At once modern and rugged, elegant and understated, this intimate Amangiri elopement is proof that creating beautiful designs in the most remote places is always well worth it.
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Our Top Joshua Tree Wedding Venues
Set in the valley between Los Angeles and the Joshua Tree desert, Palm Springs is the perfect location for an upscale, modern affair.
When we think of Joshua Tree, we think of minimalist luxury. The arid desert landscape is the perfect naked backdrop to create tablescapes, ceremony designs, and intimate elopement settings that are more unique, more intricate than you ever imagined. We love designing against the stark, wide-open desert landscape of Joshua Tree. It’s the perfect place for the setting to fall away and bring what really matters into focus: two people celebrating a union in a wild, open setting that’s ready to invite your next big adventure.
Whether you’re looking for a remote, off-grid experience or a modern and timeless affair, Joshua Tree is the destination for a luxury wedding or an intimate elopement. We love designing intimate, upscale celebrations in the California desert, and here are our favorite Joshua Tree wedding venues.
Le Chacuel
This luxury eight acre property is one of our favorite wedding venues in Joshua Tree. This modern desert home is set in nature, but it doesn’t comprise on high-end comforts and destination hotel amenities. Inside, the space boasts floor to ceiling glass sliding doors that open up to views of Pipes Canyon canyon, and the minimalist, high-end terrazzo materials and smooth finishes throughout make this place one of understated beauty in nature. Outside, the property features a streamlined salt water pool, a hot tub, a luxury outdoor shower and a deck with unrivaled views rolling mountains filled wild cacti and thousands of Joshua trees.
Picture yourself stepping out on the sprawling porch to bask in nature as you write your vows, then spend your morning poolside as you enjoy breakfast from the venue’s in-house chef. Trust us, this is the ultimate setting for a luxury destination wedding in Joshua Tree.
Ma Sa Ya Desert Ranch
Set on seven acres of sprawling desert, the Ma Sa Ya Desert Ranch is an exclusive hideaway nestled the foothills of Joshua Tree National Park. This unique Joshua Tree wedding venue is designed in complete harmony with nature, creating the ideal setting for desert-obsessed brides. Our favorite details include a cedar hot tub, and infrared sauce and a full kitchen complete with a private chef.
Imagine starting your day swaying in a hammock under the desert sky before saying your vows on a remote, private property in Joshua Tree before you unwind under the star-studded sky. Trust us, it doesn’t get any more iconic than this for an intimate Joshua Tree destination wedding.
The Ruin Venue
If you’re searching for a venue that blends old world charm with modern design, the Ruin Venue is a must-see Joshua Tree wedding venue. This understated desert property near Pioneertown is the ideal place to celebrate a high-class desert wedding before you jet off into the weekend to catch live music at Red Dog Saloon or Pappy + Harriets.
We love that this venue offers several unique ceremony locations. Say “I Do” in an outdoor aisle leading up to Joshua Tree rock formations (just imagine finding a singular backdrop that doesn’t already have throngs of tourists!). Or enjoy dining under the stars in a unique canopy set in the sprawling Joshua Tree estate. Either way, the Ruin House is a stunning AirBnb and Joshua Tree wedding venue that we love.
Seven Arches
If you’re drawn to traditional, stucco desert design, Seven Arches is an ideal Joshua Tree wedding venue. This curated desert oasis created by the Co-Host Company offers all the comforts of a modern space plus a cowboy hot tub, hammocks, luxe products, and an outdoor dining space to get to know one another.
Whether you’re preparing to dust off your corn hole skills and dazzle other guests at cocktail hour or maybe you’re searching for a chance ahead to storm the troops. Either way, be prepared to step into a world apart, the world-renowned Joshua Tree destination wedding at Seven Arches.
The Joshua Tree House
An exercise in intentional desert living, The Joshua Tree House is a design and lifestyle destination perfectly suited for desert weddings in Joshua Tree. Their Southern California property include a main house and a casita, two dwellings that showcase art from local Joshua Tree artists. Immerse yourself in desert living by wandering the halls filled with abstract paintings from Joshua Tree locals, eat breakfast on ceramics from Yucca Valley artisans, and site at a table carved by local woodworkers.
