On a very hot day on August 25th in Moab, UT, David and I got married during sunset at the La Sal Mountains Viewpoint in Arches National Park. Here’s allllll the deets! I’m so excited to share our special day with you all. It was SO magical.
So first, HI! It’s been awhile! Before I jump into our wedding day, I figure I should mention that we got engaged in July, lol. It was the most amazing engagement and so perfect. I’ll share more about that special day later, but for now let’s talk wedding
So, why August 25th? Well, there were a lot of reasons surrounding our decision to marry when we did, but the main one was that we both knew it was the right thing for both of us. We had been praying about it since we started dating because we wanted to make sure we did everything absolutely right. So, short answer: it felt right. And after we both got confirmation about it from praying, we started planning for it! Since it’s also the year of COVID, we knew there was just no point in postponing because of COVID since it’s been SO unpredictable. Our date didn’t become finalized until 3 weeks before, and honestly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It was so carefree, fun, exciting, and perfect for us!
The reason we chose Arches is because it has a special meaning for us. Our very first road trip we went on together was to Moab to explore Arches. I had always wanted to go but never had the chance, so while Leo was away with his dad last December David took us to Arches to get my mind off of Leo being away for the first time (and how much my heart ACHED over it) and to get out and have fun. We had the most incredible time, and it was that trip that we both individually realized that our friendship was made for something more. Although we were both terrified to admit it, we knew.
David is the most kind, caring, loving man I’ve ever met, and so many times my Brain had tried to tell me to walk away because “this isn’t my normal.” Being treated right was, and sometimes still is, uncomfortable because I was treated inadequately for so long that it became my normal. I have had to literally rewire my brain to understand that this treatment from David is GOOD, healthy, and NOT harmful. Since it’s not what I’m used to, my brain was trying to protect me and make me go to what’s familiar which was the WORST thing I could do to myself. This is why I don’t necessarily believe in the phrase, “if it feels wrong, it probably is”. If you’ve had traumatic experiences in your life, a lot of the time it’s our trauma tricking us into thinking it’s wrong just so we go back to old habits and environments that our brain is comfortable with. WHOA, right?! Although I’m in a lot better place in my healing from my trauma, it still hits me sometimes. I’ll go into more of trauma and how it can affect our relationships later, so stay tuned for that one.
Now back to the wedding!!
Despite my trauma that I’m continuously healing from, the day was seriously just absolutely magical. The night before the wedding I took Leo out on a little mommy-son date to give him some one on one time to try to explain to him what was going to be happening the next day. One of my sister’s drove down from Idaho that night as well so that she could drive down to Moab with Leo and I the next morning. David had already left that night with our friend Ben (who is also the one who married us) and we planned on not seeing each other until our “first look” right before the ceremony.
Since we were getting married in the year of COVID, we had to keep our ceremony incredibly small. David’s parents, Ben, Leo, and my sister were the only ones there (besides our photographer and videographer). Unfortunately my parents couldn’t be there – they live out of state in Idaho as well and at the time my mom was preparing to have surgery and both of my parent’s jobs had strict rules regarding traveling and COVID. So because of that, we had a Zoom meeting running during the ceremony for our families. It worked out really well, and luckily the La Sal Mountain Viewpoint (where we got married) had great service!
Before my sister, Leo, and I embarked on our 3.5 hour road trip down to Moab, I got my make-up done and it was the best thing ever. I’m sooo picky about people doing my make-up, but I decided to just go for it and get it done by someone I knew and I was so happy I did. More on that below!
After we got to Moab we met Ben at Moab’s city hall to get all the paperwork done and signed for our marriage license. Yes, we did it the day of. haha! David had gone with him hours previously to make sure we didn’t see each other before our first look. I checked into our hotel, freshened up, got Leo ready, and we were off to the park! But of course it wouldn’t be a Delaina type of day without forgetting our rings at the hotel and having to turn around right before we got to the park to go get them (you would think that after having that happen the first time I got married I would make sure I didn’t leave our rings behind this time… but here we are hahaha).
The first look was absolutely magical. David is the cutest human and his reaction was so tender. We took pictures and then had our ceremony. After the short ceremony we took some night pictures that turned out AH-mazing, had a little first dance to “You are Gold” by The National Parks (really fitting), and my cute mother in law had brought the most darling set up with little bundt cakes and Martinelli’s that we had NO idea about, so we were able to do a small cake cutting, drink some Martinelli’s and sign our marriage certificate. It was SO MAGICAL you guys!! After we left the park and got Leo situated for the night, we straight up drove to a Mexican food place that was still open at midnight and grabbed some so much food and brought it back to the hotel because we were STARVING. Literally the best ending to the day.
