Cynthia and John had wedding plans destroyed by COVID. They were supposed to get married in 2020 in Flagstaff, AZ at a church, but it was cancelled. And in the long run, despite the heartache, they were grateful their wedding turned out like it did. Cynthia grew up at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. She returned there to work dispatch at the Grand Canyon airport. John is a commercial pilot. One day he was flying into Grand Canyon airport and spoke to a woman through dispatch. The woman was Cynthia. Shortly after, they met face to face in the airport and John was struck by her beauty. Eventually they saw each other in the airport again, exchanged SnapChats, shared pizza on the rim at sunset, and the rest is history. You can’t make this stuff up.

After their original wedding was cancelled, they decided to reschedule with a smaller wedding. The new plan was to fly from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon with John as pilot. The day of the wedding was extremely windy, so we decided to head to the Flagstaff airport to take photos and video with John’s plane, and then drive to the Grand Canyon. I was a little disappointed not to be flying there, but after seeing the size of the plane and feeling the 40-50 mile an hour gusts, I was just fine with the decision— especially after Cynthia told me she even gets sick when it’s that windy.

We drove together to the South Rim, picked up a pizza at We Cook, the same place they shared pizza from on their first date, and headed to a fabulous viewpoint. We met officiant Jen Paul from Life Passages, along with photographer Dalaney Mason (a fab Prescott based photographer).

The ceremony was intimate and lovely with gorgeous views. After the ceremony, Cynthia’s favorite bird, a California condor, flew over us. I’ve been to the Grand Canyon countless times, and this was my first time seeing one at the south rim. It really felt meant to be- magic.

Full film above, preview below. BTS photos from Dalaney Mason.