La Jolla Cove Elopement

For a few years now Ashley, of Ashley Nicole Events, Inc, and I have been teaming up to create beautiful inspiration wedding shoots in the Chicago-land area. This year we decided to step up our game and travel to beautiful southern California to do a two day photo shoot in San Diego. Since it was February in Chicago we were both super excited to head somewhere warm. I packed a few sundresses and cute outfits along with a pair of sandals and I was set. When we arrived the sun was shining and the palm trees were everywhere. We stayed in a sweet little cottage air b&b with a very kind host, Rick.

We had two full days in San Diego. The first day was our bride and groom portrait shoot (view the photos here) and the second day was our styled elopement shoot. The morning of day one we did a lot of exploring to find the perfect location for our elopement shoot.. We went to three location all along the coast before returning to our cottage by 11am to wait for hair and makeup to arrive. It's a good thing we did too. We must have brought our cold, windy weather with us because the gusts were around 40 mph and the had a frost advisory both nights we were there (completely unheard of for the area). I, of course, being stubborn that I am, refused to wear my winter coat like everyone else and still wore my sun dresses with a tiny sweater. Yes, I froze, but it's California! I'm not wearing my Chicago winter coat!

After a fantastic day one, Ashley and I were up early again prepping for our shoot. We had to pick up our rental pieces and sweets for the day, but managed to get a quick fifteen minute break to head to the seals for some tourist photos before being back at 11am and the pampering.

The entire shoot was incredible. The inspiration for this romantic elopement overlooking the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean was formed from the Pantone color "ultra violet" and the colors of the beach itself. Real life couple Malwina and Shane gladly stepped in to help us showcase our vision. Malwina wore a custom Alyssa Kristen bridal gown that was the perfect complement to the crashing ocean waves with a simple, but sophisticated lace design. Flora Hair and Makeup transformed an already beautiful woman into a bridal beauty keeping her hair and makeup soft and natural. With her hair softly pulled away from her face the remaining curls flowed down her back. To complement the various shades of purple Shane was dressed in a thinly striped purple button down shirt paired with a navy blue and purple diagonally stripped tie and pulled together with his classic navy suit.Keeping with west coast vibes, Wyld Blooms created a stunning larger than life bridal bouquet and table display with bold pops of purple, lush greens and a touch of pussy willow . Our chairs from, Classic Party Rental, mimicked the color of driftwood found along the sand. Shiny gold silverware sat on either side of a beautiful gold and white place setting topped with Nat Sweets edible cookie place cards staying on point with the 2018 trend. Not only were they pieces of art, they were absolutely delicious! We selected gold rather than silver for our accent color because it brought a warmth to the setting just like the sun.While we spent the majority of our time in a little secluded cove for the more intimate portion of their wedding day, one of the most unexpected additions to the shoot was the seals at La Jolla Cove. Standing among the seals in the golden setting sun was nothing less than magical.

While you might be thinking to yourself, "wow, that's more like a vacation then a job" you would be partially correct. It was incredible to visit San Diego. I had never been! However, we didn't have any free time working twelve hour days. At the end of the day we were so exhausted we just crashed. Still, I would do it again in a heartbeat! We are already planning our 2019 destination shoot!