Danni + Lucas by Sydney Noelle Photography - Together Journal

Danni — We’re high school sweethearts so we had been together for nearly 10 years when we got married. I’m a photographer and Lucas works for a law firm and is studying law. We are major homebodies and love spending time with each other, our families, dogs and our one-year-old daughter, Romee.

Lucas — I first saw Danni playing in a volleyball game her freshman year and I immediately fell in love. I told all of my friends I was going to marry her. After a year of being too nervous to talk to her, we were introduced by mutual friends at the movies. We got to know each other after that, and I realised I was in love. It sounds clichéd, but I knew she was the one for me shortly after meeting her. There was never any doubt about that

Danni — We were on a trip to Tahoe and I told Lucas I wanted to do a hike. He found the perfect hike that led us deeper and deeper into nature, surrounded by lakes, mountains, and wildlife. We ended up at Conness Lake with the bluest water I’ve ever seen. Lucas proposed with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. It was perfect! We were meant to get married in April 2020 in New Orleans, but then Covid hit so the big, over-the-top wedding was cancelled. I was actually relieved.

My parents eloped 30 years ago, just the two of them to Hawaii, and have always said it was the best decision. When we made plans to elope, I was so excited. I knew it would make me the happiest and most relaxed. Another fun fact: my mother surprised me and had part of her wedding suit put into my bouquet. I wanted our wedding to be intimate, memorable and romantic. Our day was exactly that. We ate breakfast together, had a couple’s massage, helped each other get ready, and shared a private dinner where we ate the yummiest strawberry shortcake.

I’ll never forget a single detail of the most romantic and intimate day I had with my best friend. Amangiri made for an experience of a lifetime. We knew we wanted to be somewhere with an epic landscape, and
Amangiri has that, plus an amazing resort. The day after our wedding, we were on Lake Powell in a boat and Lucas’ wedding ring slipped off! Literally, less than 24 hours of marriage and his ring was gone! Lucas was pretty upset, but he’s able to laugh about it now.

As our boat captain said, “Some people lose their wedding rings down the garbage disposal, at least you know yours is somewhere beautiful!” I originally bought a princess over-the-top dress for my New Orleans wedding. I secretly doubted it but thought it would work with the style of wedding I was having.

When we decided to elope, I was scrolling through Instagram and saw the Danielle Frankel dress and knew that was my dress. The sleeves, the silhouette, and the fabric were all an absolute dream. I told Mom I was ordering it, and she said, “Online? You’re ordering your wedding dress online without ever seeing it?” I did, it fit like a glove, and Mom cried. When it comes to your style of wedding and dress, go with your gut. It’s never wrong.