For couples who love intentional desert design, The Joshua Tree House is the perfect intimate venue for a destination wedding in Joshua Tree. Every detail from the native Mojave plants to the natural desert materials makes this home an unparalleled design experience that will have you celebrating like a local for your elopement weekend in Joshua Tree.
Ready to start planning your dream wedding? Hit us up!
Our Top Five Palm Springs Wedding Venues
Set in the valley between Los Angeles and the Joshua Tree desert, Palm Springs is the perfect location for an upscale, modern affair.
When we think of Palm Springs, we envision picturesque resorts, poolside cabanas, and vintage luxury. Set in the valley between Los Angeles and the Joshua Tree desert, Palm Springs is the perfect location for an upscale, modern affair that gives you the best of both worlds. Enjoy modernist architecture designed for celebrities or spend your morning watching the sun rise over Indio Valley. Either way, we think Palm Springs is the perfect muse for a luxury wedding. We love designing intimate, upscale celebrations in the California desert, and here are our favorite Palm Springs wedding venues.
Korakia Pensione
Brimming with romance and international flair, Korakia Pensione is unlike any other Palm Springs wedding venue. This resort holds two worlds: on one side of the street, immerse yourself in a Mediterranean-style resort. Across the way, you’ll find ornate, Moroccan-inspired architecture and details. Throughout the whole 1.5 acre property, you’ll find bungalows, gardens, pools, and courtyards that fold in to each other to create a wedding-ready oasis in the California desert.
Picture yourself writing your vows on a Moroccan daybed before you meet your spouse-to-be in a grove of citrus tree, then spend the evening underneath the stars in a courtyard filled with bougainvillea, celebrating with your closet loved ones. With outdoor event space for up to 130 people, Korakia offers an intimate and dramatic setting for destination weddings in Palm Springs.
Sands Hotel & Spa
Located in the affluent and exclusive Indian Wells community, the Sands Hotel & Spa is a designer hotel and a boutique Palm Springs wedding venue. This hotel venue blends Mid-Century and Morocco aesthetics, creating the perfect, versatile backdrop for curated, luxury weddings. Our favorite details include striking rose colored walls, bold arched doors, and unrivaled views of the San Jacinto mountains.
Imagine saying your vows with a dramatic desert rose colored backdrop, framed by ancient olive trees. Then enjoy a reception in the Pink Cabana – a mid-century-inspired restaurant space with floor to ceiling glass doors that open onto a patio with modern fire pits & beautiful desert views.
Two Bunch Palms
If you’re searching for a venue that blends sustainable design with desert amenities, Two Bunch Palms is a must-see Palm Springs wedding venue. This contemporary wellness destination is tucked in a private, off-the-beaten-track area of Palm Springs, making it the perfect location for a modern escape and a unique wedding.
We love that this venue offers several unique ceremony locations. The outdoor amphitheater is perfect for an understated, deconstructed design; the yoga dome is a celestial space with endless possibilities. The glass house is an intimate space for small ceremonies; the pond area is a flexible space perfect for ceremonies, dinners, or cocktail hours.
Ace Hotel Swim Club
If you’re drawn to Palm Spring’s vintage aesthetic, the Ace Hotel Swim Club is an ideal wedding venue. This mid-century modern desert oasis offers all the comforts of a modern hotel plus two big pools, a vintage photobooth, guest rooms with record players, communal fire places, and so much more.
Whether you’re dreaming of a playful, poolside ceremony or a unique celebration in a bar area straight out of the late 60’s and early 70’s, the Ace Hotel Swim Club transports you to a time-gone-by experience. We love designing in Ace Hotel spaces across the country, and we’d love to help bring your Palm Springs event at the Ace Hotel to life!
