This vegas styled elopement had always been a dream of mine. Which is *quite* hilarious because I.. 1. Dislike large unruly crowds 2. Unnecessary belligerence 3. Gambling and 4. Staying up past my bedtime. But the colors and lights of Vegas and the feeling of freedom to do things your own way that the city invokes are one-of-a-kind.

My Callie girl was the perfect person to help make this dream of mine come true. One of those humans who knows what’s chic (while I’m still getting two seasons old clothing through goodwill) and can throw together a slew of outfits with very little but my mess of thoughts to work with.

This dress? A dream. Of the 4 shoots we did during the 72 hours we spent in Vegas most of the clothing options were rented through Nuuly. With just 6 items for $88 it was a no-brainer to 1. Save some money and 2. Not be buying things we would never wear again. The sustainability of renting was very important to me, as it was to Callie and John.

These two are getting married *for real* later this fall and an elopement has always been intriguing to them, although they find themselves drawn to wanting their friends and family around to celebrate as well. So, we got the best of both worlds and we flew off to Vegas this spring to show them a good time.

Check out Pt 1. of this Vegas Elopement:

It was our first time seeing the water show at the Bellagio and we all geeked out a little, it was far more fun than I imagined it would be. Then we wandered the hallways of the casino, where the sweetest security guard handed over some drink vouchers and sent us off to the bar.

Pt. II

Vegas Elopement

It wouldn’t have been a night with Callie without letting her get her paws on her second favorite thing, (John being the first, clearly), a ~Baja Blast~! After, I followed them through the streets and overpasses of the strip, letting them soak in their surroundings, and at 11pm, we stopped for a shot of espresso (a moment of regret which we would feel the consequences of the next morning).

Pt. III

Vegas Elopement

From there it was off to “New York” as we made our way closer to the legendary fabulous Las Vegas sign, which felt like a must for this Vegas elopement. After waiting in a line of drunk party goers, we had our turn.

The night wrapped up around 12:30, probably just as the espresso kicked in and we headed home as we had to be up and out of the city by 5am to make it to Valley of Fire for their engagement session. It was, to put it lightly, a rough morning; the sunrise and bighorn sheep sighting made it worth it ten times over.

This weekend was full of shoots, you can see what that engagement photoshoot looked like at 6:15am at The Valley of Fire. Or what we got from our engagement session at Red Rock State Park.

There’s another styled elopement shoot at Zion, or equally as rad is the brief shoot we did with the rented Mustang, also at Zion.

With roadtrip sessions there is no shortage of shoots– as one of my college friend’s used to say “everything is a runway” but maybe adjust it slightly to “everything is a photo worthy moment.”

The kids are TikTokin’ – check out Callie’s cute ode to elopement photos here :’)

OR my ever so incompetent attempt at reels, here

xx.

mo