Yosemite National Park, California

the hearnes » adventure elopement photographers

josh + jeda's destination elopement in yosemite valley | adventure wedding portraits + romantic vows at taft point | national park elopement photographer

Oh my goodness, these two. I’m pretty sure we became immediate best friends. We had such a blast hiking out to Taft Point with them for their elopement, talking about life and travels and learning new Australian lingo like “fourbie” for 4x4 vehicles, and “mozzies” for mosquitos 😂 These have become regulars in our vocabulary now, especially as we drive around Canada and Alaska wishing we had a fourbie, and dodging the insane amount of mozzies that attack our van every night. But back to Jeda and Josh...I don’t think I could love these two more. According to Jeda, they’d actually met 6 years ago when they were “young and silly” and didn’t get serious, although she says she knew she wanted to marry him since day one. After meeting, she traveled around central and south america for a while, but they reconnected again when she got home and he confessed he’d missed having her around…and I can’t say this any better than Jeda herself so, “He said that’s when he knew he wanted to marry me - I just found this out and I’m pretty chuffed about it!” So, fast forward a few years, they now live on the coast in Australia with their sweet pup Woody (check out their custom wedding socks - little Woody faces on them!!). They love traveling and camping and spending time with their group of friends. 

We met them up at the trailhead for Taft Point and were smitten immediately. After a some drinks in the van (benefit of having a fridge everywhere we go 😉) Callen and Josh headed into the woods and I helped Jeda into her dress. We walked down together to meet the boys for Jeda + Josh’s first look. Then we all hiked into the woods stopping along the way for portraits before arriving to a private little view point for their elopement ceremony. They wrote vows to each other on the back of wooden post cards and read them standing on a rock overlooking Yosemite Valley. It was perfectly sweet, and there vows had us both laughing and crying behind the cameras! They popped champagne to celebrate and we spent the rest of the evening taking in the gorgeous views, sitting on the edge of 3000 foot cliffs and dancing around the rocks. I can’t finish this post without mentioning Jeda’s stunning wedding dress. She’d found it online and fell in love, and after calling the designer Judy Copley, she learned they were just 5 minutes down the street from her home in Australia! She tried on the dress and it fit perfectly. It was the only one the designer made, using lace from all over the world, and Jeda knew it was meant to be! It was so perfect for her personality and I am still not over the incredible details. I also love that these two wore vans instead of fancy wedding shoes, and even had socks with their sweet dog Woody’s face on them 😍 

Jeda and Josh’s adventure elopement in Yosemite was a perfect example of why we love elopements so much. They didn’t have a care in the world, and got to do exactly what they wanted for there wedding day! Nothing mattered but enjoying each other. We had so much fun just hanging out with them and taking in the views, and it truly felt like such a treat to spend the day with them.

Bride's Dress: One-of-a-kind from Judy Copley Couture, Australia

Bride's Shoes: Vans

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The Hearnes Adventure Photography is run by Abbi and Callen Hearne, a husband & wife wedding photography team with an emphasis on adventure. They live on the road as full-time nomads in their big white van, allowing them to serve a large portion of the western US including California, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming. They believe love is the greatest adventure and strive to create photos that are epic, romantic, true, and timeless.

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