Joshua Tree National Park Adventure Elopement Experience
Case Study: Josh & Jordan’s Joshua Tree National Park Elopement
love, lorraine
Adventure Wedding Experiences Intimate Wedding and Elopement Photographers
Josh and Jordan’s Joshua Tree Elopement was a pivoting point for our business. It opened our eyes to new opportunities and allowed us to use skills and knowledge in new ways to help guide Josh and Jordan to create their dream elopement day.
Jordan and Josh hired us to take on the tasks of designing and co-planning their day. Jordan and I created design mood boards and found pieces for their day that reflected their style. Josh and Travis designed their ceremony arbor, which was a hexagon with beautiful elements. We curated timelines, coordinated day-of logistics and photographed their beautiful elopement day.
This was a turning point for us. We knew that we could offer so much more to couples who already wanted to due away with the typical wedding day traditions. We’ve attended and photographed over 100 weddings and have built up a directory of wedding knowledge.
Love, Lorraine is an all inclusive adventure wedding experience business. We aren’t just photographers that take pretty photos. We are a team of highly skilled wedding experts that have an eye for design, style and beautiful images.
Plan.
The Details:
Location: Joshua Tree, California
Venue: THe Hi-Desert Ranch
Photographers: Love, Lorraine
Videographers:Jay and Mack Films
Hair & Makeup: Tanya Marie Hair
Florist: Mulberry and Moss
Private Chefs: No Worries Chefs
Bartender: Twisted Spoons
Jordan and Josh are from Nashville, Tennessee. A year before their wedding we met them on a whim while we were adventuring in our tiny home on wheels in Joshua Tree. Jordan reached out via Instagram to schedule an Adventure Session while we were in town. Little did she know Josh had a proposal up his sleeve. He then reached out after Jordan and I scheduled their session updating me on his plans. He proposed during their session among the beautiful Joshua Trees.
(read more about their proposal, here!)
Jordan and Josh decided that the stress of planning a big extravagant wedding was something they did not want to do. They wanted something more adventurous and that aligned with who they are as a couple…. so they decided to elope in Joshua Tree!
What was the biggest challenge you faced while planning your elopement?
“Planning remotely was a bit difficult. Not being from the area, it was hard to plan logistics, find the perfect Airbnb for our elopement, communicating and meeting with vendors. We found that is was hard to keep track of everything we had to plan for, so we created 2 excel sheets and a word document to keep track of who we booked, communicated with, and who responded. Neither of us have ever been married so it was harder to make sure we didn’t forget anything because we were so far from Joshua Tree. We are glad that we had planned to go out a week prior to our elopement. We highly recommend others to NOT wing it and just show up the day before. Doing this allows you to get comfy with the space you rented, the surrounding areas, and where things can be accessed if necessary. It also allows you to be flexible on the day if it works for the rest of the others involved.”
How did that challenge make you feel?
“I feel like I could never sleep. I was always thinking about different tiny details. I was worried I would forget something or our day wouldn’t go as planned. We would ask each other questions about what we wanted or what we should do about certain things, but we never had the answers to those questions.”
What changed after you hired us?
“After we hired you it felt almost safer and a breath of fresh air. It was better to have a third party in the mix to help move us through the planning and design process. We know that you have been to a hundred weddings and could catch things that needed to be changed or worked on throughout the planning process.”
Design.
How did you feel about your elopement experience with us?
“Our experience with Love, Lorraine was great. From the beginning you created a level of trust and a friendship, and that goes along way when you’re planning your wedding. When you aren’t able to trust someone, it makes the whole day difficult. You both were professional and confident and you made us feel comfortable in front of the camera. You directed us the entire day and weren’t pushy about timelines. The first fire that I would’ve known about I would have gone total OCD Type A and been strung out and have to be involved in everything. You took initiative when needed, and handled a lot of things behind the scenes. On the day of the wedding you made sure we were relaxed and stress-free. The tablescape you put together for our intimate dinner reception was just how I envisioned it, and the ceremony setup was exactly how we planned.”
How did you feel about the images you received?
“We LOVE our wedding images. You made us feel comfortable and confident in front of the camera.”
Did having us take on some of the planning role help relieve some of the wedding planning stress?
“Yes! It was more personal with you guys. You understand what looks good. You guys know what you're doing. You know what people want. You also listened to our needs and our styles and helped us make our wedding vision a reality.”
Prepare.
How do you guys feel about the decision to have a small wedding?
“Our gut was telling us that eloping was what we needed to do. We don’t regret making this decision at all. We knew that we didn’t want to look back on our day and think “I wish we didn’t invite ____”. We knew that we wanted a day entirely about us, surrounded by our best friends and core family members. To this day we look back on our elopement day and feel great about our decisions.”
How did you go about telling your friends and family that you were eloping?
“We debated for a bit, and felt bad. But once we decided that we were going to elope and told our friends and family we felt relieved. We told our close friends and family because we didn’t want 100 phone calls. We also planned a reception in Nashville later that year to celebrate our marriage with everyone else that didn’t attend our elopement in Joshua Tree. Some were confused about the reception. They didn’t understand why we were having a celebration 6 months after we eloped. We recommend that if you are deciding to elope, communicate clearly WHAT you’re doing and WHY. The wrong decision is to NOT tell people.”
Is there anything specific you'd like to share with us that could help future clients?
“Even though your wedding may be small, don't underestimate how much work goes into it. Even though it may be 20x less people than a traditional wedding, it still is a lot of work. Except for one thing - you’re doing it for YOU. Just because you’re eloping doesn’t mean it’ll necessarily be cheaper. You’re planning a day entirely focused on what you want, not others. You can make your day however you want it be when you elope. We wanted an experience and a vacation and didn’t want to compromise on much. Experience trumps everything.”
If someone was on the fence about booking us, what was you say to convince them to book us?
“You guys are artists and you have an eye for the design and style aspect of weddings and elopements. Some event management companies don’t have that eye, but you do and you took to my ideas because you are an artist. You have the vision of what it should look like in photos and in person, not just “what looks good” in the moment. You don’t have to have a photographer understand the planner understand the designer. It's all in one brain!”
