Sunrise Elopement in Saguaro National Park
Saguaro National Park Sunrise Elopement
Elizabeth, Matthew, and ALL of your family, thank you. Thank you for bringing me to Arizona to photograph your sunrise elopement in the Saguaros. Thank you for showing me around your amazing little town of Patagonia. Thank you for the evening we spent in the San Rafael Valley. Thank you for the good food. Thank you for the friendship and kindness. Thank you for it all. I felt truly welcome in the space that you call “home” and I would gladly adventure back in a heart beat.
Elizabeth and Matthew hail from a small town close to the Mexico border. They flew me down to spend the weekend with them and their families for a celebration of their marriage. Elizabeth is a queen and so is her mom. Seriously. Last year, we were supposed to be doing all of this but COVID wouldn’t stand for it. This year, it was on.
To start my trip, I ventured into the San Rafael Valley to scout out the perfect spot for their sunset session the next evening. This scouting trip involved a tiny car, miles of dirt roads, an amazing sunset, a Mexico border fence, and an interaction with Border Patrol. Yes, I got pulled over. Yes, they searched my rental car for bodies and drugs, to which, I had neither. Thankfully, haha. In the end, they were nice and it was a once (I hope) in a lifetime experience for me. By the end of the evening, I had found a great location AND had a great story to tell. I. Was. Winning.
Later that evening, I ended up back at Elizabeth’s parents home in Patagonia. They invited me to stay for dinner and Elizabeth’s dad was cooking on the smoker so obviously, I could not say no. Oh. My. Goodness. Talk about some beautiful food. I mean it. The only way to describe the taste was that it was beautiful. I sat around their family dinning table and ate dinner with them. I got to know them and just just for the few hours that we were together shooting. I have to say, I prefer it that way. Can all the lovely people I work with just invite me over already? I want to be your friend!
The morning of their wedding party, we met for their sunrise elopement at Saguaro National Park. We are talking 5:45 am sunrise and they had an hour drive to get there! Looking back, I am sorry friends. Haha. But, also, not too sorry. The images we got that morning are some of my all time favorites. The way the sun pours over the mountains and hits everything just right. It was perfectly perfect and I am thankful that I got to take part in the magic.
The only way to create a gallery of images that truly reflects your love is to have someone taking the journey with you that is after those types of moments. That’s me. Hi! Can we hang? It will be worth it. I promise. Don’t believe me, take a look below at the love Elizabeth and Matthew share. The proof is in the pudding babe.