Okay okay, now here’s all the details!!
D R E S S + S E A M S T R E S S + S L I P :
I wanted something simple and inexpensive since we were having more of an elopement-style wedding. Having already been married, David and I both had the “been there, done that” mentality and wanted to keep everything as cost effective as possible. So I began my search online! I eventually decided on one of the very first dresses I saw from ASOS. They have a bridal collection and I DIED over this dress and just had to take the risk and buy it. It ended up being perfect after some slight alterations! The dress is linked here. For $214 I just couldn’t say no! Since I wear garments, I knew this dress would need some sort of slip/alterations to make it garment friendly. One of my best friends sent me Rachael Henrie Design’s Instagram account and I knew right then she’d be the perfect seamstress for the job! After getting it hemmed, taking in the bustle, and connecting the back lace, my dress in total ended up being about $420 after alterations, which is still cheaper than most wedding dresses out there that I would still need alterations on. She was SO sweet and did exactly what I had wanted and did it super fast. After searching around online for the perfect slip to wear underneath my dress, I came across Lizzy Slips and had to purchase ASAP because I knew this slip would be PERFECT to wear underneath my dress! Luckily, I was right! And not to mention the owner and maker of Lizzy slips was the nicest.
S H O E S :
Now when it came to wedding shoes, heels or any sort of fancy shoes were the last thing on my mind. I wanted something that I could hike around in and wear after the wedding since we love to hike. So I purchased these Teva’s and was SO happy I did. I got them for a little cheaper than full price. They were comfortable and I’ve worn them to hike in since! Kill two birds with one stone am I right?
M A K E – U P :
Something I wanted to try this time around was getting my make up done. That’s something I wish I would’ve done before and wanted to take advantage of this time, since I basically had a second chance at it all haha. I had been following a friend of mine’s sister who does make up, and knew I had to reach out to her as soon as I thought of it. She had just had a baby and was happy to do my make-up for me even though she was basically still on maternity leave. I am SO picky when it comes to my make up and have never liked it whenever anyone else has ever done my make -up, but I absolutely LOVED how she did mine!! It was the first time I ever liked how someone did my make-up. She made me feel so comfortable and at ease. I felt like a QUEEN. I wish I would’ve gotten better pictures, but she seriously did so amazing! I recommend her 10000%. Link to her profile is here!
B O U Q U E T + B O U T O N N I E R E :
At the very last minute, I decided I wanted a bouquet and boutonniere (oops) and the store I was planning on getting them at didn’t have what I wanted, and I was definitely banking on them having it (I know I know, come on Delaina this isn’t your first rodeo here). I reached out in desperation on Insta to see if anyone knew of any florists that could do it last minute, and Everlasting Floral came in CLUTCH!! She answered me back immediately, spent hours that night ordering exactly what I wanted, had it rush shipped, and spent time on a Saturday (4 days before my wedding might I add) putting it together for me. She made my bouquet dreams come true! She was a life saver. I mean come on, look at that bouquet. Are you kidding me!? GORGEOUS.
P H O T O G R A P H Y + V I D E O G R A P H Y :
Okay, now to my FAVORITE part! Another thing I sacrificed the first time I got married was photography & videography. Although I’m forever grateful I had incredible friends and family who came in clutch for us, I wish I could’ve spent the money on professional pictures and video. I’m SO picky when it comes to pictures and video, so I wanted to make sure that this time around we invested in a photographer and videographer that matched our style and vibe. We hit the jackpot with Jennie Munson Photos and Emily Evans Video. They were both the sweetest humans and truly made our day so much more special. They were so accommodating and both created a package that was tailored to our needs. It felt like we were meeting up with some old friends, that’s how comfortable they made us feel! At the end of the night they pulled out their lights to capture some nighttime pictures and video, and even suggested we turn on one of our songs for a “first dance” so they could capture that for us. I’m so glad we did, it really ended the night on such a magical note for us. They went above and beyond to make our day so special! Here’s some of my favorite pictures (although it’s SO hard to choose favorites because Jennie is so dang talented), and make sure to keep reading for our emotional wedding video that Emily NAILED.
