Megan and Clay’s Chandler elopement was so much fun to be a part of for numerous reasons. These two called me about 2 months before Christmas telling me about this elaborate plan they had to surprise their families while they were in town for Christmas with an intimate wedding. By intimate I mean, they had a total of 5 people join them on their special day.

Megan and Clay live in Oahu, Hawaii and had planned to come home to visit Megan’s family in Arizona for Christmas. Clay’s mom and grandpa were also going to attend this joint family Christmas. This would be the first time that Megan and Clay’s families would meet. So, what better time would there be to do a pop-up wedding?? The set up was perfect. They gave their families a heads up just a few weeks before Christmas and they were all thrilled with the news.

Megan and Clay chose the San Marcos hotel in downtown Chandler as their spot. The grounds as well as downtown Chandler were decorated for the holiday season. Clay spotted a San Tan sign on the building and begged me to take a photo of the two of them transforming the sign from San Tan to SanTa. Definitely not an award winning photo moments but in order to stop the begging I had to take this photo, which spawned some great laughs throughout the rest of the night.

Their ceremony was so sweet and super thoughtful. Both of the moms had tears in their eyes as Megan’s dad officiated the ceremony. Megan’s parents included this coffee urn that has been passed down through their family since the 1800’s. The story is that, every family member on Megan’s dad’s side of the family has included this urn at their wedding and no one has ever been divorced. Sounds like an awesome good luck charm. It was a really unique item to include and I loved the story behind it. I also loved the moment where Clay examined his new wedding band during the signing of the marriage license while no one was looking. Supposedly, his wedding band was made of several of his ancestors rings. I would be examining it too!

We are looking forward to seeing these two again for a “day after shoot” on Oahu, HI this summer in hopes of creating some more unique memories with them. It was such a privilege to be a part of this intimate and surprise Chandler elopement. Enjoy!