After sharing glances across the classroom at massage therapy school, Samantha and Troy finally worked up to sharing actual words and quickly found themselves head over heels.

A bit of time and an engagement later, the couple couldn’t picture their dream wedding day anywhere else but Puerto Rico.

“It was important to me,” says Samantha, “to celebrate such an important day true to my Puerto Rican roots, on the island. Puerto Rico holds a very special place in both of our hearts. We loved that for those very intimate moments, only our closest family and friends would be there.”

Being spiritual people, Samantha and Troy were drawn to the idea of creating a sacred, peaceful ceremony space. But, without the help of professionals, being able to fully relax into their destination wedding would be difficult, to say the least. Enter elopement specialists: Traci and Bill, a husband and wife team who offer everything from photography services to planning and handling the logistics of an adventurous elopement.

“We had very little planned out and Traci and Bill just completely organized our lives,” the couple says. “They handled everything and make it look (to us) like it was seamless, but we were informed about the roadblocks as they occurred.”

Luckily, there weren’t too many roadblocks to Samantha and Troy’s dream day. The only challenge was the lack of direct flights from Michigan to Puerto Rico.

“So flights were pretty long,” the bride says. “Also, my dad had a flight delay that caused his luggage to be misplaced. He had to attend the ceremony in clothes he bought at Walmart the night before the wedding. It didn’t end up being a big thing at all though!”

On the day of Samantha and Troy’s intimate ceremony, their sacred space came together quite nicely, using herbs, crystals, and a few other items brought from home. Plus, having an intimate crowd made up of everyone near and dear to the couple’s hearts sweetened the deal (while saving them a nice chunk of change).

“Having a traditional wedding is on average 20,000. Even with all of our expenses, Airbnb, plane tickets ext. we didn’t even spend half that,” the couple says.

In order to celebrate with everyone who wasn’t in Puerto Rico, the couple threw a little shindig at home with a food truck and DIY decor.

“The destination was so much more intimate,” Samantha says. “You get actual time with your partner instead of spending a night pleasing and entertaining people. We prefer that a million times over and would give that advice to anyone who asked.”

Want a wedding like Samanth and Troy’s? They say the trick is to not rush the process in order to have time to think through each and every detail of the biggest day of your lives!

Vendors: Photographer/Planner: Traci and Bill of Adventure & Vow; Ceremony/Reception Site: Rio Grande Airbnb; Groom’s clothing designer: H&M