As you all know, our original wedding date was supposed to be Saturday, April 25, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we were forced to postpone. We then decided to say "I do" on Friday, August 21, 2020. Unsure if restrictions would be lifted by then, while still feeling concerned with the terms of our event and the safety of our guests, we made the heartbreaking decision to cancel. We were still pretty hell-bent on getting married in August, since we had already waited so long, but didn't have a lot of time to plan, and still had to consider all the mandates and restrictions in place. A Big Sur elopement was something that was discussed when we first got engaged, but a big wedding with all our loved ones won that debate! So, we came full circle and decided on a Big Sur elopement--it's one of our favorite places we've gone together, elopements are so romantic, and the photos would be DREAMY! Our families were undoubtedly saddened by the idea of not being present for our nuptials, but were very supportive and understanding of our desire to try to keep things simple this time around. We planned everything in a week! Everything just seemed to fall into place so easily, like it was all meant to be! Having last-minute doubts about not having our families present, we asked our families if they could make it up the coast with us--they said YES! A few days before we were scheduled to head out, wildfires starting breaking out up North. Highway 1 was closed, our venue was threatened, and there was smoke and ash everywhere. We were advised not to make the drive, as we would be very disappointed, if we were even able to make it up the mountain, at all. Heartbroken, again, we had to cancel our plans for a third time. Feeling pretty defeated, we took some time to figure out how we wanted to move forward. We agreed was most important was that we got married, with our families present, wherever that may be. We decided on a simple backyard ceremony on October 3rd.

With only our families in attendance, we were married on Saturday, October 3, 2020, in Ryan's Uncle Richard's backyard in Fullerton, California. Surrounded by greenery and candles, Richard married us, as our families watched from fruitwood benches. Danielle's father, Ralph walked her down the aisle to the Vitamin String Quartet's version of Sigur Ros's Hoppipolla, we were announced Mr & Mrs to Danielle's favorite love song OF ALL TIME, Dreams by the Cranberries, and we danced our first dance to Sam Cooke's Nothing Can Change This Love. It was not what we envisioned for our "perfect" wedding day, but it was perfection in it's own way. We loved every minute of it.

As we planned our little backyard ceremony, we got word that the fires up North were contained and conditions were improving. We still had our hearts set on some magical photos in one of our favorite places, so we decided that after our ceremony with our families, we would drive up the coast for pictures and a little alone time. We saved some more intimate vows for each other, which we exchanged amongst the Redwood trees on the Glen Oaks Big Sur property, where we were staying for a couple nights. We took more photos on the Glen Oaks property, and some more on the cliffs off Hwy 1, where passersby honked their horns to congratulate us! We then packed up our fancy clothes and unpacked our tent and hiking boots and headed to the Ventana campground for a few nights, where we ate hot dogs and s'mores and slept under the stars <3