April and Elliot shared vows in a simple yet modern ceremony that overlooked the Red Rock Canyon. Take a peek of their special day that was filled with lots of love and lots of unforgettable moments.

WHAT WORDS WOULD YOU USE TO DESCRIBE YOUR WEDDING? 

Desert glam

Loving

Intimate

Beautiful

Breathtaking scenery

Stress free

Perfect day!

THE PROPOSAL:

Thanksgiving of 2020, Elliot had just gotten back from a deployment and he surprised me by having my sister fly in for the holiday. The day after Thanksgiving we went to Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe to take photos (my sister does photography) and Sand Harbor is one of my favorite places. It’s also where Elliot took me when I first came out to visit the area. My sister told me in advance while we were getting ready he WASN’T going to propose so don’t think anything about it. Admittedly, I was a little bit crushed since during the deployment I had been giving him hints of what rings I wanted, etc. We did our photo session then towards the end, my sister tells Elliot “I think your shoe is untied.” That’s when he got down on one knee and proposed. I was in shock about what was even happening that I hardly cried like I thought I would. Elliot still messes with me to this day about how I didn’t cry during the proposal! The ring he proposed with was a Heidi Gibson and he had my nana’s diamond reset in the center. Elliot and my sister had planned the whole thing together and I thought something was up…now I know I was right!
THE VISION: We never really had a vision from the beginning. I never dreamed about having a large wedding and party reception growing up. Elliot says he didn’t have a vision for the day either. I knew how I wanted to look for the day and what kind of bouquet I wanted though! We knew we wanted a smaller scale wedding that was intimate and a memorable day. We both knew we didn’t want to go in debt for a one day event. We were also in the process of buying a house and wanted to be realistic on how we spent our money. 

THE PLANNING PROCESS:

The planning process was a headache originally. We went round and round on what we wanted to do and at the same time put the planning on the back burner because of buying a house. I casually looked at venues and the logistics of planning a wedding on our own stressed me out so bad that I wanted a true elopement with just us two. Elliot wanted family there so I went back to the drawing board and searched online and came across Elopement Las Vegas. Originally I was thinking an elopement at Tahoe but something about Vegas drew us in. I showed Elliot the venue areas I liked and we decided on the Red Rock Canyon Overlook. The pictures of it looked beautiful and we figured it would make for a lovely ceremony. It actually worked out well funny enough, that our close friends got married a month before us and chose the Boardwalk as their location. When we went for their wedding we were able to check out the Overlook and knew we had made the right decision. To say I’m glad we found ELV is an understatement. ELV turned the planning process into a sit back and relax type scenario and alleviated so much stress! I literally kept telling family and guests that all they needed to do was show up and ELV was handling the rest. We also brought our own officiant and ELV was able to assist with that as well. After the ceremony, Elliot and I kept saying how well put together everything turned out to be and our day truly was perfect! It went so smooth and we were so impressed with the entire ELV team. 

YOUR OUTFITS AND ACCESSORIES:

I knew immediately after the proposal what kind of bouquet I wanted (succulents!) but the coming together of the whole outfits for me was a bit stressful! I tried on many dresses from Lulu’s and thought I had found one I liked but later decided it didn’t go with the image I was envisioning. I ended up finding an Australian company called Alamour the Label that had reasonably priced dresses so I got one from there. I did have to get it altered quite a bit because I’m so short though! It was the perfect dress for me because I like form fitting dresses and I knew I wanted a glam dress. I liked the V-neck and open back and also the thin straps since it showed off my figure. I wanted to look nice for the big day! I also knew I wanted heels and wanted them to be my something blue, so I decided on a pair of Badgley Mischka’s. My shoes probably weren’t the most practical for the terrain but I got around well in them. My hair pins and earrings were from Etsy, my little purse was something borrowed from a cousin and my bracelet was from Olive & Piper. Glammed Up Vegas did my hair and makeup, as well as my mother’s, sister’s and officiant’s.
Elliot’s suit, shirt and tie were from Dilliards. He already had his shoes that were Cole Haans. Our colors were lilac, sage and dusty blue so we went together and picked out a suit and shirt color that were within the color scheme and looked nice on him for the special day! He knew he didn’t want true navy so he decided on a lighter navy suit with a faint window pane pattern. I liked the blue on him because he has blue eyes so it brought out all the blue! I also got him some succulent socks as a day of wedding gift so he wore those for the ceremony.
Our cake topper was from Etsy and we did little succulent soaps as favors for everyone. We had a wood board that had an image of a mountain on it for a guest book and everyone signed it with paint pens. 

MEMORABLE MOMENTS:

Elliot: “Seeing you for the first time.”
April: “Seeing my cousin messing with the back of Elliot’s suit when I was waiting at the base of the walk up to the ceremony. I was so confused as to what they were doing and later she told me that he had forgotten to take the stitch out of the back side of his suit so she was getting it out for him. She joked that she was feeling him up before the wedding and we had a good laugh about it!”
April: “Getting to see Elliot when I walked down the aisle. He looked so handsome and all of my anxiety instantly went away when I saw him.”
April: “Hearing Elliot’s vows was very special to me. They were so heartfelt and I enjoyed getting to hear them. Later he told me he didn’t write too long of words because he didn’t want to start crying! Also when our officiant was reading, I remember making eye contact with Elliot the whole time and it was like no one else or anything else mattered at that moment in time. It was very special.”
The dinner was also memorable for both of us and our guests. We had our dinner at Carson Kitchen and we were so full of food at the end. It was an amazing dinner and was so perfect for our special day!

ADVICE FOR OTHER COUPLES:

– Elliot says to trust the professionals! And I wholeheartedly agree. So first step is to book with ELV and you will not be disappointed! Also, get the deluxe package and opt for the videographer. Having the nice bouquet, cake and professional photographer and videographer makes it all come together for a perfect day.
– Don’t stress about what others might want! It is you and your partner’s day so in the end your special day should be what you two want. 
– Don’t let the getting ready part (day of ceremony) stress you out, as it did for me. Everything works out in the end and later on you’ll laugh about the little things.
– Do the videographer! Getting the video captures the special day and turns it into a movie. It’s so nice to relive the ceremony over and over again and also to show the loved ones who could not make it for the ceremony. 
– Take in every minute of the big day, savor it. It goes by so fast and before you know it, it’s already over. So enjoy every minute of it!

VENDORS

Photographer : Elizabeth Le Photo 

Floral: Amy Wong Events

Video:Impreza Films

Coordinator & Permit: Desert Elopement Las Vegas