After taking one look at Alli and Landon’s anniversary session, it’s apparent that they are totally in sync and totally in love with each other. The couple’s romantic anniversary photos celebrate their second wedding anniversary, which marks twelve whole years of being together! Alli’s a wedding calligrapher by trade, so she combined some of her own gorgeous pieces of Alli K Design calligraphy and two dark and trendy outfit looks to convey her personal style. We can’t get enough of the moody, industrial vibes that photographer a sea of love captured in this shoot!
Codi and Ryan are adventurers at heart, so they chose a romantic Bali destination elopement for their wedding! Because there weren’t family members or a wedding party to juggle, the couple opted to enjoy their Bambu Indah wedding day at a leisurely pace and allow themselves time to explore Bali’s gorgeous rice paddies and natural pools. Apel Photography captured every adventurous moment of Codi and Ryan’s wedding, including an awesome traditional Bali blessing ceremony!
When we chose Bali as our destination we started looking on Instagram for places to stay and see and I found this beautiful picture of BambuIndah. We looked into it more and realized we HAD to go there. It’s a working sustainable farm with chickens and the these old Javanese bridal homes that John Hardy brought over and reconstructed. You can swim in natural pools & play on rope swings & it’s the most peaceful place we’ve ever been.
The last couple of years have been full of weddings and we’ve seen how easy it is to lose sight of why you’re there in the first place. Don’t get us wrong we LOVE weddings and a good party, but at the end of the day that’s just not us. Our happy place is exploring the world together and that’s what we wanted to incorporate in our wedding. Luckily, we have a very supportive group of friends and family members that weren’t upset by our decision to elope!
I had my mom plus my future mother in law, sister and law, and niece join me when trying on dresses. I saved the dress I wanted for last. My mom has never been someone that cares about dresses or big fancy weddings, but when I walked out she burst into tears. I knew that was it. My mother in law gifted me with matching earrings before we left and wore my grandmother’s wedding ring. It felt like everyone got to be a part of our day.
We weren’t stressed and didn’t have a timeline of events so we were able to relax and take it all in. I remember sitting by the pool before we had to get ready and looking at each other like “hey babe, let’s get married today!” It all seemed so surreal.
I can’t stop talking about Apel photography. The whole day was an adventure. We told him we wanted to explore the area and we weren’t afraid of getting dirty. We were barefoot crossing the river and climbing on rocks, we got to trek through the rice terraces, and some of our final pictures were walking through the village because it was important for him to get the “real” Bali in some of the shots, which we loved.
Our advice: Do you. Do your own thing. We realize eloping isn’t for everyone just the same as weddings aren’t for everyone. Do something that’s special to you as a couple regardless if there are people that disagree. It doesn’t matter if you pull together the perfect Pinterest board wedding- if it’s not your style and not what you want as a couple then what’s the point? There are so opinions on what other people’s weddings should look like I think we’ve all forgotten that the marriage is for us and that means we get to choose what we want our day to look like.
BambuIndah blew us away with all of their flowers and decorations. We went with no expectations, welcomed with flowers and flower petals everywhere. Walking out on to the the flower covered deck as the sun was going down over the rice paddies was beyond amazing. The whole day was breathtaking. I mean, who just get’s to dance barefoot in flower petals as the sun goes down on their wedding day?
We didn’t have a processional or recessional, but we danced to Amos Lee’s “In the Arms of a Woman” barefoot on the deck overlooking the rice paddies as the sun was setting.
We chose to have a traditional Bali blessing ceremony following our main ceremony. We were dressed in traditional Bali attire and the deck was placed with pillows & offering baskets. Towards the end we they tied a blessing bracelet that’s not to be removed until it falls off- we still have ours on! This link explains it a little better.
Gone are the days of “formal” meaning “standard.” When Vanessa and Andrew planned their wedding at Agricola Street Brasserie, they focused solely on elements and traditions that were meaningful to them as a couple. The wedding party’s all-black attire was on point, but the bride’s crystal-embellished Stella York gown definitely stole the show! Vanessa and Andrew kept the guest list small for their intimate ceremony on the patio of the brasserie, followed by a fancy dinner party inside. To add a touch of elegance to the modern-industrial dining space, they used simple gold accents, re-purposed the vibrant wedding bouquets into centerpieces, and displayed beautiful handmade signs with some of their favorite quotes. Every detail was uniquely Vanessa and Andrew, and Chelle Wootten Photography did an amazing job capturing it all!
I decided to create all of our paper goods for the wedding – our invitations, programs, place cards, table numbers, guestbook art, and signage. Although time-consuming, it was a simple process!
Seeing each other for the first time was the most memorable part of the day for me. When I came down the stairs, I spotted Andrew sitting in the booth we’d sat in on our first date, and that’s when the reality of what was about to happen set in.
We didn’t want to do anything just because “that’s what you’re supposed to do at a wedding” except, of course, get married! That meant we chose a restaurant to ensure we had great food and drink, limited the guest list to just our closest family and friends, and omitted any traditions that just didn’t resonate with either of us, resulting in an event that felt more like a well-dressed dinner party and less like your standard wedding.
.jpg "Photographers")
