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Their Story
Sometimes the language of love transcends all languages. Marcos and Vickie met through a language exchange website where Vickie was practicing Portuguese and Marcos was practicing French. After a few brief conversations on the site they wound up talking for 5 hours one night and realized they had a ton in common. Besides their obvious love of learning about other cultures, they both have a competitive spirit, are ambitious, have a nice combination of compassion and humor, and love equal parts watching movies and spending time outdoors.
Living on two different continents the majority of their relationship wasn’t easy but they rarely went more than a few days without video calling or messaging each other since they first started talking. “Learning to support each other in a long distance relationship has pushed us to make sure we communicate well, express our feelings and thoughts in a trusting and compassionate manner,” said Vickie.
Since they started dating the couple has travelled together to Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and the coast of Spain on a catamaran. Their love of travel has brought them closer together and they have the attitude that there’s much more to see in life. “We love living and experiencing everything with one another,” said Vickie.
They wanted a ceremony that fit their personalities and were open to new experiences. Feeling like the best experiences happen when you take a leap of faith, they reached out to Cactus Collective to plan their big day! They wanted to focus of the day to be about their future and life together and not “stuff” so the Valley of Fire was a perfect setting for that.
Since they both lived on different continents it was difficult to include everyone in their wedding. They definitely wanted to honor those closest to them though so they had a handful of close friends and family at the ceremony. Vickie was glowing in a strapless dress from BHLDN and they chose lots of white and fresh greens for their florals and decor. All in all it was a gorgeous Valley of Fire ceremony fit for a couple who traversed the globe to be together.
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McKenzi Taylor is America’s go-to elopement and micro wedding expert, often featured in small and major media outlets, such as the New York Times. With over 15 years of wedding photography experience, it was after planning her own Las Vegas elopement in 2016 that McKenzi felt her purpose shift into elopement coordination. She started Cactus Collective Weddings soon after in 2017. Since then, she’s become a WIPA board member, and has helped well over 1000 couples get hitched in style around Las Vegas, San Diego and Black Hills.
