A Desert Elopement at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, Arizona

Ashley Guerrera (27 and a case manager) and Matt Stano (29 and a kitchen manager) met while Matt was working at a homeless shelter where Ashley was interning. The pair admired each other from a distance for many months, and on Ashley’s last day, Matt asked for her number. A few years later, Ashley and Matt traveled cross-country via Greyhound and arrived in Tucson, Arizona, 3,000 miles away from everything they had ever known. A few months later, Matt proposed on New Year’s Eve with a heart-shaped diamond ring. After moving back to Maine with their daughter a few years later, the couple was in the process of planning the wedding they thought they should have when, one month before their wedding date, they realized what they really wanted was to return to their true home and elope in Tucson. With a close friend and Ashley’s parents in attendance, Ashley and Matt enjoyed a whirlwind weekend of blooming desert cacti, warm sunshine and chocolate-covered strawberries dipped in agave nectar.