Kiki and CJ have been together over six years. They live in Portland, Oregon where they own a home and a corgi named Spud. CJ is a Producer and Kiki is a Carpenter.
The couple were planning on riding out the pandemic wave and following their original plan to have a large 100+ person ceremony once COVID - 19 was contained. With no end in sight, they decided to readjust their plan and decided it would be fun to stop in Las Vegas and secretly elope at A Little White Wedding Chapel while they were on a three week-long road trip of the American south west in their teardrop camper.
CJ and Kiki had just two guests present - CJ’s parents. "Thankfully they both live within driving distance of Las Vegas and were able to make our celebration. Photographer Andi Artigue was there to capture their day.
CJ wore a custom Claire La Faye pearl embellished outerlayer. "I had something very specific in my mind, high necked, loose, a little over the top, and I'm so happy Claire worked with me to make it come to life!" Kiki wore a black Bonobos Tux, and a pair of Gucci loafers that he will keep forever.
CJ and Kiki's main focus was to minimise the stress of planning their wedding. "Honestly after having to reset our expectations so many times, we just wanted it to be as stress free as possible and safe. We definitely made that happen!"
They kept things very non-traditional however, knew they wanted to exchange their own vows. "It was fun writing them separately and being able to see the others expressions as we recited them. My parents also convinced us to have Elvis sing during the ceremony, which I'm glad they did. It was cheeseball and weird and funny - and perfect!"
Their advice to other couples getting married, particularly during the pandemic? "Be safe! Scale down as much as humanly possible. Take quarantine prior to the wedding seriously, and encourage all attendees to do a test prior. It really helped clear our minds that we were not jeopardising anyone's health."
Ceremony location : A Little White Wedding Chapel @littlewhiteweddingchapel | Reception location : The Neon Museum @theneonmuseumlasvegas | Photographer : Andi Artigue @andi__artigue | Flora : Lucid Juliet @lucidjuliet | Bride's Dress : Claire La Faye @clairelafaye | Groom's Suit : Bonobos @bonobos | Rings : Bario Neal and Marke | Bride's Shoes : Loeffler Randall @loefflerrandall | Groom's Shoes : Gucci @gucci | HMUA : Sam Bentson @sambentson from Ruby Finch