groom lifting bride in golden sunset field

Their Wedding Day: Born to Run Farm, Glen Gardener

OOOOH how I’ve been waiting to share the heck out of this wedding!!!! Lauren and Javier’s golden sunset Born to Run Farm outdoor wedding of goodness is ready for your viewing pleasure, and I couldn’t be more excited! I fell in love with these two cuties from the moment they inquired, and I’ve been counting down until their wedding day since they booked.

First off, I’ve been daydreaming about photographing a vegan couple and a vegan wedding, since I’m also vegan, and this was finally it!! Lauren and Javier have the biggest hearts and their passion for life, love, and compassion is infectious. Their wedding day was so thoughtfully put together, like the array of vegan foods prepared while they got ready, the half-Spanish-half-English wedding invitation to include culture from both families, their adorable pup Daisy roaming around the entire day, the sweetest first look that allowed for plentyyy of portrait time (oh my goodness, my photographer heart was exploding this whole day!!), the gift card holder with engagement session photos (mostly of Daisy!) on all sides, the Mariachi band that came toward the end of the night, and SO much more.

What stood out to me most was their thank you speech to their guests. They laughed and cried through it and you could feel with every fiber how much they truly appreciated all of the loved ones under that tent. I was getting so choked up just hearing how thoughtfully they thanked the people who got them to where they are now and how much they valued everyone’s presence on their big day. It was so beautiful seeing the love and support they had surrounding them.

Their Love Story

Lauren told me all about their story! She said, “Our story is a long and funny one. We actually went to elementary school together, but we didn’t know that until after we started dating! We thought the first time we met was at a summer camp that we both worked at when we were 14. We were friends and hung out every now and then, but we both were in relationships and never took it any further than that. Every summer for the next 2 or 3 years we would meet up again at camp and it was like no time passed. But in between, during the school year, we had almost no contact at all, because we went to separate schools. Once high school came along, he ended up transferring to my school during junior year and we rekindled and had a short little fling that died out once we graduated. About two years after that, Javier randomly texted me while I was out to dinner for my moms birthday (and I was also slightly tipsy) and I begged him to come over to have birthday cake with us (LOL) He ended up coming over my house, but got there just as my family was leaving. He brought two bottles of wine, and we ended up finishing both of them that night while we were catching each other up on our lives and what we missed with each other, and just about every night after that for weeks, he slept at my house. We bonded over traveling and meditation and fell totally head over heels in love. He basically moved in with me (unofficially) a couple months later and the rest is history! :)” There’s nothing like finding love at exactly the right time!

Javier totally nailed this proposal! He brought Lauren to Ladybird in NYC, which is an amazing vegan restaurant, and she says that he had been acting so weird the whole week before, so she was looking forward to just relaxing with him and enjoying a night out. They ordered some food, and they started talking about marriage (as they had done a million times before) and she said to him, “Well I’m ready to marry you!!!” and he said, “Okay, well if you’re ready…..” and pulled out the ring. He was so nervous, and he never actually asked her to marry him, haha! They had just about finished eating by then, and Lauren says, “the only thing I regret about it is that I was too excited and bouncy to eat dessert lol. We had an amazing time though and now when I think back on how he proposed, I giggle every time, and I never let him live it down that he never actually asked me to marry him.” So freaking cute! Nothing better than great food and the best question in the world!!!

Javier loves this his now-wifey is so supportive and always pushes him to try things he usually wouldn’t, which is how he became vegan! Lauren adores that he accepts her for all of her weirdness, silliness, grossness, and happiness and he just loves just everything about her. She said, he “makes me feel like I’m worth everything.” Chills, anyone?! Same!

To Lauren and Javier,

You already know how obsessed I am with you two, but I just need to say another thank you. Thank you for welcoming me in as a friend first, you’ve both felt so open and genuine from the moment we met, and it made being a part of your love story just that much more incredible. Knowing you two is a privilege that I know everyone at your wedding values deeply, and I do, too. Thank you for being so wildly adventurous and truly yourselves through everything. You are SO much fun, so real and unapologetic, and I adore that you’re both vegan, of course!!! 🙂 Love you two so insanely much! Congratulations, newlyweds!!! <3 So glad you’re finally hitched!