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I’m not usually one to cry at weddings, especially ones I’m photographing, but I shed a tear more than once on Jenna and Mike’s wedding day. Set on her uncle’s private desert estate, Jenna and Mike’s intimate backyard wedding could not have been more perfect.

Jenna and Mike are people who have spent their careers caring for people. As a flight attendant and a nurse, they know how to make people feel seen, heard, and truly cared for. This, of course, is reflected in the way they treat their guests, but more than anything, this care for people is reflected in the way they care for each other.

These two made such an effort on their wedding day to make each other the priority. For their first look, we swept the family and wedding party out of the backyard, and the two of them shared some quiet moments in the desert together before the rest of the craziness of the wedding day unfolded. She wiped Mike’s tears, and he held her as tightly as I’ve ever seen anyone hold another person.

Their vows to each other came from the bottom of their hearts. I’m not typically one to cry at weddings, but man, the two of them wrote some of the most heartfelt promises I’ve heard in a long time.

Once they were officially husband and wife, Jenna & Mike celebrated with an intimate desert first dance as their 50 guests look on from the backyard wedding celebration. They laughed. They cried. They danced. They celebrated.

It really was everything you could hope for in an intimate wedding celebration. They felt totally at ease, and they surrounded themselves with the people who love them the most.

Jenna and Mike, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. It was my joy and honor to celebrate the first day of your marriage with you. I hope the desert continues to remind you of your incredible and intimate wedding day– even once you’ve made your new home on the East Coast. You two are the best.