Intimate Elopement at the MacArthur Place Hotel in Sonoma, California

CHRIS + CAROLINE

I shot this beautiful, intimate elopement at the MacArthur Place Hotel for the very talented Aly Tovar. Aly and Joey recently expanded their family and had a baby and I couldn't be more happy to help them out :) I've been dying to shoot at the MacArthur Place for a while now and I was so excited to finally get the opportunity!

When I arrived, right off the bat Chris and Caroline seemed like such a fun-loving, laid back couple. It was a very small elopement on the lawn with just eight guests, with other friends and family members watching the ceremony via Zoom and Facetime from back home.

The MacArthur Place is the perfect spot for small, intimate elopements. It's a beautiful hotel located in the heart of wine country in Sonoma, California and just blocks away from the Sonoma Plaza. I highly recommend checking it out if you plan on eloping with your closest friends and family in wine country.

First of all, the rooms at the MacArthur Place are absolutely stunning with huge bathrooms, fun outdoor showers and beautiful French doors to take you outside to your private back patio. I had so much fun hanging Caroline's dress in different places for photos. Caroline was such a chill, laid back bride and really took her getting ready time easy and enjoyed the time with her children. I loved that so much because I feel like getting ready is usually so fast-paced and she just took her time and enjoyed every moment. I want all of my couples to enjoy their time getting ready because it really sets the tone and vibe for the day and we just want to have a fun day, you know? Life isn't that serious and everything ended up being amazing

After the ceremony, we did some group photos on the lawn under the arch. Then we parted ways from the group for a few while they enjoyed drinks and snacks and we roamed around the property and took some fun photos of just the two of them.

After photos, they joined their friends and family back on the lawn for a champagne toast before heading to dinner at Layla (the restaurant at MacArthur Place) to celebrating being newlyweds. It was perfect!