Monica and James celebrated their vows in an incredibly intimate and private wedding in Sedona. They found a secluded spot in the hillside with a breathtaking view of the desert landscape to exchange vows, but prior to the ceremony, they used Native American traditions to cleanse and bind them together. Monica carried a colorful bouquet made of hundreds of origami petals, and the stem of the bouquet had lace flowers that were pulled from her mother-in-law’s wedding dress. Mike Olbinski Photography captured their beautiful celebration!
An intimate Sedona wedding at the Enchantment Resort
The venue was a nice mix of high end and low key. There were tons of spots to hike and the landscape was a dramatic mix of red rock, mesas and spires with a sprinkling of manicured greens. We chose to do the ceremony on a spot carved into a hillside. We were there for 4 days, hiking and scouting out options before the ceremony, and we had plenty of other options, but this little nook spoke to us.
We wrote a poem for our daughter, that our minister read… We laugh because our relationship has been completely unconventional, we met, dated briefly, bought a house together, became foster parents, met our daughter, got engaged, adopted our daughter and then got married! When you know, you just know, and we knew! We knew we wanted to be together and we knew we wanted our little lady… she is some really awesome sweet stuff and we wanted to involve her, even though she was not with us on that day.
We had a picnic basket champagne toast and cake when the ceremony was over. That was just the two of us and was really nice to just go and hold each other quietly after all of the emotion spent leading up to the day and culminating with the ceremony.
We chose to be saged and cleansed the day before the ceremony so that we would start this part of our lives with renewal. Our minister came to our room and used Native American traditions to bind us together (sage, tobacco and so on). She cleansed our rings and told us that no one else should touch them until we put them on and then not to take them off again until the next full moon, so that the circle would remain unbroken. It was so lovely, and since neither of us has a religious devotion, it helped instill the spiritual connection that we felt for each other, into the event. We made a unity cairn, which was fitting in the rock environment, and had our hands fastened. We were really looking to take our time and make the ceremony feel like a time to connect and bind our intentions for our marriage. – Monica
Artists
- Photographer: Mike Olbinski Photography
- Other Location: Enchantment Resort
