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Their Story
The love of pizza brings a lot of people together but for Carly and Justin, pizza literally brought them together. The two met working at Pizza Hut and quickly bonded after finding out they had a lot in common. They both love horror and sci-fi movies and the same type of music so one night Justin invited her to one of his friend’s shows. Carly got to crowd surf that night for the first time, and the two fell for each other instantly.
Carly and Justin both love the desert so they knew a Cactus Collective elopement would be perfect for them. Carly is from Washington State and Justin is from Iowa so the landscape is a great change of pace for both of them. They wanted a desert elopement/Viva Las Vegas vibe so this was a great fit. (We should mention they first got engaged at the Stratosphere!) After having a family reception before they left, this adventurous couple decided to turn their trip to Nevada into an engagement road trip.
The couple made the trip from their hotel on Freemont Street together so definitely saw each other before the ceremony and loved it. Carly scored with a gorgeous dress that she actually found on Amazon. Talk about making your blissful day easy breezy! They kept with the spirit of elopement and wrote love letter vows, which they gave to each other to read when they returned to their hotel. When asked what her favorite part of the day was Carly said, “Walking about the desert…it was so peaceful.” We couldn’t agree more. Cheers to this happy couple!
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McKenzi Taylor is America’s go-to elopement and micro wedding expert, often featured in small and major media outlets, such as the New York Times. With over 15 years of wedding photography experience, it was after planning her own Las Vegas elopement in 2016 that McKenzi felt her purpose shift into elopement coordination. She started Cactus Collective Weddings soon after in 2017. Since then, she’s become a WIPA board member, and has helped well over 1000 couples get hitched in style around Las Vegas, San Diego and Black Hills.
