Alexis & Jordan

When Alexis Santana and Jordan Price first met, it was as teenagers at a high school party. Alexis was introduced to Jordan as she was leaving and both were “instantly smitten,” she says, smiling. “We ended up sitting in the same La-Z-Boy all night and talked about anything and everything.” A couple of days later, Jordan tracked down her phone number—“and the rest is history,” Alexis says.

There were, of course, many years in between filled with college and early adulting, but their relationship persisted and grew and Jordan, a CAD designer, decided to propose to Alexis at her 30th birthday celebration in New York City.

Alexis, an environmental specialist, had long held a dream of ice-skating at Rockefeller Center, so Jordan planned to surprise her not just with ice-skating—but a ring too. By the time Alexis realized what was happening, Jordan was already on one knee with the rest of the skaters and onlookers cheering them on.

Since both Jordan and Alexis have a passion for the environment and greenspace, they knew that they wanted a place that was in the woods, could accommodate all their guests on-site, and allow their goldendoodle, Ginger, to be a guest. “I honestly think we manifested our perfect venue,” says Jordan of Camp Hidden Valley in White Hall. “We wanted our guests to reconnect with nature. Everyone was able to walk around to everyone else’s cabins and sit by the fire at nighttime,” he says.

Camp Hidden Valley also worked perfectly with Alexis’ boho aesthetic and love of earth tones. “We were inspired by nature,” she says. Also, since they would financially be doing much of the heavy lifting for their $15,000 budget, the venue seemed like the perfect space for a DIY wedding. Alexis used dry and fake flowers for the ceremony site, the bouquets, boutonnieres, and even the flowers in her hair, and there were already twinkle lights strung everywhere.

They were also intentional in not overplanning their wedding day. “We left time for us to just be together for 30 minutes before the reception and it was so amazing,” she says. “We both really felt like we enjoyed every second of our wedding and that we remained present and appreciative. People always say how fast the day goes but we really felt like we experienced it in slow motion.”   

The highlight, though, was the ease with which guests could transition from ceremony to cocktail hour to reception and then finally the after-party—which consisted of all their guests hanging around a campfire and singing karaoke. “It was truly a wonderful time,” says Alexis.

And Ginger, of course, had the best day ever. “She was part of the dance floor all night and there were some beautiful candid photos taken from her perspective throughout the day that we will cherish forever.”