This lovely Monday morning, we thought you could use a bit of a kick start – so here is a darling wedding AND a fabulous day after shoot by Sloan Photographers all wrapped up in one pretty little post. Not a bad way to get the day going, right? An intimate ceremony and reception filled to the brim with darling details, an adorable couple, and gorgeous images from their snowy day after-shoot – ahhh, if only every Monday could start out this lovely. For even more, be sure to check out the full gallery.
From the Bride…We wanted to have a really casual, intimate affair, so we picked a venue that we could have both our ceremony and reception at, and that would provide us the intimate feel that we were looking for. It was perfect, the perfect location, and just the right amount of room to make it feel cozy. The space was already just what we had wanted, from the color of the walls, to the wood beamed pergola on the balcony, and enormous sets of steel doors.
For the Ceremony our florist created a birch arch that had intertwined white hydrangea, and hanging bell glass jars. He hung some of the bell glass jars in the trees surrounding the area, and lined the bridge that led to the park with candles in vases filled with brown beans. We married outdoors in a small park that was just a short walk across the way. It was a lot colder than we thought it was going to be, so my aunt and cousins picked up gloves and blankets for our guests at target the night before the wedding! They turned out to be super cute additions to our already beautiful decor.
For the reception we chose the most beautiful long wooden tables with accompanying benches. Our florist filled the tables to the brim with the most incredible (and I mean incredible) flower arrangements I could have ever imagined. We had the guests take home whatever florals they wanted at the end of the evening, and I think that they were more than happy to do so. For our favors we filled small boxes with mints and caramels from See’s Candy, wrapped them in butcher paper, and tied them with many varieties and colors of ribbons from beaded to lace to shoe lace. The attached ‘Thank You’ tags were from Etsy, along with all of our table numbers. We bought a polaroid camera and left it out for our guests to take pictures, it was a big hit and they are some of our favorite photos from the evening.
Really, aside from getting married to the love of my life, one of the best moments of the day was the speech that my dad gave. He was so charismatic and had such a presence about him that I really hadn’t ever known before. It’s something that I won’t ever forget. Another moment we won’t ever forget is our day after photo shoot with the most fun-loving and awesome photographers that one could ask for. We planned to make the drive to Flagstaff, not fully expecting the HUGE snow storm that made it’s way through that day. Let me just tell you that trying to shimmy on and off a wedding dress in the backseat of a VW was pretty entertaining. My husband doesn’t like the snow very much, but he likes me a lot, so I owe him for being so patient and so wonderful to me about the whole ‘we might get stuck here in a snow storm, I don’t have a coat, and I just walked out in ankle deep snow to see if the building was open so you could pee,’ kind of way. I love him. The four of us spent the morning freezing in the snow, but could not wipe the smiles off of our faces. Our photographers pretty much rocked it. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Photography: Sloan Photographers / Ceremony and Reception site: Scottsdale Arizona Regale / Florist: Billy Pailey of Artistic Surroundings / Catering: Put a fork in it Catering / Dress: Melissa Sweet