We always welcome a little slice of Elyse Hall Photography magic. Images synonymous with beautiful light and wildly romantic moments caught on film. And this installment is desert done glamorous at the hands of Imoni Events and Petal Pusher. Imagine cacti by candle light and you’re on the right track. See even more from the day right here!
From the Bride… Way back in 2005, Matthew was studying at MIT for a summer at one of their labs. He took some time off on the fourth of July to see the fireworks and randomly sat down next to my best friend (and bridesmaid), Christina. The two became good friends, and all summer long, all I heard about was “you HAVE to meet Matthew.” I finally got to meet him after work one night over at MIT’s campus. Matthew had been up for 36 hour straight working in the lab, so he did NOT make a great impression on me, and I went away not being very impressed.
Later that fall, Matthew came into town again for my friend’s 21st birthday, and that’s when we really connected. Fully rested, it turned out that Matthew is actually very charming, and we hit it off. The problem was that he was studying at UMass Amherst, and I was still in Boston, about two hours away. We spent the next year traveling back and forth between Boston and Amherst. And then when I got into law school in Michigan and he got a job in Seattle, we stretched the visits even farther and were traveling between Michigan and Seattle, and then even farther to Seattle to Boston when I moved back to Boston (with a few breakups in between). Finally, on one trip out to Seattle, I asked Matthew what had happened to his dreams of working in alternative energy instead of at Microsoft. He admitted it was still a passion, and we spent the rest of the weekend writing and editing his application to MIT’s graduate school program for alternative fuel. He got accepted, moved to Boston and proposed a year later in Chicago while we were on vacation.
The wedding day was full of details were important to Matthew and me. It started with the ceremony that was a perfect combination of his Jewish heritage and my Christian upbringing. We had a dear friend officiate the ceremony who added many personal touches, including our family giving blessings, prayers and readings throughout the ceremony. We served the meal family style to reflect the idea that we were all one big happy family now. Our guests got to enjoy the intimacy that came with sharing a meal in this fashion and it meant a lot to us knowing that we are all in this together. Our wedding style was simple and botanical. We love the outdoors and Matthew, in particular, loves cactus. So we used all the native Arizonan elements that we could. Our save-the-date was an old Arizona Highways postcard, and then wedding day elements were all cactus-oriented. We kept the colors natural to the environment. We started the day with yoga and becoming one with nature, so we needed to end the night in the same fashion. One of our favorite parts of the wedding was the amazing band that kept the old school rock tunes coming. We had sing-alongs and dance offs, which were perfect for our personalities.
Wedding Photography: Elyse Hall Photography / Wedding Venue: Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona / Wedding Planning: Imoni Events / Floral Design: Petal Pusher / Catering: Santa Barbara Catering / Rentals: Pro Em / Music: Duo Vibrato + Furious George / Wedding Dress: Monique Lhuillier via GIGI of Mequon / Men’s Suits: Jos. A. Bank / Hair: Hautie Rouge Salon / Makeup: Linda Wagner