When the pandemic hit wedding plans went out the window – turns out it was for the better. With a handful of guests, wedding masks on faces and a photographer there to capture the moment, Cassidy and Christa said ‘I do.’
THE PROPOSAL
Christa reached out to one of our friends who works for a Texas-based magazine company, and she also does photography on the side. She reached out to me and told me she wanted to take Christa and my picture for a project she was working on. I didn’t really think anything of it. I just thought it was cool we would be getting our photos taken together.
We showed up at this beautiful park, right outside downtown Austin. In one of the pictures, she asked for Christa to grab something out of her photography bag while taking my picture. When I turned around, Christa was on one knee with my ring. She totally surprised me, which was her goal because I ruin every surprise. Afterward, we went to a beautiful restaurant where she invited all of our friends.
PLANNING THE WEDDING
We were stressed from the beginning. When we got engaged, we kept going back and forth over whether we even wanted a wedding. In the end, we decided to have one, but still would talk about canceling. We planned the majority of the wedding, and then the pandemic hit. When we saw how unlikely it was that things would be back to normal by our date, so we knew we would have to postpone. I think we were both stressed because there was a lot of going back and forth and so much uncertainty. We both have zero regrets over our decision to postpone and think it actually worked out for the better (the eloping aspect, not the world pandemic part).
THE WEDDING DAY
We kept things really simple. There were no flowers, no vendors, no coordinator. We rented a house for us to get ready at and invited our guests over afterward to eat.
We spent the morning getting ready together. Cassidy’s sister did our hair, and we did our own makeup. We found a Justice of The Peace who would allow us to bring eight (masked) guests to his office. We decided to perform our vows outside under the trees right outside his office. The ceremony took all of maybe five minutes. Cassidy balled, and Christa didn’t, which is funny because Christa usually is the crier.
We took pictures with our guests afterward and then snuck away with our photographer to get our photos taken. Having a fantastic photographer was always a priority for us. Whether we eloped or had a huge wedding, so we definitely lucked out with her!
We finished the day off by going back to the house, eating pizza, and drinking champagne. It was a perfect day! There was zero stress or worry, and we could be surrounded by an intimate group of people who mean the most to us. Most importantly, we focused on the most important part of it all, which was celebrating our love.
Photography by Leah Muse
