A Las Vegas Winter Elopement

Friendship is such an important part of our lives. For me, being an only child, meant relying on my friends to be there when I was growing up. What I love about friendship is that it can bring so many people and things together. This winter Las Vegas elopement is the perfect example of it!

Ryan and Tanya have been together for a few years now and finally decided to get married. Sharing a home, their lives, and even a daughter made marriage the next very logical step in their adventure together. Instead of choosing to get married in their hometown, they thought it best to do something a little wilder and alternative. After all, they already had done many of the other adventurous things together that couples can do. So why not elope?

The friends of my friends are my friends!

Teaming up with Tanya’s best friends, Charde, Crystal, and Megan, allowed Tanya and Ryan to not only begin planning their wedding but to be connected with me! You see, Charde, Crystal, and Megan are not only Tanya’s best friends but also fellow photographers. Knowing that having the responsibility of photographing their best friends wedding would not allow them to be as present as they’d have liked, they asked me to step in and photograph this epic winter Las Vegas elopement.

I was connected with Tanya through my partner photographer, Megan (her best friend) and the rest is history! We emailed back and forth about ideal locations, timelines, and even places to enjoy afterward and when the details were ironed out, we all flew out to enjoy this lovely elopement.

A Perfect Las Vegas Winter Elopement

Many locations in Las Vegas do not allow outside photographers because they have an in-house photographer. MGM Studio locations forbid any outside photographers. Some locations allow you to pay a small or large fee in order to bring in outside vendors. While I wasn’t able to photograph the ceremony of Ryan and Tanya, I did have the pleasure of sitting and watching them get married and have their large group portraits taken in advance of our adventure into the Las Vegas desert.

I also was able to come in and meet with Tanya to photograph her preparation with Ruby Finch Salon at their hotel suite in The Luxor. After the ceremony, everyone grabbed drinks and piled into my rental and we headed out into Calico Basin, just outside of the Red Rock Canyon.

Tanya and Ryan arrived with the rest of their family in a super swanky party bus and we were able to spend time capturing their love in the lovely Las Vegas desert, which happens to be one of my favorite places to photograph! Seriously, the smiles never left Tanya’s face the entire day!

After we had finished there, we headed to the strip for Las Vegas sign pictures (A MUST!) and finally down to the Bellagio Fountain for portraits there. We captured so much beauty of the nighttime Las Vegas strip and it made their perfect winter Las Vegas elopement that much more epic.

At the end of the evening, they enjoyed a super delicious meal at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian Steakhouse, just off the main strip.