We Eloped!

I already shared the news in my 2013 in review post, but in case you missed it - Shawn and I eloped in the forest on December 14th, 2013! The only reason I haven't posted any photos until now is because our photographer had submitted the photographs to a wedding blog and we were waiting for them to post it before we could share anything. This past Friday Green Wedding Shoes posted about the elopement, so I am finally able to share some photos of our beautiful day on here.

We hired Jessica of Jessica Oh Photography to photograph the occasion - you can see even more photos of the day on her blog post here. She captured our enthusiasm and happiness so clearly, along with all the little details that sometimes otherwise get lost along the way. She also found the florist, make-up artist, the announcement designer, and opened up her home to us. She is truly amazing! So much more than we ever could have asked for!

The reason Shawn and I decided to elope is because we both think of marriage as an intimate commitment and we wanted our ceremony to reflect that. We kept the whole thing a secret from our family and friends and then shared the news by sending out holiday cards that doubled as elopement announcements. It was so much fun to hear everyone's reactions and we're looking forward to possibly celebrating with everyone at a small reception at a later date this year. Going about it this way just felt right to us; the day of our ceremony was amazing and absolutely everything we had hoped (with the exception of the snow storm that we almost got stuck in - though it did make the photos even more magical!). I really can't find the proper words to describe the day... I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.