Nadia & Sheika – A Meaningful Elopement at Joshua Tree

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Nadia and Sheika didn’t let COVID stand in the way of celebrating their marriage. Their Joshua Tree elopement included family and friends in virtual but meaningful ways.

How did your love story begin?

We met in January, the month that often starts with the excitement and imaginations of something new and spectacular. The holiday dreaminess wears off more often than not, but in January 2019, a dream came true.

After deciding she wanted to host more in 2019, Sheika invited a few friends to her home on a Saturday night to watch a stand-up comedy show. One of the friends whom Sheika invited had befriended Nadia separately a few months earlier. That mutual friend shared Nadia’s number with Sheika for the party invitation. So we met at the door of Sheika’s apartment. We had an instant connection. Like we knew each other already.

Aside from your wedding, what is your favorite memory together?

We’ve discussed it! As most couples might say, there are so many! But we’ll go for a day at the beach in Tulum, Mexico, in July 2019. There were few people around, and we had a cabana to ourselves and service that seemed to come out of nowhere. We relaxed, joked, listened to music for hours, took silly pictures, drank yummy drinks, ate a whole fish, and had dessert. We also attempted to climb a tree, but that didn’t go so well. Besides the wedding, we had one of the best days of our lives that day.

Tell us about the proposal.

Proposals! We both wanted to propose to the other, so we both had the opportunity to say yes. Nadia proposed first, the morning after a milestone birthday party for Sheika with friends. (Nadia chickened out after initially planning to propose at the party.) And Sheika proposed five months later at a beach Nadia loves, about forty-five minutes away from home.

Tell us about the elopement.

It was perfect! Even with minimal vendors because of Covid, it worked so well. Our planners, Wildly Collective, helped us find all the right people, places, flowers, and things). Our hair was done the night before we went to Joshua Tree by a sweet and knowledgeable hairdresser who came masked up to our house (and to the rescue after our original hairdresser was exposed). Sheika did our nails because we couldn’t get them done. They matched and were so lovely! Our photographer and her assistant were great, photographing us at the Airbnb venue and in Joshua Tree National Park. Our officiant was so sweet and accommodating, and our married couple chef team prepared us a meal we will not soon forget. And Nadia’s brother made us a mix that we danced all night to and still like to jam to.

Little touches that we thought of, like Sheika thinking of asking loved ones to write letters to us to read on our wedding day (it was made into a book), and Nadia thinking of having our “first dance” on Instagram Live to share in the moment, made it all so very special. It really truly was a day we’ll never forget.