About

Earth and Sky Vows

The Heart Behind the Horizon

Why Earth & Sky Vows exists

I stood on the side of a mountain overlooking Lake Tahoe and said "I do."

At the time, most weddings were grand productions. But we chose a different path... one where we exchanged vows on a quiet mountainside, between the earth and sky, with fewer than fifty of our favorite people. This was 2003. The word Micro-Wedding didn't exist yet. Pinterest didn't exist. There was no directory like the one you're on right now. I found our wedding planner by cold-calling vendors I'd pulled from library wedding books and from the antiquated websites that existed at the time. I made it work. But the gap was obvious then, and more than 20 years later it's still here, just buried under more noise.

That's why I created Earth and Sky Vows. I want to help you find the infrastructure - the hidden venues, the thoughtful vendors, and the quiet landscapes - that makes a micro-wedding or elopement possible.

There's something special about an intimate celebration. My small wedding taught me that when you limit the guest count, you expand the experience. You create a weekend of meaningful conversations, cherished memories, and deeper connections to the people you value. To this day, some of our guests still tell me it was the best wedding they've ever attended. Not because of its scale, but because of its soul. I want that for you, too.

What this is

A hand-curated directory of vendors who specialize in elopements and micro-weddings - 50 guests or less - across the desert Southwest. Six hubs to start: Joshua Tree, Sedona, Moab, Palm Springs, Santa Fe, and Phoenix & Scottsdale. More regions will come as the directory grows.

What makes it different

Every vendor on this site is reviewed and approved by a human. By me. Not scraped from Google Maps and dumped into a database, not pay-to-play, not algorithmic. I look at each vendor's recent work, check their fit for small weddings, and make a judgment call. If they're listed here, it's because I thought you should know about them.

Most wedding directories you've seen are advertising platforms. Vendors pay to be listed, and what looks like a recommendation is actually a placement. That's not what's happening here.

Inclusion is editorial. Vendors can't pay to be listed - they have to meet my bar, and I review every one.

A few services are available to vendors who want to invest more in their listing. The first is a curated photo gallery on their detail page: vendors submit photos, I review and select the ones that work, and I build the gallery myself. They're paying for my curation and the visual real estate - not for inclusion. The second is Featured Vendor placement at the top of their hub page, clearly labeled wherever it appears. My aim is for every vendor to have a baseline listing photo on their hub regardless of these add-ons, so what you see at the hub level still reflects the directory's full editorial selection.

I don't take commissions from your bookings. What you pay vendors goes to vendors.

What's not here yet

I'm still building. A few categories - videographer, hair and makeup, permit guides - are sparse or unbuilt as of this writing. I'd rather list nothing than list someone I haven't vetted, so those sections will fill in over time. If you're a vendor in one of those categories and want to be considered, or if you've worked with someone you think I should know about, get in touch.

How to reach me