Our Elopement Story & Pro Pics

just gorgeous.

Congrats!

Congratulations!! Everything was gorgeous! I''m envious of your beach shots especially!

Amazing pics! You look so beautiful! Congratulations and best wishes for many years to come!

~SL.

Congrats!!! Your pictures came out awesome!

Awwww... your pics made me get all weepy for some reason. So lovely...

Wow! THat''s a fantastic wedding! I like the exiting City Hall shot. And I like how you guys are natural, that is, that you''re not looking @ the camera. It''s very "in the moment" BEAUTIFUL wedding and I love, love, LOVE the TTD shots.

Your pictures are simply amazing! What a great way to get married. (we are eloping too sort of...getting married on our honeymoon is what I say!) :) but I loved all the beach/water pics! It looked cold though!!!!!
anyway, you looked just gorgeous! Congrats to you both!!!

just getting another chance to respond...

Smo- Thanks for the compliments.  Yes, I guess in my head I wanted the photojournalistic thing... ya know, like pretending the camera wasn''t there.  But we do not have one picture where we are both looking at the camera and smiling and I almost felt like if we had one, the city hall door one should have been it.  Like we are running out the door and smiling and saying "we did it!"  But oh well, we still ended up with some lovely shots.  I do like the movement in my dress in that picture though.  And thanks for the plexiglass idea I absolutely adore it!!!! I am totally into crafts so I would love to do it.  I also wanted to blow a few up but it''s hard to pick one and I think a lot of them work better as a series.  Hmmm... we''ll see.... our house might just be wallpapered in pictures of us!

Thanks! Dani, Zoe Bartlett, Violet02, Honey22, SuLi, kama s, you guys are soo sweet.

Kimberly H- That pipe was so rusty!  It was so weird that we trusted the photographer so much that when he told us to get up there we did without question!  He took more closeups of our legs dangling but as a girl, I felt like the focus on my feet and legs made them look huge.  A bit unflatterring ya know?  But the concept was great.  Then he had one of us jumping off the pipe in mid-air which was a semi-neat shot (except our arms are in weird positions) but it really hurt our feet when we landed because it was so high (again, no judgement of our own- just do what he says) so I didn''t want to try it again.

Thanks galvana, princess dijon, dragonfly 411, pocahontas, bee*, Clairetek, NYCsparkle,

Neatfreak- Yeah I think she is the "marriage commissioner" or something like that... When we first got there, they weren''t giving out any numbers because she left for a little bit.  So I guess she had to be the one to do our paperwork.

Miss Manna- My mother is going to just die when she sees the "footprints" shot.  She always liked the poem(i think it was a poem, or maybe it was just a story).  I didn''t know it would look like that when he took it, he was like "just walk that way" and we did!

Daydreamer- Did you also do a TTD?

IWPO- Well I''m still envious of your more public and glamorous day so that''s a fair trade, right?

DMBfiredancer- It is from the David''s Bridal online collection.  I ordered two dresses online that arrived the same day, one from JCrew and this one.  While the JCrew one looked just as appropriate for city hall, this one felt a touch more bridal.

Lovessparklies- well I haven''t been to many city halls, but this one has to be up there!

Bia, Brandy z28, Sparkly Libra, Robbie3982, and lliang Chi, thanks for saying such nice things!

Pjean- awww I''m not really emotional person, but they make me so emotional every time I see them.  I made a website with a slideshow for our family to view and I put 2 of my favorite songs (one called City Hall actually) with them and it makes me even more weepy to watch them with music.

Wishful-  I was wondering when someone was going to mention the cold water.  Um yeah it was freezing!  I wanted ocean pictures so badly, but I am such a whimp when it comes to cold.  And my skin is so sensitive to temperature that the moment we got there my nose, cheeks and ears were rosy.  The photographer pointed it out and was like "oh well, we can always do B&W!"  But it was such a cold day and so windy that after a while the water felt warm and I was like "uh, can we just get back in the water again?"  I am not exaggerating when I say that I was shiverring for at least 2 hours afterwards and I know this because I was trying to call all of our families and friends to tell them the news and the shivering was so annoying!

Thanks again to everyone that posted! You guys have really made my day.  I saw the pictures for the first time a while ago and the excitement had definitely worn off by the time I posted them here.  Leave it to all of you on PS to make me feel so much better about them!

OMG I LOVE your pics!!! Congrats, it looked like a beautiful time!

I lurk a lot but wanted to tell you how beautiful your wedding pictures were. You both look very in love and happy.

You both look great! Congratulations.

My FAVORITE wedding pics on Pricescope! WOW!!!

Date: 10/9/2008 5:15:54 PM
Author: mia1181


DMBfiredancer- It is from the David''s Bridal online collection. I ordered two dresses online that arrived the same day, one from JCrew and this one. While the JCrew one looked just as appropriate for city hall, this one felt a touch more bridal.

thanks! i thought it looked familiar!
i just looked it up and it is the same one i have saved in my favorites. i love that dress, but they didnt have it in the store to try on since its online only. i did find the bridesmaid dress that looked just like it but in red and i tried that on and it was sooooo comfortable. it was so nice to see it in action! so very pretty! thanks again!

Beautiful photos!  How romantic... just the two of you!  The photos really captured the emotion and beauty of your day.  Congratulations!

I love SF city hall. Your pictures are beautiful as were you. Congratulations!

