I love this elopement story. First off, two artists tying the knot under the entwined branches and lemon trees at Echo Park is pure romance in my book. And when they serendipitously bumped into the lovely and talented Betsi Ewing on the way to their wedding dinner? Well that’s a fabulous story, I’d say, and makes for a one-of-a-kind gallery.
From the beautiful Bride…About two weeks before we departed for Los Angeles, we booked the trip thinking it would be a great opportunity to soak up inspiration from California to be used towards our separate creative projects—Ryan creates instrumental hip-hop and I (Mandy) work with leather, primarily children’s moccasins from the pattern handed down by my grandmother. A few days before we left Canada, we had the discussion with one another and decided that this would be trip that we come home married from.
We locked down an officiant to do his duty a few days after we arrived but only brought the ceremony clothes for Ryan, as I hoped to find a vintage dress in Echo Park or Silver Lake. The day before we eloped, I finally found a beautiful vintage Indian cotton dress with lace across the chest from a truck called Selvedge Dry Goods who was parked on Sunset Blvd in Echo Park. As for a location, we were lucky enough to stumble on a charming and hidden path in the hills of Echo Park that featured a small stream of running water, a beautiful view, and a wide selection of vegetation (lemon trees, overgrown cacti, black bamboo and palm trees) which surrounded tiny artist cottages. In addition to my dress, we bought wedding bands from downtown and a bridal bouquet from Silver Lake, that included sage, which is a sacred plant from my culture.
During our private and intimate wedding ceremony, we exchanged rings and we pledged to honour and tenderly care for each other, to cherish, and to encourage each other’s growth and fulfilment through all the changes of our lives.
After the ceremony, we ordered a taxi via email (since we were without cell service to call) to drive us to our dinner reservation to a French restaurant in the neighbourhood, but it didn’t show. Since we were already cutting it close, we decided to walk. Thankfully we did because as we headed in what seemed to be the right direction, we were lucky enough to run into Besti and her cute dog, Stella, on the street. She asked us if we had just gotten married and mentioned that she could spot a bride from a mile away because she was a wedding photographer and she very generously offered to snap some photos of us! It was very serendipitous and the photos that Betsi took captured the moment perfectly! Instead of calling us a cab, she and her friend were kind enough to offer us a ride to our wedding dinner. We arrived ten minutes late, and thankfully the restaurant offered free wifi, which is how we shared our elopement and all of the events that occurred afterwards on Instagram and Twitter under #elopedincali so that friends back home could enjoy the evening with us despite the distance.
We couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out for us and highly recommend eloping!
Photography: BETSI EWING WEDDINGS | Floral Design: Clementine Floral Works | Wedding Dress: Selvedge Dry Goods | Venue: Echo Park | Dinner: Taix