Kendall and Ben reached out to me already knowing they wanted an Alvord Desert elopement. They ultimately ended up choosing a multi-day adventure, that included an excursion to the Steens Mountains the evening before.

They have a Toyota 4-Runner that is lifted and are big fans of roughing it, camping in their pop-up camper that’s set up on top of their rig. So the Alvord Desert and Steens Mountains made perfect sense.

“After floating around a few ideas, we started to think more about what we actually wanted out of our big day. A day for us to enjoy each other and forget about all of the other stresses. As we thought more about an elopement, we both realized it was the best option for us, regardless of the current limitations.“

Kendall foraged for her bouquet and did her own makeup with their setup on the playa of the Alvord. The rug they used for their ceremony now has a home in their house.

To start the day, we went mobbing on the playa and rockhounding at a nearby source for thundereggs, Oregon’s state rock. After their sunset/blue hour ceremony, (seriously – the sky was PURPLE!) we had dinner parked out on the playa, had a fire, and Kendall & Ben shared their first dance by the firelight and moonlight. To date it’s one of the coolest and most unique elopements I’ve done.

Afterward, we all hung out, swapping stories, talked about how much Kendall and I love the movie “Tremors” and how we can’t wait to explore together again.

Check out their Steens Mountains and Alvord Desert elopement below!