Date: 10/9/2008 10:16:29 AM
Author: mia1181
Freke, SarahlovesJS, and decodelighted- Thank you so much. That was such a wonderful compliment! I''m definitely not the anti-wedding person that people think elopers are. I am quite the opposite. I was the girl that dreamt of her big day and I knew everything I wanted from the time I was a teenager. I wanted a big wedding with the string quartet and huge outdoor reception. But by the time I was engaged, I realized how expensive wedding could be and just didn''t want to spend it. But I still wanted something pretty. We had to elope by ourselves because it wouldn''t be fair that my family probably wouldn''t be able to make it. His mother was a little upset, but thankfully when she saw these pictures she realized how special it was and she could be proud we eloped instead of ashamed. Yesterday she sent me the nicest email saying ''I now see that a bunch of people standing around would have taken away from these beautiful pictures.'' I thought that was very sweet of her, not that we at all didn''t invite people because they would ''ruin'' our pictures, but it shows that she is starting to accept it.

Mia, what a beautiful sentiment from your MIL! Your pictures made me feel like elopement is one of the most romantic things to do when you just want to be married without all of the extra stress and worry.

Thank you for sharing such an intimate event with us. I wish you and your hubby nothing but health and happiness!

(And I am so the girl who wanted the big wedding too-right now we''re thinking less than 20, but I keep cutting people out of it...)

That photo from behind that shows your hair is simply divine!  awesome shots.

Beautiful wedding, you looked lovely! The pics really captured the romantic, relaxed and loving atmosphere of your wedding! Congrats!

mia,

Everything was so gorgeous...you, that building, your dress, your husband looked so handsome and adorable at the same time.  Thank you for sharing the pictures of your very special and intimate day.

ETA: Oh! How did Oliver do during the time you were gone? Bet he's glad to have you home!

They look amazing! Congratulations!

Mia, I absolutely love your wedding story and photos. Your photos are so incredibly romantic and the two of you look so natural and totally lost in one another. Simply beautiful!

Mia-Beautiful wedding. This was what I had wanted (my grandparents were married there, and my whole family lived there---). I am so happy for you, and your pics are BEAUTIFUL!

i''m all teary. especially after reading what your mom emailed you. that did me in!

absolutely breathtaking pictures. such pureness for the moment was completely captured. and captured beautifully. you two are a stunning couple. and your hair? ROCKS. love love love it!!

and thank you so much for sharing such a personal moment with all of us!

big congrats to you two.

Mia - what a special day you two had and what spectacular pictures - you both look absolutely stunning and the photos really capture the amazing spirit of the day. Congratulations

Date: 10/9/2008 5:30:21 PM
Author: mia1181


Wishful- I was wondering when someone was going to mention the cold water. Um yeah it was freezing! I wanted ocean pictures so badly, but I am such a whimp when it comes to cold. And my skin is so sensitive to temperature that the moment we got there my nose, cheeks and ears were rosy. The photographer pointed it out and was like ''oh well, we can always do B&W!'' But it was such a cold day and so windy that after a while the water felt warm and I was like ''uh, can we just get back in the water again?'' I am not exaggerating when I say that I was shiverring for at least 2 hours afterwards and I know this because I was trying to call all of our families and friends to tell them the news and the shivering was so annoying!

Ha! I totally know what you mean. I am the BIGGEST wuss when it comes to water. I live in San Diego and I very rarely go in. That''s why I''m excited to get married and honeymoon in Belize ....nice...warm...water...ahhhhhhh.....
But I give you props! The water photos came out so great! Glad you had the courage to get in there and do it!!!!

Gorgeous pictures Mia!!  I really enjoyed looking at them, and I for one wouldn''t have ever guessed they''re not edited if you hadn''t mentioned it!!  Not that I know that much about photography, but I know the style photos I want for my wedding and yours is exactly it!  I don''t think they need a thing.

Just out of curiousity, where did you get the idea for City Hall?  I know you said you eloped because of how much a big wedding costs and the stress of it and all, which is exactly how I''m feeling right now (why blow thousands and thousands on half a day when all that money can go toward so much other stuff - it''s all about the meaning of the day anyway!) - I guess what I''m asking is what gave you the idea to do what you did (vs. getting married at your honeymoon spot, et.)?

Absolute PERFECTION!

Many THANKS for sharing your story and pics.  Both made a huge impression on me, as I have a close friend who''s seriously considering eloping and is second-guessing that decision.  She''s a wreck about it and it''s breaking my heart.  I need to share your thread with her.

CONGRATS!

Tberube, Arcadian, Addy, Portia, gtn, AdiS, Stephanie, katamari, UCLAbelle, AmberGretchen, thank you all so much for your kind words and well-wishes.  The hardest part about elopement I have to say is not having that feel of it being "your day"  but being able to share this with everyone on PS and recieving such sweet compliments had made me feel so special!

Freke-  It was very romantic, but ideally we would have had our close family there like you are thinking.  It just wasn''t possible because they all live on the other coast and so we felt the fair thing to do was not to include anyone.

Gwyn-  I know!  That was my favorite!  The lighting was so good in city hall!

Jcrow-  Awww thanks!  I really liked my hair a lot.  I love updos that are interesting in the back and this one definitely was.  I wasn''t "in love" with the front, (maybe I needed more bangs?) but I love looking at the back!  Hmmm... let me see if I can find a closeup of the back from my "getting ready" pics so you can see the detail better...

Wishful-  Ooh are you going to do a TTD in Belize?  That would be awesome!