Intimate Mountain Cabin Wedding in North Georgia

As promised, here’s part two of Tara’s & Cj’s wedding weekend in the North Georgia mountains (Part one is here if you need to catch up)!

Tara and I brainstormed back and forth for months, throwing around ideas for elopement and microwedding locations and scenarios. It can be really tough to try and nail down your wedding vision, especially in the middle of a damn pandemic. However, Tara & CJ took it like champs and wound up putting together the best little wedding in the mountains of Jasper, GA. October in North Georgia is always really beautiful, but I feel like the sunset reeeeally showed off for this one.

One of the perks of having a tiny wedding is that you can make last minute adjustments. For example, when we got up to the cabin the day beforehand, we scoped out the incredible view and decided to move the ceremony back a bit to take advantage of that sunset backlighting. It wound up being such a good call, because we were able to do their first look and portraits washed in the glowiest warm light. Because the guests were already there, we moved the first look to the balcony off the master bedroom, which gave Tara & CJ a private few minutes (totally recommend this, it calms the nerves and is very grounding).

Tara handled all the decor and sweet little design elements herself, and it was all perfectly them. She has flawless style. Also, can I take a moment to brag on my husband, the officiant?! Because he did an amazing job! The ceremony was heartfelt and personal, and he just cleans up so nicely (obviously, I’m biased. I don’t care) 😍

Tara & CJ - we love y’all so much. I’m so honored we were a part of your wedding day!

Cozy North Georgia Cabin Engagement Session

Today’s post is really special - part one of a two-day cozy intimate wedding weekend we spent with our friends, CJ & Tara, in the North Georgia mountains. CJ is one of Aubrey’s oldest friends, and he was actually a groomsman in our wedding almost 14 years ago! So when he and Tara got engaged, we were so so honored when they asked us not only to photograph their wedding, but for Aubrey to officiate. He’d never officiated a wedding before, but he got ordained online just so he could marry them ❤️

We initially planned their elopement to be near Joshua Tree National Park, but with the pandemic, we shifted the plan and stayed closer to home. It ended up working out beautifully, because their immediate families (and their dog, Hank!) were able to join them for their ceremony at a beautiful cabin in the mountains.

Aubrey and I spent the night before the wedding at the cabin with CJ, Tara, and Hank, and we were able to do a cozy little session for them to document their last engaged day. Honestly, I don’t get to do day-before sessions very often (just because we usually shoot engagement photos pretty far in advance before the wedding), but I’d LOVE to do more of them in the future! They are so sweet. We kept it low-key and snuggly, with some absolutely killer sunset light. I love these. I’m so stoked for Tara & CJ, and am so glad we’re all friends.

Next up, the ceremony (featuring Rev. Aubrey)!

Yosemite National Park Adventure Elopement Shoot

I honestly have no idea why it took me so long to blog this session (other than the fact that we’ve all been in a pandemic for the past 2 years, but who’s counting?!). Yosemite is one of my favorite places on the planet. In fact, we affectionately refer to it as the Center of the Universe, which actually feels like an understatement sometimes. We love it.

So, when we were planning one of our most recent trips to Yosemite, I decided I wanted to try and plan an adventure elopement shoot at Taft Point. It’s got one of the most iconic views of the valley, and because the hike is on a fairly easy 2.2 mile out-and-back trail, it’s also one of the most popular in the park. I connected with Kayla, who’s also an incredible photographer and happened to be visiting from Oregon at the same time. We decided to hike in together and swap photos of each other. I’m SO glad we did!

Kayla & Gus are such sweethearts, and I loved getting to know them, hiking around, and stargazing together at the end of the night. We got to share a quintessential Yosemite sunset which, in my opinion, bonds you for life. Kayla has become a huge source of photo inspiration to me, and I’m so glad we were able to meet.

Scroll all the way to the end for bonus BTS content!


Important Note: I can’t overstate how dangerous the fissures and drop-offs are at the end of this trail. Falls would be fatal (it’s like 3000+ feet above the valley floor). Please take all precautions if you decide to do this hike, and make sure to read up on all of Yosemite’s restrictions and guidelines. As always, Leave No Trace!

Glacier Point Road is closed for all of 2022, but reach out if you’re interested in planning a Yosemite National Park Elopement or portrait session - there are SO MANY great spots throughout the park, and planning out adventurous sessions is one of our favorite pastimes!

Yosemite National Park Adventure Elopement
Yosemite National Park Hiking Elopement
Yosemite National Park Hiking Elopement
Yosemite National Park Adventure Elopement
Yosemite Adventure Elopement
Yosemite National Park Elopement
Taft Point Elopement Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park Elopement

Bonus content: Elsie took this photo of me in action 🥲