2 brides wore custom outfits to their desert elopement and had a wardrobe change for a photo shoot on horses

Bridgette, 34, works in capital operations in Atlanta, Georgia, and Veronica, 39, is an entrepreneur and founder of the Wild Child Society based in Miami, Florida.

They crossed paths when Veronica was in Atlanta to host a party for a friend and hopped on Tinder.

Luckily, Bridgette downloaded the app at the behest of her brother the same day Veronica was swiping. Veronica "super liked" Bridgette, and they set up a dinner date.

"She held my hand at the end of the date and then I extended my trip," Veronica said. "We just hit it off."

"It was just really effortless," Bridgette said of their connection.

For their second date, Veronica cooked Bridgette an elaborate dinner from her Airbnb, complete with a menu and a playlist of music curated to Bridgette's taste.

They've been together ever since.

The couple had talked about marriage, and Bridgette had never been to Tulum.

So Veronica planned a trip for them with the intention of proposing, inviting Bridgette's sister and some of their friends as well.

She surprised her with a proposal at a villa, complete with fireworks when Bridgette said yes.

"She's such a romantic person," Bridgette said of Veronica when discussing the proposal with Insider.

The Youngs knew they wanted to have a private wedding, particularly because Bridgette wanted their declaration of love to be "intimate," as Veronica put it.

After they decided to elope, Veronica started researching desert destinations for their nuptials.

"Ever since I was a young adult, I just really had this captivation with the desert," Veronica said of what drew them to New Mexico for their wedding.

"I ended up randomly on Google finding this rock formation made of sandstone called Alien Throne," she went on to say, which is in the Ah-Shi-Sleh-Pah Wilderness of New Mexico. "My heart just connected and I was like, 'This is the spot.'"

They set the wedding for May 24, 2022. Veronica acted as the planner and stylist, and Veronica's sister was their only attendee and served as their officiant.

They also hired the photography team Shutterfreek to document the day.

"I knew ever since I was a kid, I'm not a Disney princess," she said of her vision of a wedding. "I didn't want a big hoop, ballroom wedding dress. I didn't want to be in a hotel."

The traditional bridal look wouldn't be a fit for Bridgette either, whose style Veronica described as "fluid androgyny."

"I wanted her to be comfortable, and I wanted to be comfortable," she said. "I wanted to be the rock star that I am and I wanted the wedding to come off as authentically us."

Veronica settled on a "boho, sci-fi, queer, lesbian, chic," style for the wedding, as she told Insider. The decor included silvers, golds, sparkly candles, pastel flowers, and succulents, including decor from Those Days.

Bridgette ended up in an off-white, strapless jumpsuit with an asymmetrical, lace train that added to the bridal feel of the look.

Veronica's flesh-toned dress was form-fitting and covered in crystals, capturing the disco-chic feel of the day.

Veronica customized both looks, so the Youngs' bridal ensembles were completely one-of-a-kind.

"It fit me so perfectly," she said of the jumpsuit designed by her wife. "I think it was super elegant, and I think it represented me well."

"I honestly didn't really wanna be in a dress," she added. "I think it's just so traditional and I like to be different. I like to wear stuff that makes me feel super comfortable."

"I was elegant," she went on to say of the look. "It made me feel like I was in a fairy tale. And with the setting, it really seemed very surreal."

Veronica paired Bridgette's jumpsuit with white boots.

Veronica ordered Bridgette's earrings and statement choker online, both of which elevated the simple and stunning look.

She wore her hair down and carried a bouquet of dried flowers from Eterea.

Lizbeth Ruiz did Veronica and Bridgette's makeup.

Veronica's dress arrived the day before they left for the wedding and fit perfectly, but the color was wrong.

"My dress came in a lighter skin tone," she said. "I used some RIT dye, and I got it down to my skin tone."

"But once I put everything together, all the rhinestones and the glue from it with the dye stuck together," she said.

Bridgette and Veronica had to hand-pull the stones from the fabric without tearing the gown, which was time-consuming and nerve-wracking.

Veronica also ordered separate, larger applique embellishments to be added to the dress, but there was no time to have a seamstress attach them. Luckily, Bridgette knows how to sew and was able to attach them for her bride.

"When we got to New Mexico and were getting our makeup done, I asked my sister to put on my dress," Veronica said. "She's my size and my height. So she puts the dress on and we're literally sewing it to her arms as I'm doing her hair."

"It came down to like the last minute," she said.

