Intimate wedding at The Stanford Inn by the Sea

Elopement at the Stanford Inn, Mendocino, CA

What better way to spend an evening than with a beautiful couple in love? Planning a wedding during Covid has presented some obvious challenges for engaged couples but for others, it has offered the perfect opportunity to do what they really want have a small ceremony in a romantic location…with me, LOL. That’s right, I’m talking about elopements! Ben and Marie chose to elope at the Stanford Inn By the Sea in Mendocino, CA and it was such a pleasure to get out of Sonoma County and meet up with the two of them, and their dog, in Mendocino. This was my first time visiting the Stanford Inn (I totally need to come back, they’re pet-friendly so I can take Lewis on a weekend getaway) so I took a trip up a month before the wedding to do a site visit. I actually had another wedding to shoot in Fort Bragg shortly after so I was able to tour both sites that day, as well as scout out locations for portraits. Their vows took place at the Stanford Inn and Golden Coast Florals provided elegant and colorful floral arrangements. Marie was glowing with stunning hair and makeup by Wave Salon in Mendocino.

After the vows, we took a few wedding portraits at the Stanford Inn and then we scampered off to hit some of the other locations I scouted the previous month. We started with portraits at Big River Beach, which is actually a short walk from The Stanford Inn. After that, we concluded our sunset wedding portraits at Jughandle State Reserve in Fort Bragg and Marie threw on this sweet, custom sequined duster by Isolated Heroes, adorned with… their favorite Simpsons quote!!