The wedding post you didn’t ask for!

Hi friends! We got our wedding photos back this week and I thought I would put together a rambling blog post about the whole event, simply because I love looking at other peoples wedding photos 🙂 Feel free to skip. Or don’t and grab a coffee and join me!

Ok I thought I would run this wedding blog style because I really miss the heyday of wedding feature blogs so away we go!

The location: We got married at The Saguaro Scottsdale–it’s a colorful hotel with midmod vibes right in the heart of Old Town, which is basically a hokey bar district in Scottsdale. The streets are small and full of bolo-tie carrying shops and we thought people could really make a weekend of it, and that they did!

It was unusually hot (even for Phoenix) so most guests made good use of the Saguaro pool! This was also where our ceremony was and I will cherish the goofy memory of the wedding party rehearsing in swim cover ups after several poolside margaritas.

Getting ready: The bridesmaids and I went to DryBar the morning of the wedding, which I really enjoyed because it meant everyone got hair done at once. Then we returned to the hotel and did our own makeup and made mimosas in these bridesmaids cups which I’m now using daily for iced coffee.

I started out not at all stressed about doing my own makeup and then got more and more stressed as the day approached so I would truly like to shout out to this bridesmaids makeup tutorial for teaching me great new tricks and creating makeup that felt fancier than usual and absolutely stayed put. I also used this as an excuse to refresh my makeup drawer and my favorites were definitely this undereye concealer and two old standbys I had never tried before.

Oh, and I got a lash lift. Which was AMAZING! I didn’t wear mascara or falsies the day of and I felt freeeee!

What went “wrong”: Truly, not a lot, but I posed this question on Instagram last month and must contribute. We were told that the hotel wouldn’t close the pool to guests during our reception but that usually guests see the chairs being set out and get the hint and leave. Then we arrived to line up for the processional and saw like 15 people in the pool, iphones out! This was the only moment I got super nervous because they were definitely enjoying their cocktails and I just wasn’t sure what they would do during a wedding ceremony.

But then they opened the doors for me to walk down the aisle and my dad said “Look! Everyone in the pool is standing up for you!” And it was so funny and wholesome. Trevor said they also splashed around a bunch when we were declared married. Thanks hotel guests!

The moments I won’t forget: I’ve done a lot of thinking about what makes a day memorable for me and it’s usually the things I didn’t expect. There were plenty of awesome planned moments: our first look and my father-daughter (choreographed) dance for sure! But the small things that made me smile included all the bridesmaids playing Heads Up as we waited to go down the aisle, my brother randomly becoming THE MOST ATTENTIVE to keeping my train off the ground all day, and two of our friends getting really amped about a song we played during dinner and goofily dancing around the sweetheart table while we were still eating.

What we couldn’t miss: The live band! We both really wanted a big band feel and they totally delivered. The dance floor was extremely inadequately tiny for our energy level and I looked up to see all my extended relatives bussing and breaking down dinner tables to make it bigger (to the chagrin of hotel staff?). Totally worth it.

Also, shoutout to our friend who insisted on light up flower crowns and glow sticks. They really brought the energy to the late night dancing!

Oh, and we worked with a day of coordinator, Kristi, who was amazing. I highly recommend booking one! It was not as expensive as I anticipated and I will never know how many crises she headed off for us (she will never tell!).

What we skipped: Favors. I don’t think anyone noticed. I usually don’t notice them either. But Trevor did make these amazing laser cut cacti for all the tables and some guests took them home, which was great! He cut our table numbers out of acrylic too.

Food: We did a fajita bar for dinner and then cupcakes for dessert. The hotel also included a churro bar and late night bites stand with soft pretzels. Was it way too much food? Yes. Did we eat leftover cupcakes at the pool the next morning? Also yes. Am I still eating cupcakes? Yes.

What I would do different: I know everyone says not much and it’s true! I suppose I wish I had told the band to announce that the churro bar was open and the late night snacks were out, because many people missed both! I also KNEW I was supposed to eat and did a good job of that all day but I just kind of…didn’t during the reception because people kept coming up to me during dinner. Which resulted in me eating a leftover sandwich from lunch on the floor in my hotel room before heading to the afterparty.

Talk about the clothes!!!: Oops, yes, blog theme. I have talked about dress shopping elsewhere but I’ll just say: if you love clothes like I do, this is me telling you to do it as big as you want on your wedding dress. I felt so totally extra all day and it was SO FUN! It’s a once in a lifetime day, wear what you want!

Otherwise, I wore these pearl earrings, these flats and then swapped into these sneakers. My hairpins were from Etsy. Most MOST importantly, every single thing felt good and didn’t bother me one bit. I started out with a much heavier pair of earrings and then realized I would hate dancing in them. Not getting a single blister was also a huge plus!

The best part of our wedding was just how fun it was. I know, duh, Rebecca, it is a wedding. But the pressure of being the bride and groom can feel a bit much and then when we got there I think we both just had a blast seeing everyone we love. The “critique the wedding industry” thinkpieces have said enough about the materialism of the whole deal so just to balance it out a bit: it’s one day that means A LOT to a whole community of people. As my dad told me, it’s the day where you get everyone you love in one room, just as they were in that moment. And I think that’s worth celebrating 🙂

VENDORS: Venue/Saguaro Scottsdale, Photography/Kaila Cales, Band/Lucky Devils, Flowers/My Little Posy, Dress/BridalXOXO, Cake/Maeflour, Day of coordinator/Kristi Marie Events

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