Married in a desert of Valley of Fire | Cactus & Lace Weddings

blog categories:

Sometimes love begins in such little small ways. Elysia and Jairo kept seeing each other at different times and places in their small town. First passing each other in their cars at a traffic light. Again, seeing each other at a gas station. Jairo was on a motorcycle. Another time, Jairo drove past Elysia as she walked on a sidewalk to go into a restaurant. (She waved since she saw him staring at her.) She says, “After passing in our cars the second time, we saw each other again, later the same day. This time at a grocery store. Actually, Jairo saw me first, but he initially didn’t say anything. He says he couldn’t get my attention, but when I’m shopping, I just pay attention to the task at hand and disregard all else. When I went out to the parking lot, Jairo was parked beside my car. It wasn’t hard to recognize my car at the time. It was REALLY old car (a blue 1988 Toyota Celica). I asked him if he had been waiting on me the whole time. I tease him now for being a creepy stalker. It was even dark outside! I called him about a month later. Our first “date” was literally a walk in the park together (Ironic in a way, since we have been through so many challenges together. As we all learn, life is not always a “walk in the park!”) Because Jairo is always a gentleman and a bit old-fashioned about things, he didn’t even come inside my house until his 3rd visit to see me. We would sit and talk on the porch swing for hours!”

This couple was so sweet, and they have been through some really tough times, with Elysia being diagnosed with a very serious condition last year, thankfully, now resolved. Sometimes, life shakes us up a bit. But they held tight together through thick and thin, and we celebrated Elysia being able to be healthy and married on a very lovely day in Valley of Fire. After a lovely ceremony and private intimate communion service with the officiant, Pastor Ham, this couple said, “I Do!”

The weather could not have been more perfect. Her dress was even more perfect, and she had the loveliest flower crown especially designed by the Front Porch Flowers. Ruby Finch had done a fab job of Elysia’s hair and makeup, it was stunning, we just loved it all!

Elysia said, “We balance each other. Jairo is introverted, but has such an acute perception of the world and of people. I am more comfortable around people and conversation. I tend to let things stress me out more than he does. He is thoughtful of words and how they can positively or negatively echo in our memory (He never says anything that could hurt my feelings or confidence, which also influences me to be more conscientious). Jairo is insightful and helps me look at things with a different perspective. Even though we don’t always agree on ideas or opinions, we respect each other’s independent thoughts. We love how we are able to openly communicate with each other.

During our conversations while planning, Elysia mentioned that every year Jairo played the guitar, and sang to her on her birthday. But this year, they would be in Vegas for the wedding and she would miss it, since they didn’t want to hassle with bringing the guitar on the flight. Well, we didn’t say anything to Elysia, but we decided that we would make sure Jairo had a guitar to play for Elysia. So we surprised them both with a guitar for him to play on their wedding day. When the sun was beginning to set, the desert was quiet and the air warm and soft, Jairo began to sing and play the lovely notes of a song meant just for her, Elysia was so touched, she cried, and so did we. It was a lovely surprise, and an even lovelier moment. A great way to start their happy, sweet, life together… Congratulations to you both! With love and best wishes from all of us at Cactus and Lace Weddings.