Lake Arrowhead Elopement
Oh this sunset glow! I am still on cloud 9 over over this elopement. Before I go into how Jessie & Troy met I will go into how Jessie and I met. lol Last winter Jessie and I met when she contacted me to through fb marketplace and she and her mom came over to buy a dress from me. We bonded over our love of mountain living and dogs. Months later I received an email from her asking me if I was available to shoot her elopement. Of course I said YES! Elopements are my favorite. As a photographer who doesn't like 2 hours of couple's photos? lol
A week before her wedding I took her and her mom to my favorite forest spot and to my newly found "forest on top of the world" spot I had discovered the day before our meeting. When she saw the first spot she was completely sure that was the spot she was going to exchange her vows. But I told her to let me show them the other spot but we had to wait for the sunset...it changes at sunset. So we go to my little hidden spot and she fell in love. Of course how can one not fall in love with this place? A green meadow, blue iris's, giant pines, oak trees that shape into an arch an of course the best view around! You don't believe me? Well take a look yourself.
Jessie & Troy met many years back when they were in high school. No it was not love at first sight exactly but rather Troy was Jessie's way of getting out of taking the bus after school as he had a license and she did not. It took him leaving out of state and returning for her to notice "he had gotten so cute".
This lovely couple has been together for 11 years and on May 19, 2017 Troy proposed! In the middle of finals week and urged her to come home while she at school studying.
"When I finally got home back to Big Bear he asked if I wanted to take the Arctic Cat (UTV) up into the forest behind our house to see the sunset and help him scout a good hunting spot. Since riding around the forest is my absolute favorite thing to do I agreed immediately. So we hopped in the Arctic Cat and headed out into the forest. We stopped on top of a ridge where we could see the sunset and the entire valley. I hopped out and started walking around with our dog Buster and taking pictures of the beautiful sunset having absolutely no idea what was about to happen next. Once I got pretty far away and downhill from him he got on one knee and yelled to me 'will you marry me?'. At this point, I thought he was joking but I could see a little white box in his hands. So as I begin hiking back up to him I am repeatedly asking him if this is a joke and cursing him as well! When I finally got closer I realized it wasn't a joke and he asked me once again if I would marry him. Of course, I said yes! "
When Jessie and Troy began to read their vows you could hear them laughing and see them smiling. Their entire vows were heartfelt, funny and honest. After all, they have know each other over a decade. When I asked them why they chose to have this intimate ceremony on their own Jessie answered the following:
"We decided to elope and have our vow exchange privately because we wanted to keep our vows personal, intimate and just between us. After all, it is our wedding :) Although the way we had our wedding is very untraditional, I wouldn't trade it for anything! We also felt that right when we got engaged everyone started to begin to put in their input on how/when/suggestions etc. and it began to feel like this wedding was going to be all about pleasing everyone else. Once we decided to elope privately all the stress about planning melted away. I would suggest to anyone questioning if they should elope or not to follow their heart and do what they truly want. The day we eloped was so magical and perfect that, I am so happy we did it just the way we wanted. "
