Check your date

Big Sur · and wherever you run to

Just the two of you, and the flowers.

Cosmos, lupine, poppies · May · the bluff

Elopement flowers by Hollis, made at dawn on the tailgate of her truck out of whatever is blooming where you’re headed. The coast, the redwoods, the Sierra, the desert.

Elopement flowers from $450$150 holds your dateCheck your date

A couple on a Big Sur bluff above the sea, the bride holding a wild bouquet of cosmos, lupine and poppies
  1. An alpine lake at dawn with a small ceremony set on the shoreThe lake, 6 am
  2. A couple walking through a golden meadowThe meadow
  3. A wild bouquet left on a wooden benchLeft on the bench

★★★★★ 5.0 from 74 couples 212 elopements since 2017 Leave no trace, always

Flowers

Three ways to run away with flowers.

Small on purpose. One bouquet made with care beats forty centerpieces made in a hurry.

  • Just the bouquet$450

    A wild bouquet and a matching boutonniere, made that morning out of what’s blooming where you are. I hand them to you at the trailhead.

    • Bouquet and one boutonniere
    • Wired for wind, holds 8 hours out of water
    • Within 60 miles of Big Sur, no travel fee

  • The bouquet and the spot$950

    Everything above, plus flowers where you say your vows: a low meadow on the rocks, two posies on a log, a garland on the tailgate. I set it, then carry every stem out.

    • Bouquet, boutonniere and a hair piece
    • Ceremony flowers, set and cleared
    • Pressed petals mailed to you a month later

  • Hollis comes along$1,800

    For a day with two or three stops. I follow you in the truck with buckets, refresh the flowers between places and build each spot as you get there.

    • Flowers for up to three locations
    • Travel anywhere in California included
    • Up to twelve guests, a posy each

Further than 60 miles from Big Sur, a flat travel fee by place (see where I go). Extra boutonnieres $25, a flower crown $85, a posy for a mother or a witness $40.

Places

Where couples ran to lately.

Every frame is a real morning: the place, the month, and what was in the bouquet.

  • The redwoods, Mendocino, March: White ranunculus, sword fern, sweet woodruff

    The redwoods, MendocinoMarch · White ranunculus, sword fern, sweet woodruff

  • Joshua Tree, November: Palm spear, pampas, desert marigold

    Joshua TreeNovember · Palm spear, pampas, desert marigold

  • Yosemite Valley, June: Lupine, yarrow, meadow grasses

    Yosemite ValleyJune · Lupine, yarrow, meadow grasses

  • Lake Tahoe, January: Ranunculus, cedar, sugar pine cones

    Lake TahoeJanuary · Ranunculus, cedar, sugar pine cones

  • Point Reyes, October: Coffee berry, rust dahlias, coastal sage

    Point ReyesOctober · Coffee berry, rust dahlias, coastal sage

  • The bluff, Big Sur, April: One poppy, sage and oat grass

    The bluff, Big SurApril · One poppy, sage and oat grass

  • An alpine lake, Eastern Sierra, August: Garden roses, sweet peas, willow

    An alpine lake, Eastern SierraAugust · Garden roses, sweet peas, willow

  • Carmel Valley, July: Cosmos, chamomile, wild oats

    Carmel ValleyJuly · Cosmos, chamomile, wild oats

Hollis wrapping the stems of a wild bouquet with terracotta ribbon on the tailgate
The tailgate, 5:20 am

The morning

How it goes, from the call to the last stem.

  1. Two weeks before
    The call

    Twenty minutes on the phone. What you’re wearing, where you’re standing, which way the wind blows there, and the colors you can’t stop looking at.

  2. The day before, 3 pm
    The cut

    I cut from my patch in the canyon and pick up from two growers in Watsonville. Everything rests overnight in cold water in the barn.

  3. 4:50 am
    The trailhead

    I meet you in the truck. Your bouquet is built on the tailgate while you watch, matched to the dress you actually have on.

