Yisel & Cory eloped in Payson, AZ near the Mogollon Rim & Wood’s Canyon Lake, a beautiful forest lake in northeastern Arizona. They wanted a simple, meaningful wedding with just their parents there. Cory’s dad married them even! A lot of people don’t realize how easy it is for their loved ones to get ordained online. Having a very intimate wedding was important to them and I think it allowed them to be more open with their emotions without feeling shy in front of too many people. There were so many sweet moments during the ceremony, like Yisel crying and Cory kissing Yisel’s hand. Cory spoke some vows in Spanish for Yisel. Yisel got her dress from Lulu’s, which is the most popular place for my elopement clients to get inexpensive dresses for elopements. They even have a bridal line now!
The Mogollon Rim is a very popular and stunning place to get married. It’s a wonderful place to go during summer to escape the heat in Phoenix. It’s a cliff overlooking mountains, easily accessible without any hiking and it faces west, making it absolutely perfect for a sunset elopement. It’s also very close to Woods Canyon Lake, giving you multiple location options and variety for photos. It’s quite popular on the weekends, especially during summer, so I generally recommend eloping on a weekday whenever possible to avoid the crowds.
It was Yisel’s idea to use the fairy string lights and shoot after the sun set for some romantic photos IN the lake- they are some of my favorite elopement photos to date! Shooting after sunset is tricky and requires a skilled photographer to pull it off. It gave the photos such a beautiful ethereal feeling that ended the elopement so perfectly!
If you’re thinking of eloping, be sure to check out my Elopement Locations Guide for more location ideas, as well as helpful tips for weather and other factors! More information on elopements and elopement planning resources can be found here.
