After switching gears from planning a traditional church wedding and reception, Allyson and Andrew decided that an intimate Horseshoe Bend elopement was more their style! So, with only their closest family and friends by their side, they traveled from Texas to Arizona for a day that was purely about their love for each other and the start of their new life together. The day started with a hike through Antelope Canyon, where Lindsey Noel Photography captured gorgeous images of the couple dancing and cuddling amid the red rock formations. Then they made their way to the top of the canyon to exchange vows and have their first dance as husband and wife in front of an unbelievably beautiful backdrop!

The Couple:

Allyson and Andrew

The Wedding:

Horseshoe Bend, Page, Arizona

We decided to elope after we had already started planning a church wedding because we felt like it was becoming more about other things, like decorations and people. Our main focus was to glorify God while becoming one and we tried to keep every detail of our day about that.

We couldn’t have chosen a better photographer than Lindsey Noel Photography. Our wedding day started out with bride-groom portraits at Antelope Canyon, and Lindsey completely calmed our pre-wedding nerves. She directed us in a way that made us feel like we weren’t even having our pictures taken. Lindsey held a professional demeanor throughout the whole day while also making us feel like we’ve known her our whole lives!

At the end of our wedding ceremony, when the officiant said, “you may kiss your bride,” we pulled into each other and all of the spectators (there to see the sunset) started cheering for us, and Andrew lifted his fist in the air. We both love the way Lindsey captured that special moment and just thinking about that picture makes us smile uncontrollably.

We didn’t want to have a processional or recessional song, but what we really wanted was a first dance song. So about 3 weeks out from the wedding Allyson went to her little brother, Peyton Gilbert, and asked him to play their song on his ukulele, which he had to quickly learn. Immediately following the ceremony, we announced that we were going to go ahead and do our first dance, and Peyton sat down with his Ukulele to play “Married Life” from Disney’s UP as we danced at sunset on the edge of a canyon! It was perfect.

Our wedding advice is not try and plan your friends’ or families’ dream wedding, but to plan yours. You can’t please everyone so you should always do what feels right to you and your significant other. In the end, its your day and your marriage!

A heartfelt congratulations to Allyson and Andrew, and an extra special thanks to Lindsey Noel Photography for sharing these incredible elopement photos with Junebug! For more wildly romantic elopement inspiration, take a peak at our top 21 favorite elopements!