Lauren & Sean
...and their dreamy Arches National Park Elopement!
How did you two meet?
"We have the Outback Steakhouse to thank for that! 12 years ago while I was in nursing school (yes we are old), I worked at the steakhouse for a couple of years before Sean’s older brother got him a job. Sean was so quiet, the complete opposite of his brother (believe me when I say, that’s a good thing), and was really good at playing hard to get. Fast forward to Valentine's Day that same year (one of the busiest shifts in the restaurant business), we were squished into a little takeaway room, and he made a comment about having to be smooshed up against my butt and the rest is history haha, I guess its hard to resist a Sauter girl booty lol"
How did he propose?
"One thing Sean & I love to do is hike! We dated for 10 years so let's just say, he knew exactly what I did and did not want when it comes to proposing. I had a few rules, not in front of a million people, not at a sporting event, and I wanted it to be meaningful to both of us. My best friend Brittany reached out to me and invited Sean & I to go fishing with her & her husband which is something I was wanting to do with them, so naturally, I thought nothing of it! The day came and when we went to meet up with them they didn’t bring the fishing rods and said they wanted to go hiking instead, which kind of surprised me as Brittany was 5 months pregnant, but surprisingly I didn’t think anything of it. We did the Chimney Rock trail in Catoctin Mountain Park. When we reached the summit, Sean who is usually Mr. safety man, wanted to jump over this drop-down and get on the rock that stood by itself. After much convincing, I went over and as we were taking a photo he got down on one knee! I was honestly so surprised!"
Tell us about your say yes experience here at Love & Lace!
"When I was 12 years old I was adopted by my aunt & uncle so my cousins are like sisters to me. One of them is Megan who is best friends with Love & Laces Marketing & Social Media Director, Nicole. I wasn’t even looking at dresses yet but Megan was super excited and wanted to make an appointment at the shop for me to try on dresses! We had the last appointment of the day so it was just us in the shop and from the moment I walked in I felt super comfortable with the stylists working with me. I loved that I was able to physically go around myself and look at the dresses which I found that a lot of shops do not allow. This is because they don’t want the gowns to get dirty but what L&L does is gives everyone in your party a pair of black gloves which allows you to go through the gowns without dirtying them! My family and I picked out about 7-8 dresses. My stylist then put them in the order she thought I should try them on. Well, the very first dress I tried on was the dress I said yes to! I knew the second I put it on it was the one but still tried the rest on. When I said yes to the dress the stylist said her goal is to have the first dress to be the one, and she definitely met her goal that day! She also helped me achieve my full bridal vision by showing me that I could add long sleeves to the dress during alterations, bringing my long sleeve wedding dress dreams to life & referred me to Mychelle (bridal alterations) to get my dress personalized!"
What was your Wedding date & Where did you get married?
"Sean and I got married on September 21st in Arches National Park! We knew as soon as we started wedding planning that we wanted the day to be intimate & special. As pretty as the east coast is, the west coast mountains forever have our hearts. With the west coast in mind, we decided early on that we wanted to have a very small wedding but soon opted to plan an elopement instead! One of our bucket list goals is to visit all the National Parks together so we narrowed our choices down to the west coast national parks and ultimately chose Arches National Park!"
What was your favorite moment on your wedding day?​
"Honestly, it is so hard to choose one specific moment because the entire day was absolutely perfect, but having the ability to do WHATEVER we wanted on our big day was incredible for us! From having our first look at the double arches, saying our vows overlooking the park, running around with our planner & photographer, and being able to be free to roam the park getting pictures was the BEST! While Sean & I stayed in the park with our photographer, our planner went back to where we were staying in Moab and set up the cutest tablescape for us to have breakfast. And finally, we went into town and wrapped up our elopement day with a helicopter ride over Arches which was an incredible experience!"
What advice would you give to another bride?
"My advice would be to make your day about you and your significant other! We had a lot of people upset when we initially decided to elope with just the two of us but in the end, our day was absolutely perfect and all those people that were upset got over it as soon as they saw how happy we were! So don’t be afraid to do what YOU want! It's your big day, no one else’s"
List of All Wedding Vendors:
Planning, Design, + Styling: @wildlyinlove_
Photographer: @baileyfillmorephotos
Rentals: @moabeventservices
Florals: @iviefloralco
Signage: @kates_calligraphy
Food: @moabdiner
Glamping: @underthecanvsoffical
Helicopter Ride: @adventures_with_redtail_air
Dress: @bylillianwest, @love_and_lace_bridal_boutique
Dress Alterations: @mychelles22
Suit: @suitsupply