Our elopement planning took the long way home.

Planning a fantasy elopement taught us something unexpected.

Apparently…

we had no real idea where we wanted to get married.

At first, we were going all in.

“Let’s do a crazy destination elopement! Instead of entertaining others, we can spend all the money on ourselves and save!”

Out West to Arizona!

Antelope Canyon.

The desert.

In Autumn! Yes… it will be the perfect boho backdrop to this getaway bride and goom!

Those amazing views of rich terra-cotta and rust hues? Perfectly us, right?!

Then reality politely raised its hand.

“That’s… really far.” Logistics quietly entered the room.

Also…

Eleven months til November suddenly felt like forever while still coming down from the recent high of the proposal.

So…

Plan B.

The mountains of Asheville.

We spent HOURS browsing AirB&B locations. And we thought we had settled on the perfect listing.

I remember thinking of all the logistics around the kids and how we would mange them.

Fresh air.

Mountain ridge views.

A June wedding.

The trees will be lush!

Perfect…. or so we thought!

Until we realized planning a wedding in another state sounded suspiciously like work.

Oh…. we got to take time off of work, and go get a license in that state?

Oh, Ok… and what about a photographer and officiant?

Ok… more details to consider.

So…

Plan C.

A beautiful cabin in Ellijay, Georgia.

Wooded.

Peaceful and even on the river.

Close to home. No out of state licensing issues to work around.

We even booked it.

It was going to be the perfect woodland fairy fantasy wedding.

Finally!

We started planning how we were going to layout the deck and what to if we needed a backup plan due to rain.

We had a plan.

Or so we thought.

Somewhere between all the planning and dreaming — life happened.

My job at the time made sudden changes that forced me to resign. Suddenly I was looking at a situation where I was no longer going to have insurance for myself and the girls.

Ok. Cancel the cabin… time for PLAN D.

And that was getting married about 6 weeks later, at the end of March in the backyard so I can get on your insurance while I job hunted in a crazy market.

Simple, and easy enough.

But with that forced changed, something magical happened.

I realized the answer to where should we get married had been sitting quietly in front of us the entire time.

Home.

Not just because it was easier. (Even though it technically was.)

Not because it was cheaper. (Just as true as above.)

Not because we didn’t have to travel. (Gasp!—shocker… true again.)

Because something wonderful had happened there.

It was the place where after weeks of endless text messages,

three hour FaceTime calls,

and one nearly seven-hour drive…

We saw each other for the very first time.

The place where two people who had only known each other through a screen…

Finally became real.

So instead of a canyon…

Or mountains…

Or a cabin…

We stood aside string lights, on a beautiful Turkish rug in our own backyard.

Only a few steps from where we first locked eyes…

A few steps away from where we hugged for the first time.

It’s funny how the elopement planning evolved:

Version 1: Antelope Canyon.

Version 2: Asheville.

Version 3: Ellijay.

Final Version: Walk out the back door. 😂

What is even crazier is after we cancelled the cabin and made the changes to get married at home, I quickly get a job offer and insurance was suddenly taken care of.

So, imagine that.

The Universe has a funny sense of humor sometimes.

After all our planning, it quietly smiled and led us right back to the very place where I first met the man I’d spend the rest of my life with.

Not Antelope Canyon. Not Asheville. Not Ellijay.

Just home. ❤️