When the gorgeous bride, Davis, from today’s desert wedding started telling us about herself and her wedding day, we knew so many of you would be able to relate to what she had to say! She shared, I have never dreamed of being a bride. I hardly wanted a wedding at all, but when Chris and I got engaged we decided that we would have a small intimate destination wedding with every detail being true to who we are as a couple and our lives together. I am an artist at heart who LOVES color and Chris is a destination wedding photographer… so details with the idea of “less is more” became extremely important to us.
She goes on to say, Getting married in the desert was an instant mutual decision. We had just moved to Southern California from Florida a week prior to getting engaged and Joshua Tree seemed to carry all the magic we needed. We had traveled a lot together and for some reason this place really spoke to us. It was simple, beautiful, majestic, unique and inspiring. It was a place we could bring all of our dearest loved ones to experience something they would most likely never experience on their own in an entire lifetime. It had an energy neither of us could describe and the hunt for the perfect location was actually quite easy. In fact we kept the location of the ceremony and party a complete secret until all guests arrived via the bus we shuttled from Palm Springs. They even had to walk about 5 minutes from the bus to the location due to the inaccessibility.
Pop-up surprise weddings are our fave! And, we promise, you won’t want to miss a beat from this one :) Luckily Ben Christensen‘s lovely captures below beautifully document it all!
Chris created our ceremony teepee from 120 year old reclaimed wood from a barn in Vermont. Again we wanted simple, nothing to take away from the backdrop of the desert. It was garnished with some greenery and floral from Bloombabes.
Such a pretty rose + greenery bouquet!
We can’t believe we haven’t mentioned this dress yet! It’s pret-ty amazing, don’t you think? Davis spills ALL the deets on who made it and why she chose the color she did: I knew I didn’t want to wear white or anything that resembled a typical wedding dress, it just wasn’t for me. I cannot explain why but I had an overwhelming attraction to mustard yellow all of the sudden and wanted a one of kind dress that was completely unique to me. Simple enough I found some $18 fabric in LA and sent it to my mother, a self-proclaimed seamstress, with a vintage vogue pattern from 1972 I purchased on Etsy. With some minor changes and alterations, my mother made my perfect wedding dress a realty.
The reception space at D + C’s venue, The Ruin Venue (which they found on GWS!), is just so magical! Their lucky guests dined on grilled tacos from SOHO Taco underneath an architecturally unique open structure glowing with a canopy of string lights. Too good!
Davis + Chris close with, I guess at the end of the day we wanted a wedding that didn’t feel like a wedding. The destination was all the inspiration and we wanted our guests to wonder why in the world we would choose such a place being the water babies we are… and I can honestly say that once everyone was there they truly got it. It didn’t have to be explained and it all made sense. It was the best day of our lives.
We ♥ it! Big thanks to the happy couple for sharing + best wishes from team GWS!
photography: Ben Christensen // venue name: The Ruin Venue, Pioneertown, California, USA // florals: Bloombabes // wedding dress: Bride's mom // bride's shoes: Donald Pliner // bridesmaid dresses: Novella Royale // hair stylist: a friend of the bride // makeup artist: Nova Kaplan // groom attire: Bonobos // groom's shoes: Aldo // paper goods: Josh Ariza (invitation design) // catering: SOHO Taco // desserts: A Sweet Savory // tabletop rentals: Otis + Pearl Vintage Rentals // furniture rentals: Thrifted Sisters // officiant: Friend of bride + groom
I love that she wore a yellow dress!
What a wonderful story. It’s a true blessing that nowadays couples have the ability and freedom to choose and create a personal, romantic custom event to fit their likes and passions. So many women (and men) get a bad feeling when they think of weddings and/or marriage. It is a victory of love that someone that felt that way was able to push past her negative associations and share a magical day with her partner and loved ones to have an unforgettable moment in time filled with joy. Thanks for sharing such a lovely story!
This day was a dream! The details were everything. We laughed, cried, and danced under the stars. Cheers to the Glenns! <3
Loving all the vibrant colors! Her yellow dress is amazing!!
xx,
NST Pictures – Cinematic Weddings