A Big Sur Elopement with Redwoods, Cliffs, and Handwritten Vows
Big Sur had long held a special place in Maggie (she/her) and Peyton’s (she/her) hearts. With its towering redwoods, winding coastline, and peaceful landscapes, there was nowhere they would rather begin married life. With their beloved dogs never far away and a small group of loved ones by their side, they exchanged handwritten vows beneath the redwoods before celebrating with a private chef dinner back at the house they had rented in Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Tell us about your story!
We swiped right in May 2019 and met a few weeks later at Denver International Airport when Peyton offered to pick me up from a work trip. A few months later, I returned the baggage claim gesture by holding up a sign asking her to be my girlfriend. Peyton soon cancelled her planned move back to Florida, and by December, we were living in Denver together. Three months later, the world shut down, and we rode out the COVID lockdown side by side.
In April 2020, I left my job with the Colorado Department of Education to join Peyton in running her marketing business, and we have worked for ourselves together ever since. We later moved to Los Angeles, where we fell in love with Southern California, working from home, drinking coffee in bed, laughing at our inside jokes, and spending every day with our dogs.
In December 2024, Peyton started acting suspiciously and asked me to clear my schedule for Saturday the 14th. Realising a proposal was coming, I quickly planned my own for the night before at our favourite nursery, Mickey Hargitay Plants, where a candlelit setup was waiting. The following day, Peyton proposed outside the InterContinental Hotel in downtown LA, where we had first said “I love you,” before surprising me with a flower-filled room on the 75th floor. It was the perfect back-to-back proposal weekend!
What led you to choose an intimate elopement instead?
Maggie: I have never wanted a big traditional wedding, but Peyton had always dreamed of one. So we compromised and planned a micro wedding with our parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews. Our excitement quickly turned to disappointment when some of our siblings refused to bring their children because they felt a gay wedding was too mature for them to witness.
Rather than dealing with the heartache, we decided to elope, self-solemnise, and have our dogs as witnesses. Six weeks before the ceremony, we realised that a public marriage licence in California legally required both a witness and an officiant, so we called the two people who had been most heartbroken about missing our day: Peyton’s mom and my sister. They both gave a resounding “Hell yes!” My sister officiated our ceremony, Peyton’s mom was our witness, and it still felt like the intimate elopement we had always wanted.
Why was Big Sur the perfect place to begin your marriage?
We love living in California and especially love driving up Pacific Coast Highway 1.
Big Sur is such a beautiful blend of all the very best parts of California: PCH cruising with views for days, dramatic craggy cliffs and crashing waves, and towering redwood trees that are hundreds of years old.
It is truly one of the most beautiful, magical, and peaceful places in the world, and it was a no-brainer when choosing where to kick off our future.
We love that Big Sur will always be part of our story and plan to go back for many anniversaries.
How did your loved ones react when you decided to elope?
After the sibling drama, I don’t think anyone was particularly surprised when we told them that we were actually uninviting all of them and eloping instead.
We still got some pushback that we were being divisive and received a few texts urging us to reconsider.
The family members who hadn’t drawn a line in the sand and wanted to be there to celebrate us were especially disappointed that they were missing both our wedding and an epic California coast trip at the expense of others.
In the end, the two people who were most disappointed to miss it got the chance to come anyway, and we think it was the perfect arrangement.
What did your elopement day look like from start to finish?
We rented a house in Carmel-by-the-Sea with 180-degree views of the ocean and mountains, and spent the morning quietly with our dogs, drinking coffee in bed before getting ready together. We did our own hair, I did our makeup, slipped into my Miss Jophiel dress, and our photographer, The Art of Chuy, arrived while we finished up.
Peyton’s mom and stepdad helped with last-minute details, and her mom surprised us with matching coffee mugs from her sister for our first coffee as wives, which made us both cry. My sister, her husband, and our videographer, Josh Harney Films, arrived soon after, and we got dressed together with our dogs – wearing a bow tie and pearl necklace – before setting off in our little caravan to Big Sur.
After a short hike through the redwoods, we exchanged heartfelt vows in a peaceful grove beside the Big Sur River. My sister pronounced us wives, we signed our marriage licence on the hood of our Bronco, and then headed off with The Art of Chuy and Josh Harney Films to chase the sunset around Painter’s Point. We spent the drive back in complete awe that we were finally married after six years together.
Back at the house, Chef Anthony Cruz had dinner waiting for us, Peyton introduced me as her wife for the first time, and we swapped our dresses for sweatpants and Kansas City Chiefs T-shirts.
We had forgotten to pick up our wedding cake, so we toasted with a Whole Foods Berry Chantilly cake instead before ending the night taking off our makeup, climbing into bed with our snuggly pups, and soaking in the most perfect day we could have imagined. We did eventually pick up our wedding cake on the way home to Los Angeles and enjoyed it for days. Bonus!
How did you make your ceremony feel uniquely yours?
We knew that a long-winded ceremony wasn’t for us because we wanted to get straight to the vows, so we kept it simple and short. Peyton’s mom opened the ceremony with a beautiful statement about celebrating our union beneath the redwoods, where our promises would be ingrained in the forest forever.
We had both been working on our vows for weeks. I had actually started writing mine back in 2020 when I first knew we would spend our lives together. Peyton went first, and her words spoke so beautifully to what she sees in my heart. By the time I promised that one day, when we have white hair and a full life in our rearview, we would hold hands and say, “That was really, really fun,” all four of us were crying.
My sister then led us through a quick ring exchange and our “I dos,” proclaimed us wives, and that was it. Our sweet, simple ceremony in a redwood grove that was perfectly “us.”
How did you find the people who brought your vision to life?
We actually booked our photographer, The Art of Chuy, five months before we were even engaged after seeing one of his dreamy, editorial-style weddings on Dancing With Her’s Instagram. The moment I realised Chuy was based in California, I told Peyton he had to be our photographer, and we booked him for both our engagement session and elopement. Chuy is incredibly kind and insanely talented, and his calming, warm energy made him the perfect person to share such an intimate day with.
A few weeks before the elopement, we decided to add a videographer, and Peyton found Josh Harney Films on Instagram. We were ecstatic that he was available on such short notice. His romantic, dramatic, and intimate films were exactly what we were looking for, and he fit seamlessly alongside Chuy. Watching them create together on our behalf was incredible, and we will be forever grateful to them both.
Looking back, would you choose to elope again?
Eloping was absolutely the right choice for us, and we would choose it again a hundred times over.
Putting together a day that was 100% focused on our story, our love, and our life together was such a joy.
When the pressure of planning an entire weekend for others fell away, we could focus on what was most meaningful to us without any outside noise.
Five stars. Highly recommend!
Captured by The Art of Chuy
Caterer Chef Anthony Cruz
Dress Azazie & Miss Jophiel
Florist For Love of Pampas
Rings Victoria Jewelers & Holden
Videographer Josh Harney Films
