An Intimate Surprise Wedding at a Private Residence in Paradise Valley, Arizona

On Joslyn Davis and Chris Risi’s wedding day, the first words their officiating pastor spoke were, "Dearly beloved, we are here today... thanks to The Amazing Race!" The line was well received with a boom of laughter by the intimate group of guests at Scottsdale Bible Church in Chris' hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona; but truthfully, the couple did meet, perhaps in the most "LA" of ways – thanks to a reality show.

Four years ago, Joslyn was selected to participate on the CBS show. During her time competing, she struck up a close friendship with one of the casting directors, Jodi Wincheski, who said she had a guy she wanted to set Joslyn up with. Joslyn was all in and thankfully, Chris was, too. A few weeks later, when the show was wrapped and everyone was home in LA, Jodi arranged a large group hangout on a hike at Franklin Canyon in Beverly Hills. There were a handful of guys on the hike (Chris' business partners at time), so it took Joslyn about 30 minutes to even figure out who Chris was. And from there, it was history.

Fast forward almost four years later, and Chris took Joslyn back to the very same spot they met for the first time – Franklin Canyon – for a dawn hike. And that's where he proposed in April of 2019.

Chris and Joslyn knew they wanted a very short engagement, and Joslyn had always loved the concept of doing a surprise wedding. With the help and leadership of one of their best friends and seasoned wedding planner, Brianna Noland, Chris and Joslyn jumped right in to planning the big (surprise) day. Scottsdale was a natural choice, because it's Chris' hometown and a place the couple had spent quite a lot of special time while dating.

After sending out what looked like save the date invitations to a very vague party, the surprise was off and running. Guests were asked to kindly arrive at 2 p.m. to a residential address in Paradise Valley, Arizona. When they arrived to attend the vague celebratory party, they were immediately put on buses and whisked off to Scottsdale Bible Church for the ceremony.

Chris and Joslyn opted to have a wedding party of only two flower girls – their grandmothers, who absolutely stole the show. Every detail of the ceremony was personal, with their brothers playing the instrumental music, Joslyn's uncle singing The Lord's Prayer, and one of Chris' dearest friends singing as well.

After the ceremony, guests returned to original pick-up location at Chris' parent's private residence, which doubled as the reception location. It was important to Chris and Joslyn that the reception was more of a party atmosphere and less of a sit-down affair, which is why they opted for a live string quartet and a live band. There was also a curated menu of their favorite foods and drinks, complete with a churro bar and custom skinny spicy margaritas. As a whimsical touch, there were nods to lobsters throughout the event. The reason being because lobsters mate for life.

At the close of the night, the band played Chris and Joslyn out of the party. And one last surprise was awaiting guests as they exited: Chris arranged to have his all-time favorite breakfast burrito spot deliver burritos for all.

For their honeymoon, the newlyweds enjoyed an epic adventure in Africa.