Arrive
An intimate hotel with 32 guest rooms, a poolside restaurant, and impeccable design, ARRIVE Palm Springs is the perfect venue for a weekend wedding celebration in the desert. This ARRIVE hotel is located in the Uptown Design district, making it the perfect destination for couples who love experiencing the best food, drinks, culture, and design that Palm Springs has to offer.
Every detail from the design-driven rooms to the contempt poolside cabanas creates a contemporary, desert oasis. We guarantee your guests won’t want to leave this modernist space, so we recommend buying out the space for the weekend to curate a luxe destination wedding weekend in Palm Springs.
Ready to start planning your dream wedding? Hit us up!
Wonder Valley Hot Springs, Joshua Tree, CA
Styled Wedding Shoot
At Mae&Co Creative, we believe in setting trends and challenging conventions. And for this chic Palm Springs elopement, we loved debunking the myth that minimalist can’t equal luxury while setting a few of our favorite 2021 wedding trends.
When you opt for a simple, minimalist wedding or elopement, that doesn’t mean you have to scrimp on the details. We believe minimalism and luxury design go hand-in-hand. When you remove big ticket items like a live band, cocktail hour, over the top props and decor, every remaining detail matters. Every design choice stands out so much more, everything from the location to the tablescape colors become intentional parts of your elopement or wedding day.
And for this luxury Palm Springs elopement, we loved designing a ceremony arch and an intimate reception tablescape that complemented the surrounding neutral desert elements while finding textures that would contrast against the valley view. We worked in tandem with Good Seed Floral to build an arch with dried florals and palms to amplify the arid desert setting, while simultaneously incorporating soft, fresh blooms like orchids and roses to bring a soft contrast to the stark desert backdrop.
We loved designing this modern desert wedding, as the sprawling desert setting is the perfect place to elevate trend-setting wedding style details. This year, we’re calling a design trend forecast with puff sleeves, black and whites, and tablecloths in place of farm tables. And you better believe these style choices fit perfectly with this timeless Palm Springs elopement. The bride’s lace puffed sleeves in her Willow by Watters gown added another soft texture to contrast the harsh desert landscape, and the ochre tablecloth for the modern reception design added color and movement as the bride and groom sat together to toast their union and celebrate their dream desert wedding.
You can have a simple and luxurious elopement in the desert, trust us. And if you’re planning to ditch a traditional wedding and elope, make sure you go big and do it exactly how you want to. Bring us along for the ride, you won’t regret it.
Venue: Wonder Valley Hot Springs
Design, styling and coordination: Mae&Co Creative
Photo and Video: Karra Leigh Photo
Florals: Good Seed Floral
Dress: Willow By Watters
Hair and Makeup: Peony Blush Makeup and Styled By Jordan
If you’re interested in how Mae&Co can make your day extra special and unique to you, we’d love to hear from you
Top 5 Desert Wedding Venues
We love a desert venue. As destination wedding planners, we’ve travelled all over the globe to design and style elopements and celebrations, but we have a special place in our heart for modern desert weddings. We love the vastness of the desert. We love the way the moon rises to create a canvas between the earth and sky - it’s the perfect backdrop for a unique, luxury wedding. We love the versatility of the desert, too, as the textures and landscapes inspire different designs based on the venue, location, couple, etc. So whether you’re planning a luxurious, sophisticated party for 200 guests or a small, minimalist celebration for two, here are our top five places for an intimate and bougie desert wedding.
Amangiri
Amangiri is a 5 star, luxury resort that lies within 600-acres of private desert wilderness in Southern Utah. The modern and simplistic architecture of this hotel venue features clean lines, natural materials and uninterrupted views of the surrounding desert and mesas. But Amangiri is more than a luxury hotel, it’s a staggering landscape of canyons, mesas, mountains, and desert with so many unique locations, and every wedding we create in this space is a unique, one-of-a-kind experience.
