When I first started wedding photography I knew that I absolutely wanted to photograph a Cathedral Rock elopement. Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Arizona has by far one of the best views, but not for the faint of heart. To get to the infamous ledge that overlooks Sedona, you gotta climb. Not the entire way, but enough to scare a lot of people off!! Not Jessie and JP though. Jessie and JP are avid hikers, and knew that they wanted to conclude their wedding day with the intense hike. So that is exactly what we did, and we saw one of the most amazing sunsets EVER!

Jessie and JP were so excited about their laid back, Cathedral Rock elopement from the get go. The first thing Jessie said to me was that they hate posey pictures, so we definitely avoided those God-awful prom posey pictures from the get go. She also told me that their pup Lucy was going to be a big part of the day, which made my dog mom heart SO happy! She even had her florist Jazz Bouquet Floral make her a matching floral piece for her collar! Lucy joined us for the ceremony, but definitely stayed behind for our hike to the epic ledge.

The day started out very, very rainy. I was terrified that it was going to pour the entire time, but Jessie and JP didn’t even care!! They said that their first date resulted in a day inside due to torrential downpour, so they weren’t surprised that their wedding day would be the same. Somehow the rained cleared up as soon as we pulled up to Cathedral Rock.  Jessie and JP first had an intimate first look with each other in the trees before the short hike to their ceremony spot. Jessie wore a beautiful long sleeved dress from Lulus, and got her hair and makeup done by the lovely Christopher Bullock. You should’ve seen how happy Lucy was to have both of her parents back together!! I remember hearing JP say “My two girls in white” and I seriously CRIED. Ugh my heart. Leslie from Leslie Allred Films shot video for Jessie and JP’s entire day, and it was such a pleasure to meet up with her!! She was so easy going, adventurous, and the absolute sweetest!! All of my Sedona brides seriously need to book her!! We also make a GREAT team!

We began the hike to the ceremony spot which overlooked Sedona, with a great view of Bell Rock. My favorite moment of the ceremony was Jessie almost accidentally kissing JP after he said the sweetest vows. Her face when she realized she couldn’t kiss him was PRICELESS. We were all laughing so hard!! Also, JP accidentally dropped both of Jessie’s rings and they almost rolled off the ledge. Jessie’s face seriously had me cracking up!! The rings were safe, have no fear. There were lots of laughs and tears of happiness throughout the entire ceremony, and it was so sweet to watch behind my lens. 

Jessie and JP then changed to begin our hike to the ledge. One very funny thing to note about this whole experience was that I was extremely sick. The hike is a little tough for normal, healthy humans. Imagine what it did to someone who had lived off of sour patch kids for one week (yeah don’t ask why they were the only thing my stomach could handle). We finally(!!) made it to the top and witnessed the most amazing sunset ever. The pictures don’t even do it justice!! Jessie and JP concluded their Cathedral Rock elopement with popping some champagne off the ledge and spending sweet moments with each other as newlyweds. We may have hiked back in the dark, but we didn’t even care. 

What an amazing day. I am so grateful for the friendship that I have made with Jessie and JP after their wedding. I guess that’s what happens when you hike a mountain with someone!! I can’t wait to hike Cathedral Rock again now that I am nice and healthy!!