As a wedding photographer, I get to be a part of a lot of really special moments. It’s not every day though that I get to tag along for a spontaneous elopement for two people who are SO clearly each other’s person. Little did I know Cori & Derek’s destination engagement session turned elopement would also happen to be one of the most love-fueled and special days EVER!

Cori & Derek are planning to get married in Des Moines this September. However, these two are super adventurous and love to travel so right away, they wanted their engagement session to reflect that! Cori and Derek had plans to road trip out to Oregon to visit Cori's brother and his family, so they just KNEW they wanted to take advantage of their plans and shoot their engagement while they were out there!

So they flew me out to Oregon to shoot their adventurous engagement session — so they thought…

The night before their session, Cori let me know they'd had a change of heart. After a medical scare during their trip a few days beforehand, they were left feeling reminded of how fleeting life truly is — so they decided to switch their engagement session to an elopement instead!!

Cori has a dandelion tattoo with lots of sentimental meaning to it featuring the quote, "Life is short, and you never know where the winds will take you." It was this exact sentiment that lead these two genuine humans who are so in love to decide to seize the moment! Cori and Derek made the remark that they couldn't imagine waiting any longer to begin their journey as husband and wife. Why hold off on the best things in life?

After scrambling to get a marriage license, a dress for Cori to wear, some dress clothes for Derek, and a DIY flower bouquet pieced together from plants around Cori's brothers' property, these two did the dang thing and got married!

Some of the sweetest things were the first look on Cori's brothers' property featuring a waterfall, the fact that Cori's brother officiated, and that I got to sign as a witness on the license. That was definitely an awesome first for me!

In all seriousness, I was so so so honored to be able to document this amazing day for Cori and Derek, and can't wait to celebrate with them at their big party in September. Here's to more people saying "f*ck it" and getting hitched to their bff a hair early. *happy tears*

xo, Kyndal