In the name of love, how incredibly GOOD is this desert wedding? I mean, it shouldn’t come as any real surprise seeing as it’s straight from the talented lens of Rachel Solomon, but factor in one crazy chic couple *hello – just look at this gown* and some La Tavola Fine Linen Rental and you’ve got yourself one b-e-a-u-tiful party. See it all in The Vault!
From The Bride…Caleb and I met when I started working at the hospital he had worked at for about seven years. Caleb led the tour of the hospital during orientation and if I’m being honest, I paid more attention to how cute Caleb was than the various stops along the tour. About five months later, Caleb and I started dating and we both quickly knew that we’d found the person we were going to marry.
Caleb and I actually picked the venue and date for our wedding before we were engaged. As someone who plans events for a living, I knew that wedding venues book quickly and I didn’t want to waste any time. After looking at a few venues, Caleb and I happened upon Desert Foothills while looking at The Knot’s “Real Weddings.” I immediately made an appointment for Caleb and I to see the space and upon walking into the completely bare barn that is Desert Foothills, I knew this was where we were going to get married.
Because Desert Foothills is a completely open space in which you can pretty much do anything, I knew we would need a lot of help! Caleb and I chose to work with Rachael Dufresne of Imoni Events to plan our wedding and it was by far the best decision we made during the entire wedding planning process. Rachael had an amazing ability to take all our ideas and turn them into reality. Rachael took our love of wine and created a winery themed wedding that took me right to our favorite wineries in Napa. I truly felt as though Caleb and I had our dream wedding and I can’t be more grateful to Rachael and our long list of vendors for their hard work and creativity to make us feel so special.
One thing I learned during the wedding planning process was the power of meeting with vendors before choosing to work with them. I fell in love with two photographers solely based on the work on their websites. After meeting with both photographers in person, I knew that Rachel Solomon would be the photographer for our wedding. I absolutely loved her work but most importantly I “clicked” with her and felt comfortable with her capturing the most important day of my life. After learning this lesson with picking our photographer, I kept that in mind as we continued to choose other vendors for our wedding.
The day of our wedding came faster and faster as each month and week passed by. It was a beautiful morning and I couldn’t have been happier when I woke up to blue skies and sunshine. However, as the bridesmaids and I were getting our hair and makeup done by Emily Hughes and Brenna Heater, gray clouds started rolling in. As Caleb and I began to do our First Look, the wind picked up and little droplets of rain began to fall on my shoulders. This certainly could have taken a turn for the worse but I actually grew to love this wind and rain. To me, this signified that we could withstand the rough winds that will inevitably come our way throughout our life together. Although it sounds cheesy, I like to think that those were the first rough winds of our marriage, probably the easiest winds we will experience, but we did it. And, not to mention those winds made for some amazing pictures!
After taking pictures outside the venue, Caleb and I walked into the barn for the first time and I was completely awe struck by how beautifully everything had come together. Our colors, gold, blush, cream and a hint of navy, blended beautifully from the navy ribbon on the bridesmaids’ bouquets to the cream and blush flowers draping over the wine barrels at the front of the aisle. Randi of Carte Blanche Floral took what little vision I had for our flowers and created a beautiful backdrop for our wedding. Randi even built a cross for the altar and a wine rack that we will place in the foyer of our first home. The linens from La Tavola brought the room together while the round Kings tables kept that rustic and elegant atmosphere we were wanting to share with our families and friends.
Our wedding featured delicious food from Dennis at Cater Phoenix. Dennis worked with Caleb and I to create stations with some of our favorite foods: mac and cheese, tacos, and onion rings! Our cake from Heartsweet Cakes was devoured in minutes and I can certainly understand why as Hayley’s bourbon chocolate cake is something you only get once in a lifetime!
Finally, the beauty is in the small details and I couldn’t have been more amazed by the work of Jacki from Foil and Ink and Jesse Jo Stanton at Freed Hands for creating our invitations and day of paper products respectively. Jacki certainly had Caleb’s stamp of approval as she was able to include the one thing he wanted most, a wax seal. He was more than happy to help address invitations if it meant being able to use the wax seal!
Looking back, I can truly say that our wedding was so much more than we had envisioned. I am overcome with a sense of immense gratitude for the vendors, family and friends that put in so much work and love to make this day special for Caleb and I. We certainly could not have done this alone and they truly deserve all the credit.
Photography: Rachel Solomon Photography | Cinematography: Something New Media | Event Planning: Imoni Events | Floral Design: Carte Blanche Design | Wedding Dress: Paloma Blanca | Cake: Heartsweet Cakes | Invitations: Foil And Ink | Catering: Cater Phoenix | Makeup: Brenna Heater | Hair: Emily Hughes | Band: Sapphire Sky | Transportation: Ollie The Trolley | Venue: Desert Foothills | Beer Burro: Haul N Ass Productions | Bridal Boutique: Schaffers Bridal | Draping: Quest Drape | Hand Lettering + Signage: Freed Hands | Linen Rentals: BBJ La Tavola | Mariachi: Mariachi Fiesta Valle del Sol | Rentals: Glamour And Woods