We wanted our wedding to reflect our spiritual and vegan values. Our ceremony was a blend of our spiritual path A Course in Miracles, Native American traditions, and traditional and self-written vows. Because we are vegan, the food and clothing needed to be cruelty-free, free of any animal products. Joshua Tree ended up being the perfect venue where we could meditate and celebrate in peace and love with each other and the environment.

(scroll down to explore our wedding)

We immediately fell in love with the photos of Rad + In Love after stumbling across them online. Nontraditional, yet elegant, hip and smart, all at the same time. Little did we know that our photographer, who is based in San Diego, had been married in the desert! She knew the area very well. Not only a brilliant, affable photographer, who did all she could to help, but she also served as our “legal witness” for our marriage license. We were blessed to have her.

Did you know there’s no such thing as vegan wedding officiants? We didn’t either, until we began searching for one. When that came up empty, we searched for A Course in Miracles influenced officiants. None were listed in LA. we then decided to search for a wedding officiant with Native American traditions, and that landed us on Elysia Skye’s site LA Wedding Woman. We clicked onto Elysia’s Twitter account and she had just tweeted a quote from A Course in Miracles. She was the one! If you’ve read the bottom of the section “Our Story,” you already know how synchronously it turned out that she was our officiant. We could not have dreamed of a better officiant. She’s just one of the most beautiful souls. She’s so much more than an officiant. She was a God-send. And her ceremony was pure perfection.

The wedding was shot on location at the Rock Reach House. In 2011, I (Cynthia) found the house while researching cool places to stay in Joshua Tree. I contacted the owner and spoke to him about the house. We ended up not staying there that year, but the house, which had been featured in Dwell Magazine and other architectural digests, left an indelible impression on me. When it came time to get married we knew Rock Reach House would be perfect. Top of the line modern, built with new green technology, solar-powered, amid gorgeous boulders in a national park-like setting, with an outdoor shower and jacuzzi set into the hillside, it felt like a dream.

The most important thing about our attire was that it was vegan. 

I didn't want a traditional wedding dress, and I knew I wanted it short. I really wasn't that picky, so I searched ebay and found this dress used. What's more eco-friendly than that? I thought the dress was pretty, and it fit the bill. The dress is called Portia by Joie. 

It's not easy finding cute vegan shoes, especially when you have a certain idea in your head about what you want. I searched high and low for a pair of booties in just the right color and found these on Amazon. They didn't have my size but they were so perfect that I ordered a half size too big. They're called PROSA by City Classified. 

Being eco-friendly, we wanted flowers that not only matched the environment of the desert but those we could replant. (My bouquet is now in three different pots sprouting new shoots!) We contacted My Little Flower Shop in Palm Springs (20 minutes from Joshua Tree) and Gregory could not have been more friendly. We told him to do whatever he wanted with the bouquet and boutonniere. He could add color or not. The morning of the wedding we drove into Palm Springs to pick up the flowers, the cake and the food. The moment we saw the bouquet I got emotional for the first time. They were so beautiful. And for some reason, they just made the wedding seem so real. And now we know what Billy Balls are.

Researching engagement rings, I quickly realized I did not want a diamond, nor did I want anything traditional, and it had to be conflict-free and recycled. You’d think those jewelers would be a dime a dozen in LA. They’re not. Nor are they in the entire USA. Then I found Leber Jeweler in Chicago.  They are the first fine jewelry store wholly dedicated to socially-conscious and eco-friendly fine jewelry. A third-generation family-owned business since 1921, Brian Leber was not only a wealth of information (He is very involved in ethical jewelry legislation in Washington DC) but a pleasure to do business with. My engagement ring is a raw natural emerald in the Valentina white gold setting, and my wedding ring is a white gold Darla band. 

Brad’s white gold ring is from a local jeweler, Michael K Jewelers. And Brad, having never worn jewelry in his life, needed someone local in order to try it on, get the feel of what he wanted, and have a custom fit and design. He loves loves loves his ring. And Michael is so nice, too!

You can find vegan wedding cakes in LA, but we didn’t want to transport a cake via a packed car to Joshua Tree. So we found a bakery specializing in vegan cakes in Palm Springs called Over the Rainbow. The chef/baker Roman Blas is now one of my favorite people—so accommodating and passionate about his new vegan discoveries for baking! We’ve had a lot of cakes (vegan and not) in my time, and this one takes the cake! It was hands-down the best cake we've ever had. We described our ideal cake from design to taste and Roman created a masterpiece.