leticia & jackson’s epic santa cruz elopement. // {2020}

Enter my new favorite couple! Leticia & Jackson are the absolute sweetest and their love just radiated all day! It was such a sincere honor to witness their marriage & document their epic elopement – during not only a global pandemic, but amidst sudden wildfires & evacuations as well! If they can manage all that with such levity & grace, I have no doubt they will be the most amazing team throughout their life together! ❤️

{Santa Cruz County Clerk}

When asked about how they met, Leticia replied:

“I was Jackson’s trainer at the gym! One day him and our buddy were playing golf. I crashed their party and told him I thought he was adorable. We started going on running dates and Whiskey Wednesdays; then one day I turned and looked at him and said, ‘You know you’re my boyfriend right?’ He smirked, shrugged his shoulders, and then just said, ‘Yeah!’ Since then we traveled to many places including Antarctica, Argentina, Nashville TN, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, and hopefully he gets to go meet my grandma in El Salvador this year. I got him a puppy during Christmas last year and she is our pride and joy… even though she still needs A LOT of training!” (That precious pup, Willow, featured heavily in their wedding photos, obviously!)

{Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park}

About the proposal, she said:

“Jackson was going to propose at our church and had the choir learn a song that we like. He was going to ask me to marry him but then the church had to close due to COVID. Then… he was going to ask me during an indoor date we had over sushi but my friend got proposed to and he didn’t want us to steal her thunder so he rescheduled. Then… we were going to go on a hike at his parents’ but the trails closed due to COVID. Last- we were on our way home from his dad’s and he wanted to stop by for a hike, [but] I refused because the parking lot looked extra crowded… he looked frustrated. So as we are driving along the coast I see dolphins jumping in and out of the water and I say, ‘Oh cool, look, dolphins! Let’s see if we can get on the beach.’ So he takes the next exit and then sees the road is fricken closed, so he pulls off next to the Ventura train station and says, ‘Get out, the dog needs to walk.’ It had just started sprinkling so I said, ‘Ummm can you go alone? It’s starting to rain!’ He said, ‘No! we are going for a walk come on!’ So we get out, we are on an isolated beach, and he hands me a card explaining all the trouble he’d gone through, starts playing our song on his phone, and I turn around and he’s on one knee. I felt the spirit of my grandfather above us – he’s passed – and I immediately started crying… then he was crying… I said yes, we both hugged and sobbed and continued on our way haha”