Does something look a little different about Ilse and Louis' gorgeous elopement photos at El Matador Beach? That's because we did the shoot at sunrise! That's right, this awesome couple got ready and met me at the beach at 6:45 am for sunrise (which turned out to be perfectly cloudy and all pastels all morning long) and it was totally worth it to have the WHOOLLE beach to ourselves! If you've been to El Matador, you know that it can be challenging to have a clean background due to other people enjoying the beach (who can blame them? It's stunning.) But a sunrise session at El Matador meant we were alone with the beautiful light, freshly smoothed sand, and expanse of rocks to climb all over. It was a dream come true! 
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Though based inland, Ilse and Louis wanted to snap elopement photos at El Matador because they getaway to the beach any chance they have (and I can totally see why!).

I'm so thrilled they found me online (yay Google!) and we got to spend these special moments together making some truly frame-worthy images to commemorate the beginning of their life together. 

Junya and Yuki eloped in Los Angeles, but they wanted some photos to commemorate the start of their married life together. They picked El Matador—smart choice—as the backdrop to these sweet sunset portraits, which they will treasure for years to come. 

Location: El Matador State Beach

Brayden and Alicia planned an intimate, family-only gathering at the base of the iconic Point Dume in Malibu, California, to say their vows. They wanted a few snaps of family and friends, but mostly just wanted to get some epic photos of just the two of them at sunset on the day they pledged to spend the rest of their lives together.... so that's what we did! 

Location: Point Dume State Beach, Malibu, CA 

It doesn't get any better than this. Grant and Sarah really just wanted to do a paper elopement—courthouse and that's it. But their parents begged them to do a wedding, so they compromised: just the immediate family, she got a dress of Etsy, he threw on a suit and bought a cake from the grocery store, they tapped the closest minister (who happened to be my husband) on the shoulder, and their immediate families flew in from out of state. Oh yeah, and they also rented this badass 1965 Mustang, because if you're going to the trouble of having pictures made, they might as well be fit for a full-page magazine spread. So there you have it: feast your eyes on the epic simplicity of Grant and Sarah's Tuesday evening Malibu elopement.

Location: Point Dume State Beach, Malibu, CA 

Patrick and Valerie eloped on the beach in Los Angeles. Well... sort of. They actually eloped kind of accidentally in one of the most beautiful and posh hotels on the beach in Santa Monica. Here's the story: 

Patrick and Valerie stayed the night at the Casa del Mar Hotel in Santa Monica, CA. They fully intended to just walk out onto the sand and say their vows, snap a few photos with me, and be done with it. But after getting dressed up, the hotel security guard just let them (and me, and the officiant) into the gazillion-dollar ballroom. Turns out a wedding dress is basically a carte blanche. Fifteen minutes later, these two were hitched!