And they lived happily ever after!

Emma and Ely are so fantastic and we have become good friends. Emma just glows with beauty, she’s patient and thoughtful and has an amazing laugh, and Ely fits her so well. He is so giving, considerate and a keen observer. We also got to bring in Emma’s horse Pie, and their ridge back Stella who is one of my favorite doggies in the world! It was so fun running around the desert of Tucson with these guys, I can’t thank them enough for having me out for it.

Emma and Ely’s wedding is next week (yup quick engagement) so keep a look out for more desert glory around in a few weeks!

Heck yes, it’s Part 2 time! If you missed PART 1 go here —> Jessie+Mike’s Rustic Pioneer Town California Wedding PART 1. The ceremony and reception were out in the tiny desert town of Pioneer Town California, out towards Joshua Tree. The Reception was held in the outdoor corral of Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneer Town Palace, which is an amazing desert saloon and music venue.

Jessie was an avid DIY bride and did everything herself with lots of help from family and friends, making the wedding a beautiful reflection of their unique personalities. Jessie’s sister is a botanist and planted all of the succulents in clay pots as favors. Her friend screen printed the design from their invitations onto little wood tags to put in the plants. The flower arrangements in mason jars were made that morning by Jessie’s mom, sisters, and close friends from wholesale flowers from the downtown Los Angeles flower district. And the whole corral was littered with autumn squash, apple crates, and hay bails to pull the fall barn yard theme together.

Mike is an incredible musician and his band, The Brian Buckley Band, along with many of their close friends bands all performed during dinner and cake cutting. It was so much fun to see Jessie and Mike at their sweetheart table as all of their closest friends serenaded them with their favorite cover song and original song dedicated to the couple. My other favorite detail was that they opted to twist the convention of champagne toasts and poured a ton of tequila shots to toast to! Such a great touch. Very quickly after, Mike hopped up on stage and killed it on the guitar as the Brian Buckley Band got everyone dancing. And the crowd went wild I have to thank Brielle McClaine of Brielle McClaine Photography in Pasadena who took the torch after the formal dances and killed it with dance party pictures, allowing me to dance it out at one of my closest friend’s weddings. Basically the whole day was amazing, and I’m so happy for Mike and Jess, and am already celebrating the life long love that they will share. I love you guys!

First I have to say that it was such an honor to play such an intimate part in my dear friend’s wedding. I was hesitant at first to take it on since it’s hard to not be a present as a celebrating guest at a close friend’s big day, but Jessie has been telling me since the day I met her that I would be shooting her wedding And it was beeeeeeautiful, man oh man, it was beautiful! AND I could not have done it without the lovely Brielle McClaine of Brielle McClaine Photography in Pasadena who second shot the day with me and then completely took over for me after the first dances were done. She is amazing and captured so many amazing dance party moments that you’ll see on Wednesday! Priceless.

The Wedding was out in the desert near Joshua Tree California, in a little tiny place called Pioneer Town that started out as an old western film set. The ceremony was held at Le Haut Desert Aerie BnB just outside of Pioneer Town. Immediately following the ceremony we took cars in to downtown Pioneer Town for portraits in the old western facades and the Reception bash at Pappy and Harriet’s outdoor rustic corral (more on that on Wednesday!). There were so many perfect touches that Jessie and Mike put in that made the whole day so personal. Jessie was a total DIY bride and did pretty much everything herself, with the help of family and friends. The day before the wedding she went down to the flower district in Downtown Los Angeles and bought tons of wholesale flowers instead of going through a florist. The morning of the wedding her mom, sisters, and friends all came together and made all of the reception floral arrangements and wedding bouquets. She wore old cowboy boots under her Vera Wang desert rose-esque gown, and her grandmother’s jewelry. Jessie’s sister made her whimsical feathery hair piece, and her niece was their only attendant. It was a small ceremony, so personal and intimate. And everything was full to the brim with love for this couple. I’m so happy to share these pictures, and can’t wait to post the reception shots too. I love you guys!

Check out the RECEPTION post (PART 2) on Wednesday!!