Quincy + Tyler’s elopement at Craggy Garden was one of those days where nothing went to plan. They had their heart set on mountain views for their ceremony, especially after driving all the way from Ohio to elope. We woke up to thick fog on the parkway, which obscured the scenery at our original location.
Then, we lost the officiant.
I’ve photographed many crazy elopement stories, but this took the cake. Even though we had caravanned and had emailed directions to everyone involved, the officiant never made it to Craggy. As most people know, the cell service is terrible on the parkway, so finding a lost car is not an easy feat. We all just laughed and chatted about how great this story would be weeks later. I was incredibly grateful for their flexibility and humor when so many things were out of our control. Even with a positive attitude, we all knew that they couldn’t get legally married without her. My mind was racing of all the other ways we could get them hitched before the end of the day, including signing up online to be an officiant myself or running down to the courthouse later in the day.
Instead, we decided to hike and take a few photos, in hopes that the officiant would make it to the trail.
She never did.
We drove up and down the parkway looking for her, and we eventually had enough cell service to get a text through. After two hours, we finally connected at an overlook where the mountains peeked through the fog. It wasn’t the private location that they had envisioned, but for goodness sakes, they were going to freaking GET MARRIED! With cars honking and tourists cheering, Quincy + Tyler were able to say I do and officially tie the knot.
It was one of the craziest elopements I’ve ever been a part of, but it was truly one of the best stories.
