When you’re looking through a set of wedding photos on a blog, do you ever wish they’d never end? They’re so beautiful/ crazy/ awesome/ cool (or all of the above) that you want to see more, more more?! Well that’s exactly how I felt the whole way through viewing Jordan and Charley’s incredibly stunning desert wedding. Held at Sacred Sands bed and breakfast, this celebration was intimate, carefree and beautiful and they had the photographs to match.
“We knew that we wanted to have a destination wedding from the start”, began the bride, “and after visiting Joshua Tree, we thought it would be the perfect place to create a retreat-like getaway for our family and friends. We chose the region as a backdrop for our wedding based on its unique and bizarre beauty, and it set the theme for the rest of the décor. We wanted to keep the natural beauty of the landscape as the focal point of our wedding, to which we added a mix of succulents and some DIY touches like hand painted windows as our seating chart and signage; Edward Gorey tarot card place-markers; an awesome mix of succulents in eclectic containers; a photo tribute table decorated with family photos, vintage cameras, and our instax photo guestbook.”
“Our goal was to have an intimate, carefree wedding that paid tribute to our amazing and supportive family and friends”, she continued. “We took the idea of a destination wedding and did it kind of backwards, forcing people to get out of their comfort zone and experience something different. Joshua Tree is a one-of-a-kind magical place. The stark contrast of the harsh desert and the elegance of a wedding was a juxtaposition that truly intrigued us.”
“Plus, Joshua Tree is full of the wackiest places and people in existence. Our rehearsal dinner was at the Hicksville Trailer Palace, which is where most of our wedding party lodged, an isolated artist retreat that is compiled of themed trailers (ex: alien, punk-rock, carnival, etc.) We stayed in “Project Z”, which had a zombie apocalypse theme.”
The couple handcrafted a lot of items for the wedding including their Instax guestbook and elaborate invitations! “Our idea of making our own custom invitations turned into a month-long arts and crafts endeavor!” Jordan explained. “Ivan, one of our good friends, provided some amazing illustrations and from those we drew and designed our invites, RSVP cards, etc. in Photoshop, then turned those designs into our own custom rubber stamps using a laser cutter owned by our friend Laura Bruland, who typically uses it to make jewellery. We then painstakingly rolled on ink and pressed the stamp to the stationary, and 200 rejects later, we had 50 acceptable and clean prints.”
“Our guestbook is one of our favorite things that we took away from the wedding. I modified an old photo album from the 20s by adding some pages and photo corners. We had a Fuji Instax camera out, and encouraged guests to take their own instant shots, place them in the book and write us a message. The book perfectly reflected the night! Starting out with some great posed shots and heartfelt notes, and as the night progressed the photos and entries became increasingly funny, ending with an amazing shot of two of our friends passed out on the couch with the quote ‘We came, we saw, we conquered. Love over all!'”
“All of the amazing things about our wedding can be traced back to the friends and family we had in attendance”, she concluded. “Everyone who joined us in the desert, about 50 guests, were close to us and showed their love by making the trek. And every single person we have talked to since then has mentioned how Joshua Tree was special for them in one way or another. I am happy that our wedding wasn’t just an event, it was an experience.”
