Dutch and I styled this shoot to inspire elopement ideas in Montana. We love elopements. They’re simple, intimate, and wildly free. It’s just you and the one you love in your favorite spot, exchanging rings. There’s something very pure about that.

We actually got married in Montana ourselves at the base of a mountain at a wonderfully simple, rustic venue (complete with a honky tonk band, bbq, and a sky full of stars). But if we had eloped in Montana? It would have been right here in this place. Near my child-hood home with endless vistas in all directions. Big blue sky contrasting with the sandstone white cliffs, prairie grass blowing in the wind and mountains framing it all in the background. I really love this place I still call home and it was really inspiring to shoot here again. My first weddings were shot in Montana and I think it’s time we start shooting here more often.

Thanks to The Velvet Bride in Missoula for loaning us this lovely Truvelle gown. The rest, Dutch and I cobbled together by raiding my dad’s tackle box to make accessories and scavenging almost all of the bouquet elements like feathers, sage, yarrow, etc around their farm. We wanted the shoot to have a very natural, bohemian feel so it was kind of perfect that we could only use found objects. Incidentally, this also reflects what I love about Montana; the mindset of making do with what you have. When you’re miles and miles (hours and hours, in actuality) from a store or florist, you find a way to make something that’s intimately beautiful in it’s own right.