By Get ready for a classic New York City romance. This isn't Devil Wears Prada, nor is it an episode of Sex and the City—but it comes quite close. That is, before it becomes one of the more sophisticated love stories we've encountered at BAZAAR Bride; one where the couple knows and loves one another so completely that outside influences aren't a priority, and having a wedding with just two guests (the bride and the groom) becomes all that matters.
Fashion publicist Dana Schwartz met fashion photographer Justin Hollar in 2014 in New York City at a downtown bar and restaurant. "When we met, I knew instantly he was going to be an important person in my life. I wouldn’t call it love at first sight, but I knew we had a deep connection," Schwartz recalls. And while it wasn't technically "love at first sight" for Justin either, he remembers her immediate impact on how he looked at the world, despite his spending his entire career figuring out exactly how to capture the world on camera. "I look back on my life before meeting her and it was all just coasting by; she opened my eyes up to how to really enjoy life."
That night, the two shared a kiss—but one you'd discuss over brunch with your girlfriends rather than gush over in a RomCom. "I kissed him in a really awkward way that night we met waiting for our Ubers and honestly wasn’t sure if he thought I was crazy. Turns out he did! But it’s also what he liked about me."
The two are opposites in the best ways; "I don't stop talking and Justin would prefer to listen. I'm high-strung and Justin is always cool. We make each other belly laugh on a daily basis," Dana says. As for the more reserved Justin, he credits Dana with helping him open his mind to new adventures and possibilities: "She’s much more adventurous then I am. I still drag my feet when she’s trying to pry me out of my shell, but there’s not a single moment together that I would take back. She makes me feel like a better version of myself because of it.
Dana and Justin dated for three years before he proposed. As Justin tells it, "I took Dana back to Parrot Cay in Turks & Caicos—it was the first real trip we took together as a couple when we first started dating. I had the ring in the pocket of my bathing suit the whole day, waiting for a moment that felt right (which added to my nerves!) At low tide, you can walk very far out into the middle of the ocean, and on top of a sandbar I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She repeated “are you serious!?” several times before I had to remind her that I couldn’t stand up until she gave me her answer." Justin popped the question with a ring that belonged to his mother, a platinum diamond band, which "has a lot of sentimental value."
Like their proposal, the couple decided that their wedding should also include a trip, and be just the two of them. And while their plan was originally to elope and follow their private ceremony with a more formal reception in New York, they ended up simply eloping, making the moment sentimental and meaningful wherever opportunity allowed. "We had decided on the date of 3/13; my birthday is on the 31st and Justin’s is the 13th. It was the joining of both dates," says the bride.
As for the location of their ceremony, "We wanted it to be somewhere very unique and special," Dana explained. "We both love the desert, and so it felt very fitting to get married somewhere in the Southwest. We emailed Amangiri 6 weeks out, on the off-chance they had availability. They had one room left. We decided to make a mini road trip out of it so stopped along the way and camped just outside Zion National Park for two nights before making our way to the hotel."
While you can take the fashion publicist and photographer out of the city, the two couldn't help but channel their strong suits when it came to planning their private event. Dana and Justin spent the day before their ceremony hiking and driving on Amangiri's 600 acres of previously designated national park, hoping to scout the perfect location for their ceremony. We [came across] a little hilltop of a mesa, with some of the most expansive views we had ever seen, and decided that was it," she says. After a rehearsal dinner of room service and Champagne, the hotel accommodated the couple's desire to get married on property on March 13th, overlooking the rocks and desert of Antelope Canyon.
"The morning of, we took some photos with our photographer, Shlomi Amiga, and when it was getting close to sunset, went out to the mesa and participated in a traditional Navajo sand ceremony. We both have very clear memories of it, which I think is unique when you elope or don’t have anyone else there—and we’re both very grateful to have been able to be so present," says the bride.
And while a big, over-the-top event with all their friends and family wasn't key to this couple's wedding, the fashion certainly was. Dana wore a skirt by Lanvin and a top by Victoria Beckham, both which she bought online a month before heading to Utah.
"I had an amazing tailor who basically had to work nights and weekends to get it done in time," she remembers. "I knew I wanted separates for the ceremony—we were going to be out in the dessert and it felt more casual to me. The skirt was full and romantic, which was something I had envisioned, and the top was simple and fitted with a bell sleeve."
Dana paired her top and skirt with "Old Celine shoes" she already owned; "they had the right heel shape to walk and climb all those desert hills," she said. She accessorized the look with pearl earrings and a pearl bracelet, which she borrowed from her mother, and did her own hair and makeup. On her beauty look, Dana explained: "It was my usual, just more of it."
Justin wore a Tom Ford suit, paired with an Acne shirt. He decided to skip the tie. The two exchanged matching Cartier yellow gold wedding rings in front of expansive views, and each other.
Despite it being just the two of them, the couple's reception was as romantically staged and artfully planned as it would have been for a larger group, albeit infinitely more intimate. "After the ceremony, we had dinner set up on a private patio, under the stars, overlooking the desert, lit by tons of candles. The stars in Utah are like nothing we had ever seen. The air was so still—it was completely quiet and serene except for the occasional bunny that would visit us under the table."
As for their wedding dinner, "A large amount of champagne was consumed followed by a dinner of local grilled seafood, vegetables, and homemade bread. Dessert was 'make your own' ice cream sundaes."
When asked to remember their elopement and solo celebration, both Justin and Dana admit they wouldn't change a thing about their decision to elope—from where they wed to the evening they shared. Dana admitted, "At one point during dinner, Justin looked over at me and said 'right now we’d be running around asking everyone if they had gotten enough to eat, making sure they were having a good time blah blah blah…I’m so glad we get to enjoy the evening just the two of us.'"
After their wedding, Dana and Justin mailed postcards from the local post office to their family and friends—with the news with the phrase "Wish You Were Here" emblazoned on the front—"to let everyone know we were thinking of them." The two plan to honeymoon in Tanzania and Zanzibar next year; "my mum lived in Tanzania when she was a kid and I have always wanted to visit," Dana says.
As for their marriage, the two describe their compatibility as a wedded couple in an almost identical fashion as they did their meet-cute: "There is an ease between us, but also enough fire to keep it interesting. Our differences play well together and our similarities and belief systems align where it matters."
Carrie Goldberg is HarpersBAZAAR.com’s Weddings & Travel Director. She oversees the site’s BAZAAR Bride channel, travel & dining content, and styles fashion and bridal editorials for BAZAAR.com. When she’s not traveling, she spends her free time in her hometown–New York City–where there is no shortage of new places to shop, eat, drink, see and explore.
