What a way to end the year! Palm Springs weddings are, hands down, my favorite. Joey and James’ families traveled from Canada to Palm Springs for their intimate ceremony at Moorten Botanical Gardens, followed by a cozy soiree at The Ace Hotel.
The Couple
Describing their relationship as cozy, adventurous and fun, Joey and James recounted some of their favorite stories with me.
“Oh, even though I was kicking and screaming I loved going on this one hike with James – which turned out to be way more intense than we anticipated and lasted way more hours than we thought and we had no supplies and the wrong footwear. Somehow, we both made it to the top of the mountain and it was unreal. Six or so hours later when we finally saw the end – it was pitch black and we only had this dumb little toy flashlight thinking it would be a day hike. We were so beyond happy to see the car! When we got back to our campsite we stayed up having wine and laughing about what a ridiculous adventure we just had! We saw so many sides of each other and in my weakest moment, he was there to help me even though it’s beyond embarrassing to look back and go into the details.”Â
Stories like this get to me in such a raw way. It’s subtle, but these are the memories that become turning points in relationships! It also epitomizes Joey + James’ light-hearted personalities. Their nature is grounded in happiness and there is no shortage of them goofing off and diving into the moment together. So, when you get all their favorite people in one room, they joke, goof-off, make every single person laugh-cry and then have the most epic dance party together. It’s just what you’d expect and exactly what happened.
The Wedding
From the moment I arrived at The Ace, you could feel so much love coming from the women in Joey’s life. Joey’s mom cried when she saw her daughter all done up. Joey cried when her bridesmaids walked out in their gowns. They were all dabbing away tears from the beginning of the day up until the toasts concluded at the end of the night.
Prior to the ceremony, Joey placed a photo of her dad into her bouquet, as an ode to remembering him and still having him walk her down the aisle. It’s an understatement that his passing was difficult for everyone, but you could tell he was there in spirit, through all those who spoke highly of him and how proud he would have been to witness his daughter marrying James.
Something I’d never seen before during the ceremony was the passing of Joey and James’ rings. Their guests were asked to speak good thoughts over the rings as they passed them around before they solidified their marriage! It was an emotional few minutes that made me realize the closeness of their circle. Add that to your list of unique ways to include your guests in the ceremony!
To top off the day was an EPIC dance party, kicked off by an impromptu, unplanned first dance between the bride and groom, followed by gnarly moves to a DIY playlist. You’ll just have to make it to the end to see those badass moves. 😉
If you’re hoping to see more Palm Springs inspiration, hop on over to Sydney + Zack‘s love session, Ashley + James’ Adventure through Palm Springs, and Suzie + Lauren’s engagement! Excited to share some more Palm Springs weddings on this blog in the future, so stay tuned.
