An Intimate Woodland Wedding in Yosemite
When you love the great outdoors as much as this adventurous couple, a wedding set amongst the gorgeous redwoods of one of our most beloved national parks seems like the perfect choice. Anne-Claire Brun captures both the intimacy of the occasion and its stunning, grandiose backdrop to perfection. You'll fall in love with the natural beauty of this wedding here in The Vault!
From Anne-Claire Brun...I have dreamt about shooting a Yosemite Wedding. I went there for the first time about a year and a half ago and it’s needless to say that I fell in love with the beauty of that part of the world. I knew I’d like it from the photos of Ansel Adams. But I didn’t expect the light to be that extraordinary. Maybe I’d simply forgotten the majesty of mountains because I haven’t gone to the French Alps (where I'm from) in years, but waking up in the morning before sunrise isn’t something I do for just anything, It was freezing and dark. And then the light slowly glided over the tree tops, breathing colors into the valley. In Yosemite, the light is magic.
When Jessica and Brandon wrote me that they planned on having their engagement photos in Big Sur and their wedding in Yosemite, I was a little in love with them. In Big Sur, he proposed to her. In Yosemite, he used to go camping while growing up.
I love when weddings locations have meaning!
So here’s the wedding of Jessica and Brandon. And if after that you don’t have a plane ticket/road trip to Yosemite National Park, I don’t know what you need.
From The Bride...Brandon and I met online! On the website OkCupid. We are both serious nerds, so it only makes sense that the internet would bring us together.
Brandon proposed on the third anniversary of our first date, on the gorgeous Pfeiffer State Beach in Big Sur. It is one of our “places” that we return to time and time again. He took me there after a killer dinner at Big Sur Bakery. It was totally deserted and we were just admiring the stars and the waves and all of a sudden I turn around and he is on one knee! He asked me to marry him, I said “Of course!” and then he got out his flashlight so I could actually see the ring (it was pretty dark!). The ring was perfect; it’s a sapphire, exactly what I wanted--but I would have said yes to a Ring Pop.
We were totally unprepared for the planning process. It wasn’t something either of us had looked into previously, and it is this amazing and overwhelming world. We quickly narrowed down what we cared about (food, photography, a fun time) and didn’t (the usual traditions, long ceremony, dances). We DIYed a lot of stuff, for better or worse! We got a lot of compliments on our playlist, so that one at least was a success.
Our style was really just “things we both like.” It ended up being pretty nature-inspired, which makes sense. We are both into backpacking and hiking, and that’s definitely something we bonded over.
Jessica's favorite moment of the day - This is so hard! Possibly our actual ceremony, which we both wrote. It was a very honest and moving moment. Even though it was freezing cold (I’m sorry to our guests and vendors!). Totally worth it. Or maybe just seeing all of our people together. It was a really great day.
Brandon's favorite moment of the day - It’s hard to say. It was just a good day. Probably when Jess and I went off together after the ceremony for a few minutes. It was nice to just go be married together!
Our advice for future brides and grooms: don’t stress too much. Stuff will go wrong but you will not care.
If you are not attached to a particular date, the off-season offers incredible savings.
You can’t please everyone! Your only job is to make sure your guests are fed/hydrated. And that can mean cake and punch.
Consider prioritizing photography, as that is your one physical memento, and it can really catch the tone of the day and capture special moments you may have missed or forgotten. We splurged on our photos and it was so, so worth it.
Enjoy it, being married is amazing!
When Jessica and Brandon wrote me that they planned on having their engagement photos in Big Sur and their wedding in Yosemite, I was a little in love with them. In Big Sur, he proposed to her. In Yosemite, he used to go camping while growing up.
I love when weddings locations have meaning!
So here’s the wedding of Jessica and Brandon. And if after that you don’t have a plane ticket/road trip to Yosemite National Park, I don’t know what you need.
From The Bride...Brandon and I met online! On the website OkCupid. We are both serious nerds, so it only makes sense that the internet would bring us together.
Brandon proposed on the third anniversary of our first date, on the gorgeous Pfeiffer State Beach in Big Sur. It is one of our “places” that we return to time and time again. He took me there after a killer dinner at Big Sur Bakery. It was totally deserted and we were just admiring the stars and the waves and all of a sudden I turn around and he is on one knee! He asked me to marry him, I said “Of course!” and then he got out his flashlight so I could actually see the ring (it was pretty dark!). The ring was perfect; it’s a sapphire, exactly what I wanted--but I would have said yes to a Ring Pop.
We were totally unprepared for the planning process. It wasn’t something either of us had looked into previously, and it is this amazing and overwhelming world. We quickly narrowed down what we cared about (food, photography, a fun time) and didn’t (the usual traditions, long ceremony, dances). We DIYed a lot of stuff, for better or worse! We got a lot of compliments on our playlist, so that one at least was a success.
Our style was really just “things we both like.” It ended up being pretty nature-inspired, which makes sense. We are both into backpacking and hiking, and that’s definitely something we bonded over.
Jessica's favorite moment of the day - This is so hard! Possibly our actual ceremony, which we both wrote. It was a very honest and moving moment. Even though it was freezing cold (I’m sorry to our guests and vendors!). Totally worth it. Or maybe just seeing all of our people together. It was a really great day.
Brandon's favorite moment of the day - It’s hard to say. It was just a good day. Probably when Jess and I went off together after the ceremony for a few minutes. It was nice to just go be married together!
Our advice for future brides and grooms: don’t stress too much. Stuff will go wrong but you will not care.
If you are not attached to a particular date, the off-season offers incredible savings.
You can’t please everyone! Your only job is to make sure your guests are fed/hydrated. And that can mean cake and punch.
Consider prioritizing photography, as that is your one physical memento, and it can really catch the tone of the day and capture special moments you may have missed or forgotten. We splurged on our photos and it was so, so worth it.
Enjoy it, being married is amazing!