Luckily, they managed to finish the dress, and Veronica looked stunning for the ceremony.

The Youngs said their vows at sunrise, which meant the desert was extremely cold.

"She was shivering. Bridgette's whole arm was purple," Veronica said, adding that Bridgette was shaking throughout their ceremony.

"The exchange of vows was just so meaningful," Bridgette said. "And it was just so sweet and compassionate."

"I'm a little softy, even though sometimes I really don't show it," she said.

Veronica also loved the vows, saying she would have cried if it hadn't been so cold.

Bridgette, Veronica, and Veronica's sister had to hike to the ceremony location with their supplies for the wedding.

They ended up forgetting a few things in the car — including the rings and Bridgette's vow book — so Veronica's sister had to go back for it.

But the intimate ceremony was still everything they hoped it would be.

Bridgette and Veronica went to the Tamaya Horse Rehab and Stables in Albuquerque after the ceremony to ride the horses and take more photos.

"I have a background of being an internationally ranked equestrian, and I saw this stable, which is attached to the Hyatt Regency outside of Albuquerque. So I wanted to shoot there," Veronica said.

The hotel approved, so they headed to the stable after the ceremony and did a quick wardrobe change.

The brides posed on horses throughout the shoot.

Veronica customized Bridgette's off-the-shoulder dress, which had a corset-style top and a thigh-high slit.

Veronica opted for a suit for the second half of the day, which had an oversized lapel. She wore the suit with a crop top.

The gown had semi-sheer fabric that gave it a modern edge. The sexy slit was also practical for riding a horse.

Bridgette wore knee-high white boots with the dress, and a garter with a turquoise detail that fit the desert vibe.

"Bridgette's just so effortlessly beautiful that whatever she's in always looks amazing," Veronica said of her wife.

She wore a turquoise bolo tie with the all-white look, which included pants from Maria Queen Maria, as well as white boots.

"I loved my second look," Veronica told Insider. "I loved it so much that I actually tried to keep it on and Bridgette made me change because there was animal hair and dirt and everything on my pants."

Veronica said she particularly loved the blazer, as she loves how blazers make her feel.

Veronica attached decals to both of their shoes.

Hers said "I do," while Bridgette's said "me too."

The small touches Veronica added elevated their looks.

"I like the fact that we complement each other," Veronica said of her and Bridgette's looks.

"The whole thing was an adventure, but the horse-stable shoot was just so much fun," Bridgette said.

Veronica also said she was grateful they were able to work with horses that had been rescued.

"I think it's important to mention a lot of these horses have been abused," she said.

"I'm just happy that he's in a safe environment," she added of her horse.

Both Youngs loved how their photos at the stable turned out as well.

"It was like a weight lifted off of my shoulders as the planner," Veronica said of how she felt toward the end of their wedding day. "I was able to take that hat off and really just be a wife and look forward to the honeymoon."

The couple took a three-week honeymoon so they could enjoy their first few weeks of marriage together to the fullest.

"We live in two separate locations. We are from two different backgrounds. I'm Jamaican, and our culture is so different," Bridgette said. "We have differences, and we just communicate really well."

"We learn and we grow through our communication and our actions, and we've come a long way since we started dating," she went on to say. "We also trust each other. And I feel like if we don't have trust and if you don't communicate, the relationship is going to fall apart."

"Before I met Bridgette, I was a part of many toxic and abusive relationships," she said. "I had so much love to give, and I knew what love shouldn't be, but I just never knew what it could be until I met her."

"For me, I met this person, and they brought out the very best in me and she continues to do so," Veronica went on to say.

"My profits have doubled since she's come into my life," Veronica also said. "I have a better relationship with my mother. I have an amazing relationship with my sister. I have a great relationship with her family. And we have this amazing, healthy bond."

"This is the happiest I've ever been in my entire life," she added. "This is what I've always hoped for and always wanted."

"Everybody is deserving of love," she said. "Everybody can have everything that they ever wanted. It's out there for you, if you're ready to receive it."

"I'm just so grateful that I put in the work to be able to have this relationship," Veronica said. "I just said to the world that I want to find somebody and I'm ready to love. And two weeks later, we matched on Tinder."

"I will never stop trying to make her happy. I will never stop being romantic. I will never stop loving her since the day that I met her, because this is what I've always wanted," she added. "I'm so happy."

You can see more of Shutterfreek's work here.

If you wore an eye-catching wedding dress and want to talk to Insider for a story, get in touch at sgrindell@insider.com.