Cowboy Chic / Denim and Diamonds – T&T get HITCHED at Burning Man!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 7:59AM 
2003 was the year for me to finally give into my friends and go to this party in the desert everyone obsesses about – Burning Man. I was skeptical, for I was certain it was not my scene. When I arrived late the first night, the energy was something that I can still feel in my body today. Finding the words are a challenge, but the first that come to mind are friendly, warm, energetic, exciting, eye-opening, fun!, real, surreal, safe, creative, unexpected, amazing, profound, unbelievable, and breathtaking. I went back to Burning Man every year.
These same words express how I felt on my second day in 2007. I unexpectedly met Travis Pynn, the love of my life – my husband. Travis, you take my breath away. Thank you for being you and for standing by my side.
To most of our friends it was no surprise that Travis and I decided to bring our relationship full circle and get married at Burning Man. What surprised us is that so many of our family and friends (some who have never been) made the trek out to the playa to celebrate our wedding. THANK YOU – it would not have been as special to us without you!
We planned to have our ceremony under the statue – Bliss Dance, created by a good friend. It was his first year creating art on the playa and his vision was breathtaking. Marco – thank you. We asked our friend, Damien (a.k.a. HAWK) to officiate the wedding. We knew that Damien would take our ceremony to heart. We were torn because he’s an amazing photographer (Damien Noble Andrews), and we wanted him to take photos….but we knew he was to play a different role in our wedding. We did ask him to do some engagement photos of us! - THANK YOU!
Adrienne Pfeiffer, you are not only beautiful, but you have an amazing voice. Thank you for singing at our ceremony!!!
Camp 11:11, thank you for our reception, our transportation, and our home. Our amazing friends from Redding CA create a wonderful, safe refuge for all of us to celebrate together and to play on the playa. You all worked so hard – cooking, prepping, transporting, building, and cleaning. THANK YOU!
Our wedding was to be simple: write our own ceremony, get hitched, celebrate with a big BBQ back at camp, and go to bed early. Of course we wanted to make it special, so we added a few personal touches here and there (after all, I am in this industry)! To our surprise, our friends from Asiel Designs showed up with more than their beautiful smiles, our bouquet and boutonniere. Unexpectedly they transformed our humble playa home to a cowboy chic wedding reception! WOW! Again, it’s so difficult to find words to express our gratitude. I only had one conversation with Jonathan….he was asked a bunch of questions about Burning Man, me and Travis, our vision, and our ceremony. It was like he crawled inside my head and saw what I wish we could have at our wedding. He and Linnae created our dream reception. You both are unbelievably talented….scary talented! THANK YOU!
Every woman dreams about her wedding day, but I think they dream more about the dress. I searched and searched for the perfect dress – gave up, got a normal one, and then said, “No!” Less than a month before the wedding I reached out to Zalikha Safdari. I photographed Zalikha and Hooman’s wedding 2008. After their wedding they started Ossai – a bridal accessory company. Zalikha took me by the hand to Britex Fabrics (literally) and helped me pick out the fabric for my dress. I had a vision, and she executed it for me. My playa-wedding gown was born less than three weeks later. Zalikha – THANK YOU!
Thank you Cristine Thomas for featuring our wedding in your baby – Today’s Bride Magazine. You are a dear friend and were part of many important steps in planning our wedding (she was the first to take me dress shopping). The photos you see featured are a combination of two amazing, talented photographers: Catherine Hall and Kevin Meynell.
Catherine is a Burning Man veteran. I reached out to Catherine as soon as we decided to have our wedding on the playa. Her images from Burning Man are like looking into the souls of her subjects. Her wedding images are world famous. Thank you Catherine for taking time out of your playa vacation to capture our memories!
Kevin – the images of you on the playa bring a huge smile to my face. Kevin is a dear friend and my partner in my profession. He knows my good side and my bad side (not just on camera). He just ‘gets’ me. His images are edgy, fun and never normal. Thank you my dear friend, the wedding would not have been the same without you.
The moral to this story – your wedding is your day. But it is not what you plan; it’s the people that make it special.
Other blog sites with our wedding!
Asiel Designs and Asiel Designs
