause for Maria M and Primrose Glam for creating a wedding hairstyle and bridal makeup look that could hold up so beautifully under the desert sun!

We created a shoppable list of our favorite black bridesmaid dresses because we love this ultra-elegant monochrome bridal party look so much. Erica’s besties stunned in these Azazie gowns.

“Bridesmaids, groomsmen and all guests wore black,” Erica says. “We wanted the contrast between the fiery red rocks of the valley of fire to pop!”

“I always wanted something timeless & easy to move in!” Erica says of how the dress shopping experience that led her to this sophisticated bridal look began. “We were back and forth about where we were getting married at the time so I wanted something that would fit in multiple scenes and had a modern yet classic look to it. I had a dress in mind from Essence of Australia that I was dying to try on.”

What’s better than finding the dress of your dreams? Getting it FOR FREE. “True Society holds a Magic of the Season promotion every December & the grand prize is a free wedding dress of your choice. My mom and I visited the store in Arizona on December 23rd, which just so happened to be the last day of the promotion.”

“I was handed 5 envelopes to choose from. The envelope I chose had “Free Wedding Dress” written on it! I had an intuitive feeling I was going to win the dress so my reaction was pretty calm. The store thought I was kidding at first before they read the card. I was able to choose any dress in the store for free – no stipulations. I went for the dress I’d loved online.”

A Celebration on The Strip

“What truly brought everything together was the transformation of the space,” Erica says. “The venue began as a large, industrial beer garden, but with the help of our design and planning team at Ember & Stone Events, we reimagined it into a soft, romantic, and intimate gathering.”

“Layers of airy white fabric and string lights draped overhead, creating an ethereal canopy that softened the structure and made the space feel warm and inviting.”

RSVP Party Rentals supplied the celebration’s classic yet minimalist tabletop decor and green + ivory linens.

The green satin bows on this wedding reception seating chart! 😍 And OMG those glowy string lights from LED Unplugged!

“One of our favorite design elements was the use of serpentine tables, which added a natural sense of movement and flow throughout the room,” Erica remembers of the unique reception table setup. “Instead of traditional straight rows, the curved layout encouraged connection and conversation, subtly echoing the organic shapes that inspired our day.”

“Dinner was served family-style, which made the experience feel even more relaxed. Passing plates &  sharing dishes at the table beneath the glow of the string lights created an atmosphere that felt less like a formal reception and more like an intimate dinner party with all of our favorite people.”

“We incorporated organic elements throughout like moss and layered natural textures, grounding the softness of the draping with earthy detail. The contrast between the romantic design and natural elements created a space that felt completely unique to us!”

Behold the understated yet funky beauty of this floral single-tier ivory wedding cake by Sons Of Cakery!

Our Advice
Think outside the box. There are NO rules, you can do whatever you want!

Find a venue that says yes more than no, even if they aren't a traditional wedding venue.

Stay true to what you want as a couple, it's easy to get caught up in what you see online.

Treat every guest the same whether they are in the bridal party, if they’re family or friends. We debated on having a smaller ceremony, welcome party etc with only our bridal parties and family but ultimately decided to include everyone and it was the best decision!

Invest your money in the areas that mean the most to you. For us it meant finding the right team to make our wildest wedding dreams come true & providing each guest with the most unique experience possible. We are so thankful to have had such a wonderful team of vendors who made our perfect day come to life from the middle of the desert to the Las Vegas strip!

Erica + Trey shared some fun additions they included to make the reception feel uniquely them:

• “Self-Pour Beer Wall (this was a HIT!!)”
• “Bottles of Champagne on the table for guests so they wouldn’t have to leave the table during dinner/ toasts for more drinks”
• “Signature cocktails named after our 2 cats and dog as well as a photo of them”
• “The customized bar (we added a T&E crest)”
• “Warm cookie skillets, late night burgers and fries“
• “Our friends closed out the night with a DJ set! After the live music from Lucky Devils Band ended our venue let our friends DJ the after party. We’re so happy we found a venue who said yes more than no!!!”

All that AND a disco floral dance floor hanging installation by Alter Design House?!

Congrats, Erica + Trey, on your elegant + other-worldly wedding day! All of us here at GWS are so impressed and wish you nothing but the best!