Our Joshua Tree Wedding

A simple, adventurous beginning to our married life.

First of all, I want to clarify that we did NOT elope because I am pregnant. 

Baby Sheahan tagging along for our special day was just an incredibly exciting added bonus. We chose to tie the knot in our own way, on our own time, simply because we wanted to be married. Just like many other couples, our wedding plans have changed multiple times due to Covid-19 and life in general, so ultimately choosing to go get married in the middle of the desert was just the way everything fell into place for us -- and looking back, I wouldn’t change a single thing.

After postponing our would-have-been-wedding that was set for this past June way back in January, we had tossed around the idea of trying to do a smaller wedding with just our families somewhere, but even that wasn’t possible because of the Canadian borders, travel bans, and quarantine rules...so we talked about going even smaller and doing something just the two of us. If we couldn’t have both of our immediate families present, we weren’t going to have anyone -- it just wasn’t fair and wasn’t what we wanted. So we thought that eloping would be a fun way to officially become husband and wife, while saving the big celebration with everyone we love for Summer 2022 -- what’s one more year?

We typically go on a vacation after Riley’s hockey season ends, so a trip was already in the works, and we thought it would be easy to slip our elopement in wherever we went — obviously, we weren’t too picky. We didn’t decide on our location until May 3rd when I connected with our elopement angel/ photographer/ officiant extraordinaire Safeena -- and we got married at sunrise in Joshua Tree National Park on May 29th.

Safeena (Safeena Noah Photography) made our wedding day what it was, I cannot say enough good things about her -- all we knew was that we had heard cool things about Joshua Tree and suggested that as a general location -- she knew where to set us up for the best sunrise ceremony experience, where to travel for photos after, and even went through the process of becoming ordained for us. Like I said, she is an angel...AND an incredibly talented photographer.

Once we knew we were heading to Joshua Tree that weekend, Riley and I found the coolest airbnb in Yucca Valley called Casa Perla. This home was a beautiful little oasis in the desert, and was the perfect spot to enjoy a few days prior to our early morning I-do’s.  

The morning of, I woke up at 3am to chug some coffee and do my own hair and make up before throwing my dress on for a sleepy-eyed “first look”. Luckily, I didn’t have any morning sickness and my newly fluctuating hormones left me with clear, glowing skin! Bless up.

Outfit Details

Dress - Lulus Love Everlasting White Floral Lace Mermaid Maxi Dress

Shoes - Vince slip ons (I actually had them on when Riley proposed)

Earrings - Target, sale rack baby!

Florals - Cactus Flower Florist & Farms Wild & Free Bouquet (courtesy of my mom)

Tanlines - accidental

We hopped in the car and drove in the darkness to the national park where we were set to meet Safeena at 5am. As the sun slowly lit up the sky, we took in the incredible views and colors before we exchanged our vows to one another and said “I do”. We laughed through the embarrassment of a first dance in front of random hikers, and even had to hunt down a couple of willing strangers to be our witnesses in order to make our marriage official in the state of California.

Honestly, our short and sweet sunrise ceremony in a place we’ve never been turned out to be exactly what I didn’t know that I wanted. 

I always thought the idea of eloping was cool, but having the chance to experience the intimacy of sharing vows with JUST my husband, and no one else, is something I am so grateful for. The day held no pressure -- I felt so secure in my own skin, I didn’t think twice about my hair and makeup being perfect, and my smile was never forced. I knew that Riley was the only person I needed to care about that day, and it eliminated the performative energy that can sometimes surround a typical wedding day.

I can’t speak for Riley, but I cherish the moments we shared together that day -- the sights, sounds, laughs, Facetimes to friends and family (side note, I told all of my siblings that they were going to have a niece or nephew that day!), fresh baked cinnamon rolls (shout out to my girlfriends!), and a much needed post-wedding nap. 

As beautiful as our day was, we are so excited to celebrate our love and our decision to choose to marry one another next summer with ALL of our family members, closest friends, and the newest little Sheahan baby there with us — I can’t stop smiling just thinking about it.