If you’re seeking adventure, this venue offers unparalleled access to slot canyons hikes, desert helicopter rides, and unlimited exploration. But if you prefer a bougie retreat, you’ll love the multi-course meals and state of the art spa facilities. We love that there’s truly something for everyone at Amangiri - with luxurious, private rooms, full service spa amenities and privileged access to National Parks and Lake Powell guests of Amangiri experience the convenience of a high-end hotel with easy access to speciality guided adventures. An added bonus? The staff at Amangiri will do anything and everything to ensure your stay at the resort is absolutely unforgettable and bespoke.
Click here to read more about Amangiri weddings, designed by Mae&Co creative
Images from Laurken Kendall
Willow House
The Willow House is a modern desert retreat, located on 250 acres of private land and boasting stunning, unobstructed views of the beautiful Chisos Mountain Range. The clean lines and muted tones of the building blend into the vast surrounding desert - at Willow House, the design options are truly endless.
This desert wedding venue feels unique. Set in Terlingua just outside Big Bend National Park, the venue boasts access to some of the state’s largest ocotillo plants and some of the most colorful floral and fauna in Texas. Yet the brutalist style casitas evoke a neutral, modern feeling, perfect for a contemporary desert wedding. With 11 unique casitas on the property and a modern gourmet kitchen, the Willow House is the perfect place for a weekend-long wedding celebration with your closest friends and family. And with a new patio structure in progress, this desert wedding venue promises to be one of the most under-the-radar boutique hotels in 2021.
Click here to read more about our most recent wedding at the Willow House, designed by Mae&Co Creative
Images from Karra Leigh Photo
Under Canvas
With locations all across the United States, Under Canvas offers adventurous couples the perfect place for a bohemian-inspired wedding. While each Under Canvas glamping wedding venue lets you experience the great outdoors with modern comforts, every location is unique. We love the desert Under Canvas locations in Moab, Grand Canyon, Zion, and Lake Powell where you enjoy can luxurious, safari-style canvas accommodations with unparalleled access to nearby national parks.
If you’re inspired by the American Southwest, we have endless design ideas for Under Canvas Zion: a haven located upon 196-acres of remote desert terrain, surrounded by views of soaring sandstone cliffs and majestic red rock. And if you love adventure, we think you’ll love Under Canvas Lake Powell-Grand Staircase: this location is perched on a Canyon Rim Plateau with easy access to Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, and Glen Canyon, the Lake Powell Marina and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Park. Regardless of which Under Canvas location you choose, we promise these venues are the perfect mixture of high-end comfort and big-time adventure.
Images from Dawn Photo
Casa Santal
Located just outside of Joshua Tree National Park, Casa Santal is a modern, desert paradise. Designed as an artist’s retreat on a bluff overlooking a valley of Joshua Trees, this minimalist home boasts panoramic views from every angle. If you value Wabi Sabi design aesthetics, we can’t think of a better place for you to tie the knot in a place that marries love of design and nature.
Casa Santal caters to high-end, desert elopements with options for a private chef, yoga and massage offerings to help you enjoy the space and relax and feel pampered. We love the sexy, luxe feel of this Joshua Tree desert venue, and we think this is the perfect place enjoy some of the best views in the Mojave Desert. With canyon views, a large deck, and a shaded pergola, this venue has so many options for a unique ceremony space that will allow you and your guests to celebrate and enjoy the scenery.
Image from Anni Graham
The Joshua Tree House Tucson
The Joshua Tree House in Tucson, also known as the Posada House, is a 5 suite inn bordering the west side of Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ. Situated on 38 acres of land with a forest of Saguaro cactus, native plants, and an abundance of wildlife this is a space to reflect, reset, and create.
Each suite has its own unique feel. And when you book all of the suites for this Arizona desert hotel venue, you have access to a chef's kitchen, pool, rooftop lounge, yoga room, dining patio, fire pit, and living room with a projector, in case you want to end your wedding celebration with a movie night. This venue is perfect for off-beat desert brides who are ready to throw the party of the century. And trust us, we’re the team you want to have by your side to bring this bash to life.
Images from JTH Tucson