Arizona Desert Boho Wedding at Cochise Stronghold Ranch

When people think of Arizona for a wedding, they naturally picture a romantic, desert boho wedding. The cactus and mountains are where this style was born. When Emily and Aaron first told us about their wedding, I knew it was everything that wedding dreams were made of!

Aaron grew up in Pearce, Arizona which sits under the watchful gaze of the Cochise Stronghold Mountains. When they started planning their wedding, they knew they wanted their ceremony held under those mountains. Permits weren’t available for gatherings of their size, so they knew they needed to improvise. Driving home, they passed the Historic Cochise Stronghold Ranch. On a whim, they stopped, asking if they could hold a wedding there! The owners were incredibly gracious (they even provided a newsletter to guests welcome them to the wedding and shared information about the history of the ranch!) offering up their home for one of the most beautiful weddings we have photographed.

While Aaron and his guys took care of setting up the ceremony site for the wedding, Emily got ready at his aunt’s home. They held the ceremony under a large tree, within view of their favorite mountain range. The spot was about a mile in from the entrance of the ranch. Their reception was at the barn located closer to the main gates. Due to travel between the ceremony and reception, Aaron’s sister Candance wanted to make sure Emily’s entrance to the wedding was special. She knew that Emily had always dreamed of entering her wedding in a vintage VW bus. Through her connections, she secured a ’63 bus and Emily drove into the ceremony while “Here Comes the Sun” played. Aaron kept his back turned until Emily emerged from the vehicle. From the moment he saw her, his grin stretched from ear to ear.

Intimate and thoughtful were the words of the day, with each moment carefully crafted for celebrating their future together. Our favorite moment was when Emily and Aaron chose to share communion together while their wedding party prayed over them. The cutest nieces and nephews joined them in standing up with the wedding party and they just about stole the show. Prior to the wedding, we talked about some of the details such as flowers, Emily said “My mother-in-law is really talented at design, so I am trusting her completely!” Good thing, because the flowers that were supposed to be delivered arrived late, but Loretta had already created an incredible bouquet that fit the theme of the day perfectly!

There were so many beautiful moments from their day, we can hardly show them all, but here are a few of our favorites!

I had to end this wedding with our first ever astrophotography photo of the Milkyway. I have never seen stars look so bright. It was the perfect ending to an absolutely perfect day!

Vendors that made this day so rad:

Bridal Gown: Gigi’s Bridal 

Tuxes: Nick’s Menswear

Venue: Cochise Stronghold Ranch

Makeup: Makeup by Summer – Summer Abdeh

Florals: Mother of the Groom, Loretta Landwerlen

Caterer: Chipotle

Dessert Table: Amy’s Donuts, Loretta Landwerlen