Youssef grew up in Morocco, in a small town called Merzouga. The town is a popular stop for tourists because of how close it is to the enormous sand dunes of Erg Chebbi. One day in 2017, he was working as a tour guide for his family’s business when he met Emily. She was traveling in Morocco and had a few tours booked to explore the Sahara Desert. They spent a single day together before parting ways, but that wasn’t where their story ended. They connected online and started a friendship, and even though they came from vastly different places, they connected and realized how much they had in common. Slowly, over time and after three return trips to Morocco, their friendship blossomed into love. And soon, they were starting the very long and stressful process of getting Youssef a fiance visa to move to the US.

Originally, they planned to get married in April 2020. But between a delayed visa process and then a global pandemic, there was no way it would be possible. So they waited. And finally, in December 2020, Youssef was able to make his visa appointment in Casablanca. After about a year and a half of paperwork and waiting, he boarded a flight to the US, and on Valentine’s Day, he stepped foot in the US for the very first time.

Emily and Youssef got married in Utah, almost exactly one year after they originally planned to. They chose the Utah desert not far from where Emily grew up, to pay homage to Youssef’s home in the Sahara. They started their elopement day with a sunrise hike up a rocky trail that ended in an amazing canyon overlook. There, they changed into their wedding attire and had their first look. Next, they did a date and milk ceremony, which is a Moroccan wedding tradition. During this ceremony, they each fed each other a date (or four) and then drank milk from a beautiful glass.

We do a lot of location scouting online and then arrive a couple of days early to scout in person. For Emily and Youssef’s elopement, we planned to do a hike we found on All Trails, but when we scouted it the day before, it turned out to be an unsanctioned trail and therefore didn't comply with LNT principles. So we scoured for a new location and stumbled upon something even better. For the rest of the morning, we explored, admired the views, and ate homemade Poptarts.

For their ceremony, Emily and Youssef chose to get married in the sand dunes. And while they didn’t even compare in size to the sand dunes where Youssef grew up, they loved being able to draw the symmetry between where they both grew up. They got married under an arch that Emily’s dad helped make. By this time, the wind picked up and blew sand everywhere. Emily and Youssef held onto their vow books tightly as they said their wedding vows to each other. At the end of the ceremony, they did a sand unity ceremony. Youssef poured sand he brought with him from Merzouga and Emily poured sand from her grandparents’ yard.

After the ceremony, they all sat on rugs and pillows for lunch. Emily’s sister made the cake and even transported it in a cooler for the 4-hour drive. The wind still whipped by and everyone ate their lunch. The wind was even too strong for Youssef to pour the Moroccan mint tea they brought. After they were full of sandwiches (emphasis on the sand), cake, and more dates, Emily and Youssef helped their family load up the car before heading out onto the dunes.

For their time exploring the dunes, Youssef changed into a traditional dune outfit. We’re not positive what the typical process for putting on a turban is, but Youssef used the wind to wrap the black turban around his head, which led to some of our favorite photos from the day. After climbing the dunes and running back down, it was time to say goodbye to Emily and Youssef. A year is a long time to wait for your postponed wedding, but we can’t imagine a more perfect elopement day for a more perfect couple!

We were fortunate to work with a reporter from the New York Times to tell Emily and Youssef’s incredible story. You can read more about it by clicking the link below!

This elopement took place on Pueblo and Southern Paiute Land.

Photographs

Colorado Elopements

Destination Elopements