Real Wedding: Bailey + Josue – Photography by Tyler Branch

Bailey: I met Josue when I made a coffee stop on my drive down to Mexico. He was curious about what I was doing with a car full of belongings and I explained that I was moving to be a caregiver at an orphanage. As time went on he became my biggest supporter and we got to know each other when he started crossing the border every week to help me.

We didn’t want a traditional location for our wedding, nor did we want an indoor wedding, so Rimrock Ranch was perfect for our reception. I had seen a picture of the Indian Cove Amphitheater a few years prior and immediately knew that’s where I wanted to walk down the aisle. I convinced Josue to visit the area with me, and once we arrived we were both overwhelmed by the beauty of the towering boulders and how amplified the sound was within. I sang for Josue until we found the sweet spot, where the sound was just right and that is where we placed our dear friends who sang & played guitar acapella during our ceremony. Our wedding had a modern hispanic feel with cues from the desert landscape and hispanic culture. Josue, grew up in Panama and we met right before I moved to be a caregiver & foster momma at an orphanage in Mexico, which means the the first year of us dating took place in Mexico, where we embraced the culture together. We took a trip to Puerto Nuevo to purchase Mexican Woven blankets and pinatas as our design element, and we served tacos naturally. We really wanted an element that represented the solidity and unbreakable nature of our marriage, so I used concrete to hand-make our centerpieces, 200 dinner plates (with the help of a few dear friends), and candleholders (in collaboration with designer Benjamin Holtrop). We chose our flowers, Proteas, because they symbolize unity and diversity, which is a motif in our own relationship. Josue and I will forever cherish the few minutes we took to ourselves immediately following the ceremony. A friend suggested we set a few minutes aside to soak in the first moments as a married couple. It was by far one of the sweetest moments we had all day. Another of my favorite moments was sharing my vows to my 6-year-old (now) daughter, and hearing the vows she wrote to me and her daddy. I think everyone was in tears at that point. Marriage is the most committed, intimate, forgiving, enduring, faithful relationship you’ll ever have. We believe marriage is a lifelong commitment of choosing to love one another each day. And some days are rough, but so is any other commitment. Marriage so far has been the most joyous time and most refining time in either of our lives.