Erin and Jack’s Desert Anniversary Shoot

Well, if Erin’s comments about her Air Force husband and their love don’t make you tear up, we don’t know what will. The couple fell in love fast and hard and Jack’s waterfall proposal soon-after was totally romantic. The couple has endured many long-term separations, including Jack’s deployment to Afghanistan, yet they remain strong and in love. Erin and Jack enlisting the talents of  Elyse Alexandria Photography  to mark their one-year anniversary of marriage with a gorgeous desert engagement session and we’re totally smitten.

From the Bride: My husband, Jack, is the most genuine, straightforward, and generous man I have ever met. When we first met, we immediately became exclusive and every hour we were not at our jobs, we were together. We both fell fast and hard—I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Almost 6 months to the day after we met, we were in his hometown in Northern California hiking to a waterfall. Jack asked a stranger to take a photo of us in front of the waterfall and after a few smiles, Jack turned to me. When he started telling me how much he loved me and cared for me I knew exactly what was going on. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes, of course! Not only did he propose with a beautiful ring, he had the ring custom made from a boutique jewelry shop in Washington. He even had our initials engraved on the ring. To this day, I still stare at it every day and smile.

Twenty seven days after Jack proposed, he left for a six-month deployment to Afghanistan. From that time until now, we have gone through many short-term physical separations because of the Air Force. Enduring those separations is not always easy, but through the hard times Jack has stayed the same man I fell in love with only a few months after meeting him. He encourages me, he pushes me, and he supports me.  He makes me feel beautiful and loved with not only his words, but his actions as well. He is my dessert recipe guinea pig, my handyman, and my gardener.

The months and days leading up to our wedding and our wedding day went by so fast. Even though we’ve only been married for a year, we’ve already moved from Northern California to a home in Las Vegas. And now that it’s been one year since our wedding and we have finally settled into our married life, we wanted to celebrate our marriage and our new home.

Photography: Elyse Alexandria Photography // Florals: Layers of Lovely // Stationery/Calligraphy: EG Letters // Makeup: Makeup by Cassidy // Dress: Rent the Runway // Film Scans: The FindLab // Location: Mt. Charleston, Las Vegas, NV