Smathers Beach Elopement | Cass + John

Cass + John’s Smathers Beach elopement in Key West was one hell of a party! Their day was packed with excitement from celebrating with close friends and family, cheering with Don Julio shots, crying the happiest of tears, grabbing slices of pizza off Duval, to Birdie Bong making her appearance throughout the day! Fun fact – one of the photos from this elopement won an Elopement Legend award! Read through their story, their elopement decision, the planning process, and their actual elopement day.

Psst…and if you and your partner want to elope in Key West, but have zero idea where to even begin or are feeling overwhelmed by the options, then I invite you to learn how I can help plan and capture your epic Smathers Beach elopement!

Their Story

Cass and John’s love story started at a car dealership, but not how you might think! Here’s how Cass retold their story:

“We both met at work. He was in car sales and I was the receptionist that he flirted with. After some time, I made the first move and sent him a message on [Facebook] and our relationship took off from there. [As for the proposal], John and I went to Sarasota, Florida to surprise my dad for graduating Scuba School. Every time we go to Sarasota, we have to take a picture in front of “my statue”, the VJ Day kiss statue. This time was no different except after handing my phone over and turning around, John was on one knee.”

Their Decision

Cass + John had their sights set on Key West from the beginning. From Cassandra’s original inquiry, she envisioned a private, simple beach ceremony where her brother could marry them and an after party on Duval Street.

They decided to elope because of the modern day cost of weddings and how much stress they can bring on. When Cass started to plan a big wedding, she was recounts the process: “Having to narrow down a list to fit a budget was tough since we both have a decent size immediate family, but then finding a venue was worse. I did not want to get married in Illinois and contacting out of state venues seemed impossible since barely any of them reached back out to me.” That sounds terrible, and we don’t let any of that happen around here.

Outside of their elopement vision, they wanted a photographer that could bring their dream to life AND make them feel comfortable in front of the camera. One of the first things that Cass told me about why they decided to book me was the inspirational and educational blogs. She went through every blog on my website and fell in love with the photos.

The Planning

Cass and John’s elopement vision was simple with a day filled with celebration. In her questionnaire, Cass describes her elopement vision as:

“[We will] start out with having breakfast and relaxing by the pool (…) before we get ready. When the time comes, John and I will go to our separate rooms and share one last kiss and an in married couple and I’ll probably cry. I’ll get ready with the girls and have a few drinks to calm some nerves. John isn’t sure what he wants to do with the boys while we get ready yet but nothing trip advisor can’t solve!

I’m imagining the whole makeup/ hair process will make me feel like a Disney princess. Once the dress is on, 100% my mom is going to cry, which will make me cry. John is going to have a very sweet bro moment with the boys with lots of hugging and maybe a shot of fireball.

[For the] first look, John is going to be very fidgety and excited. I’m going to feel the same emotions, but maybe start tearing up (if you can’t tell I cry a lot ?).

I can see the Ceremony being a lot easier since we got the first look jitters out of the way. I will probably be crying again (hopefully my makeup isn’t completely gone at this point). John might shed a tear. My brother is our officiant so I can imagine he will have some funny things to say. John and I agreed we wanted to unite our marriage with a shot of tequila. John will dip me during our first kiss as an homage to how we take pictures in front of “my statute.”

Now that the jitters are gone we will let our guests hang out while we take pictures with you! I imagine running around the beach and town looking fabulous in our suit and dress will be freeing and fun. After [our portraits] we will go back to our room and change, find our guests, and have dinner then hit the bars. While out I imagine everyone yelling that we just got married in hopes to score some free drinks!“

My favorite part about C+J’s elopement vision was how closely the elopement day played out. The entire day was almost exactly as Cass described it and it was the perfect day for these two.

Their Elopement Day

I met Cass and John at Pier House, a tropical oasis located at the end of Duval Street close to all the action. Cass spent the afternoon in their room being pampered by Key West Hair & Makeup like the Key West Disney princess that she was. Before heading towards the water for their first look, Cass and John shared a shot of Don Julio.

We planned a first look along the seawall of the Pier House. The vast ocean was the perfect backdrop for this moment. Once John turned to see Cass, the tears started falling and the happiness was overwhelming.

Heading to Smathers Beach for the ceremony, we grabbed a taxi and the driver played “Top 50 Wedding Songs” for the ride. We were only slowed by pantless biker riders and us being tourists capturing roosters walking down the sidewalk.

Cass and John got married by her brother underneath a leaning palm tree. The ceremony was filled with tons of laughs from her brother’s anecdotes about their relationship and a few tears. And just as envisioned, they took shots of tequila for their unity ceremony. After the ceremony, Cass and John had their first dance under the palm tree to Until I Found You by Stephen Sanchez.

Once we captured their portraits for golden hour, we headed to Duval Street to change outfits and grab some slices of pizza from Angelina’s Pizzeria. Psst…the pizza image won a 2024 Elopement Legend Award! As we made our way to Sloppy Joes, their friends and family welcomed them back with cheering and the Birdie Bong – basically a beer bong in the shape of aa flamingo. As a last hoorah, I captured Cass and John with birdie and they were off to celebrate down Duval Street!

If you’d like a sneak peek into how their day flowed, here’s the timeline:

3:30 pm Details & Getting Ready
4:30 pm First Look
4:45 pm Travel to Ceremony
5:00 pm Ceremony
5:30 pm Bride & Groom’s Portraits
6:30 pm Travel to Duval Street
6:45 pm Duval Bar Crawl

Are you totally inspired to elope in Key West and ready to start planning your own Smathers Beach elopement? Let’s create something epic! I’m here to help you craft a day that’s totally unique to who you are as a couple. Period.

Vendors

Photographer: Anna Holden Photo
Hotel: Pier House
Hair & Make Up Artist: Key West Hair & Makeup
Ceremony: Smathers Beach

Psst…this Smathers Beach elopement was featured over on Brides and Weddings Magazine!

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