Lauren and Justin’s Alstrom Point Elopement

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Allison Dupree

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How did you meet?
Justin and I met in 2012 through mutual friends, on Twitter actually! We followed each other for a little while before Justin broke the ice with a sarcastic tweet to me in an effort to get my attention. From there we talked for days on end before finally meeting in person. A story we love to tell and look back on is how my Mom was so skeptical of having a stranger in her house, so she made me meet him outside of the house to hang out, in the pouring rain! LOL. We walked around town getting to know one another more, and I knew that if he could withstand the rain to get to know me, he was a keeper!

How did you get engaged?
We were on vacation in the Outer Banks, NC with my family and friends. He woke me up early to go see the sunrise on our second day of vacation, which I was hesitant about since I am not an early bird. However, I’m so glad he did because he popped the question right on the beach as the sun began to rise!

Details of the day!
Since our original wedding plan was postponed due to the virus, we decided to switch up themes to make both events separate and beautiful in their own way. We chose Alstrom Point at Lake Powell in AZ/UT for our adventure elopement and decided on a boho theme with his maroon suit, gold arch, dried florals and pampas grass, and of course my Rue De Seine dress that held so many boho features! Our photographer, Chrissy, shipped out a box of dried florals to our Airbnb in Arizona and threw together my bouquet, Justin’s boutonnière, and the florals for the ceremony arch which was beyond what we expected! The denim jacket I actually made myself with my Cricut machine and so happy I threw that final touch together prior to the elopement! My sister gifted me something blue for my garter, my something borrowed was my mom’s diamond bracelet, something new was my Swarovski tennis necklace my husband gifted me on that day, and my something old was our promise ring Justin gave me back in 2013. All of these little details made our day so special despite the last minute change of plans!

How did you decide to elope in the desert?
I followed Chrissy for awhile on Instagram and was totally blown away by her work out West. Justin and I knew if we were postponing our original plans and eloping, we had to make it an adventure elopement due to our love for traveling! Chrissy sent over a variety of choices and we knew immediately we wanted Alstom Point due to its uniqueness, beauty, and adventure to get to that particular location. Postponing our wedding we had planned for two years was not easy, so we made the elopement as incredible as possible and I was so enamored by the beauty of our location!

What was on your menu?
We actually picked up food from the store afterwards and cooked together! After dinner, we had picked up a small vanilla cake and had our own cake cutting together and ate a slice to celebrate our marriage! Afterwards, we drove out into the desert with a bottle of Champagne to look at the stars and see the Milky Way.

All about your gown!
I chose the Medina by Rue De Seine almost immediately as I began my hunt for my elopement dress. I knew I wanted to save my original dress for our postponed celebration, and needed something different. When I found out the Medina was retired, I went as far as emailing Rue De Seine themselves, calling all local boutiques that carried the designer, and even looked into photographers who would rent dresses out for styled shoots! I began to lose hope as options dwindled, and when I stopped looking it literally fell right into my lap! Everthine Bridal located in Connecticut was in contact with me to let me know that their sister store located in Vermont had one Medina dress left and connected us right away. Ironically, the last one was my exact size (talk about fate) so I ordered and they shipped it right to me. I had one of my bridesmaids over to help me try it on and had a “I said yes to the elopement dress” moment which was so special to me after facing much defeat from the original plan! I fell even more in love the second I had it on and it made me so much more excited for the elopement. I adored the lace detail, the flowing sleeves that created so much movement in my photos, the tasseled macrame bodice which screamed boho, the lace train which was easy to pick right up by a loop, and the nude liner that gave it more of a western elopement feel, than a church wedding feel. It also had stunning mirrored sequins sewn into the dress which helped it shimmer and shine in the sun and even in the night photos Chrissy had taken!

What was your favorite moment?
A moment I will never forget is having our first dance under the stars to Forever After All by Luke Combs. It was the most romantic and unforgettable experience as we danced around the desert as the sun began to set; just us, our photographers, and our officiant!

One detail you couldn’t live without?
I honestly LOVED the arch my husband and our photographer surprised me with! About a week before the elopement, I began looking at more inspo pictures on Instagram and Pinterest and said “ugh look how beautiful an arch would look…” not thinking that my husband would listen. But then to my surprise, we arrived at our Airbnb and he had me open an Amazon package which contained a golden arch which looked stunning with our theme! I found out later that he and Chrissy worked on that detail a few days prior, THANK YOU Amazon Prime! It truly is the little things, and that arch made it feel so much more real as I walked down the rocks to meet him for our ceremony. It created the most stunning photos as well!

Did anything go wrong?
I can honestly say, nothing went wrong that I was aware of! It was such a smooth sailing day and I can thank our photographers, officiant, and my hair/makeup artist for that! Any minor inconvenience, they totally curved and made me oblivious to it if there were any. It truly felt like the most perfect day.

First dance song?
Forever After All by Luke Combs. My husband and I struggled to find a song for our first dance for the two years of our engagement and tossed up numerous songs, and then Luke Combs released this song the DAY before our elopement. We listened to it in the car during our drive from Las Vegas to Arizona the day it was released, and I remember tearing up listening to the lyrics and knowing that was the one for us! I get chills each time I hear it now and smile thinking about our first dance in the desert.

Any advice for future brides?
No matter how detail oriented you are, expect the unexpected and roll with it! At the end of the day, it does not matter what flowers you had, what food you ate, or how many people you were surrounded by. What matters most is becoming one with your significant other and making it a day YOU will love and remember for years to come. As upsetting as the postponement was and how hesitant I was to move forward with the elopement, I can honestly say I cannot picture our wedding any other way now and it was the most magical day that was truly about us and so intimate! I now see the beauty of elopements and micro-weddings and cannot recommend them enough!

Honeymoon location:
We are planning our honeymoon to Hawaii as Covid begins to slow down some for the full experience! We did have a mini-moon around Arizona and Utah where we hiked and checked adventures off of our bucket list after our elopement day! Out of all of our travels so far, that trip was hands down my favorite with so many new memories made!