  4. After the vows
    Nothing left behind

    Every stem, ribbon and twist tie goes home with me. A month later, a little envelope of your pressed petals comes in the mail.

Hollis

Hi, I’m Hollis. I bring the flowers in a truck.

I grew up on a cattle ranch in Carmel Valley, the kid who came home with her pockets full of seed heads. After college I spent six years with a big wedding florist in San Francisco, building forty-table receptions in hotel ballrooms. I loved the flowers and I hated the vans.

In the spring of 2017 my sister eloped on a bluff off Highway 1 with eleven minutes of sun between two fog banks. I made her bouquet that morning on the tailgate of our dad’s old pickup, out of poppies and lupine from the side of the road. Driving home I knew that was the job.

The truck is a pale green 1979 that I named Juniper. She has a cooler where the spare tire used to be and has been to Joshua Tree eleven times. I grow about a third of what I use on a terraced patch behind our cabin in Palo Colorado Canyon.

Hollis

Hollis, the florist behind Wild & Eloped, on a bluff in Big Sur with a bouquet
  • 212elopements since 2017
  • 1979pickup, named Juniper
  • ⅓of the flowers grown in the canyon
  • 0floral foam, ever

5.0 from 74 couples.

  • “The wind took my veil. The bouquet didn’t lose a single poppy.”

    Mae and Tomas · Big Sur, May

  • “She drove seven hours to the desert for a ceremony with no guests, and treated it like the biggest wedding of her year.”

    Jordan and Ellis · Joshua Tree, November

  • “Eleven degrees and snow, and the ranunculus looked better than we did. She packed out every scrap.”

    Ren and Dev · Lake Tahoe, January

Where

Home is Big Sur. The truck goes further.

© OpenStreetMap contributors
Home base: Palo Colorado Canyon, Big Sur No travel fee within 60 miles Open the map

PlaceDriveTravel

  • The Big Sur coastHomeIncluded
  • Carmel, Monterey, Carmel Valley45 minIncluded
  • Santa Cruz, Pinnacles1 h 40$100
  • Point Reyes and the Marin coast3 h 30$250
  • Yosemite Valley, the Eastern Sierra4 h 30$350
  • Mendocino and the redwoods5 h 30$400
  • Lake Tahoe5 h 30$400
  • Joshua Tree and the desert7 h$450

Further than that? Oregon’s coast, southern Utah, and once, Iceland. Ask, and I’ll quote the drive or the flight.

Questions

Before you run.

How do I hold my date?

Pick your date below and pay the $150 deposit ($300 for a day with me along). The date is yours from then on, the deposit comes off the total, and the rest is due a week before.

Can I bring flowers into a state or national park?

Yes, a bouquet and small ceremony flowers are fine. Parks ask that nothing is left behind: no thrown petals, no rice, no seeds dropped on the trail. I build without floral foam or stakes and carry every stem out. Your ceremony permit is yours to get, and I’ll tell you which office to call.

What if the fog rolls in, or it rains?

On this coast it often does. We pick a second spot on the call, the bouquet is wired for wind, and there’s a cooler in the truck. A bouquet holds eight hours out of water, so we can wait out a squall.

Can you ship a bouquet instead?

No. Every bouquet is made the morning of, out of what’s in season and in the truck, and handed to you. If you’re far away, I come to you.

What flowers will I get?

What’s blooming where you are. Spring is poppies and lupine, summer is cosmos and sweet peas, fall is dahlias and coffee berry, winter is ranunculus and cedar. Tell me colors, not names, and trust the season.

How small is an elopement?

The two of you, or up to twelve people. Past that you’re throwing a wedding, and I’ll happily send you to a friend who does those.

Book

Check your date. $150 holds it.

I take one elopement a day, so sunrise in May and October goes early. Pick yours, and I’ll text you the same day to ask where you’re headed.

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