Elopement-Style Vow Renewal in the Red Rocks of Sedona

Elopement Style Vow Renewal

In recent years elopements, adventure weddings, and adventure sessions have really taken off. I know that when I got married I had no idea adventure weddings were even a thing, and if I *had* it’s very, very likely my wedding day would have looked very different.

This is sentiment I’ve heard a lot. “If I know what I know now, I would have done things so differently.” This makes me a little sad, to be honest, because everyone deserves to have a wedding day that is really 100% the best day of their life. And I know that shipped has sailed for some folks.

Enter, the Vow Renewal. I *love* vow renewals. If your wedding day wasn’t what you had planned, you wished you’d done it differently, or you just want to recommit yourself to your person in a way that makes sense for you *now*, an elopement-style vow renewal is a really terrific option.

Lucky for Emmy and Keal, they *loved* their wedding and wouldn’t have changed hardly a thing, save for one small detail. Their vows. Both Emmy and Keal wished they would have written their vows special for one another, but having to do so with all their friends and family looking on felt… not quite right. So they planned a Elopement-Style vow renewal in a gorgeous the Red Rock landscape of Sedona, these two got to say what their hearts wanted to say, I got to cry behind my camera, and we all got to see the most EPIC sunset (seriously, make sure to scroll down here. You do NOT want to miss this sunset).

Their elopement vow renewal started with a small hike to somewhere private. It was a lesser known portion of a popular Sedona hike I’d scoped out previously, but since it was shoulder season we saw hardly any people on our way to their ceremony spot. (Check out this post if you want to see more of this magical place or this Sedona Elopement Planning Guide to learn more about having your own elopement vow renewal there.)

I work with a bunch of couples and each couple has their own kind of magic. These two? Puns. I can’t even remember any of them because my brain so does not work that way but these two are the king and queen of “yes, and” and are completely hilarious and silly and PUNNY.

My absolute favorite moment of this whole Elopement vow renewal was…no surprise here, their vows. I’d worked a bit behind the scenes with Keal who decided to say his vows in Spanish as a surprise to Emmy, who was born and raised in Mexico (before moving to LA to pursue her dreams of being a designer. Seriously these two are gems of people).

After their beyond sweet vows, we went on a little adventure for a toast (that went slightly awry… see photos haha) and some portraits as Sedona put on that wonderful sunset show of hers. Once the light faded we tracked down a restaurant that served tacos and jalapeño margaritas. It was a day full of laughter and fun and the best friggin time. And most importantly, they got to say what their hearts wanted to say in a place with no pressure, no expectations, just them. Well, them and their puns 🙂

(whoops. Elevation gain+hiking=very sensitive champagne bottle. They were good sports though, and eagle-eyed Keal saw where the cork went, too!)

“Aimée is a dream to work with! No only does she have amazing skills to capture gorgeous photos, but she genuinely cares about you as a person. My husband and I wanted to do a vow renewal that was private and intimate. She was able to arrange a little surprise for me while coordinating with my husband to read out his vows in Spanish (my native tongue). She made sure to capture real and emotional moments and made everything run so smoothly. My favorite part of the day was at the beginning when she made us hold hands and look at each other while walking us through the experience making us feel comfortable. She truly takes the time to get to know you as a couple because she knows how important these moments are. Look no further, she is truly the best photographer in the desert.” -Emmy + Keal