Spring Romantic Wedding in the Desert

When it comes to ceremonies, it’s pretty tough to beat a view of mountain ranges as your backdrop. Sarah and Chuck met in LA at a Mad Men themed party, found out they both lived in Arizona, and then after a year of dating they moved to Washington DC together. The couple returned to their home state to exchange vows, with the help of talented vendors Pinkerton Photography, Celebrations by Amy Bacon, and Table Tops, etc. by their side!

From the bride, Sarah: I finally got to play out one of the dreams of my life – I got to marry the most loving, caring, and supportive man – my best friend. We met 4 years ago while in LA at a friend’s Mad Men themed party. We both lived in Arizona at the time, me in Tucson, Chuck in Phoenix, and after returning from that trip we started dating immediately. A year later we found ourselves in Washington DC, and him working at National Geographic, while I pursued my marketing career.

When we got engaged, we quickly decided that we wanted to be married in Arizona, where our relationship began, and where much of my family still lives. We have been living in Washington, DC for 3 years now, and love our city, but I will always be an Arizona girl at heart. So when we started looking for venues, I knew that we needed to have a venue that would showcase the gorgeous desert landscape that was my home for so many years. We also didn’t want our guests traveling from one location for the ceremony, to another for the reception. When we walked into the space at El Chorro, I actually got butterflies! We instantly knew that this was the venue for us!

As far as décor goes, my favorite colors are pink and gold and I thought that those colors would look beautiful mixed with the already lovely colors of spring-time in the desert. The venue and the scenery really speak for themselves, and we didn’t want to distract from the natural beauty of the location. Our focus was to emphasize the floral, and add a whimsical touch to the place cards in the form of these fun, gold miniature animals which added to the unique and playful nature of our reception. I know what you’re thinking … and I did try to be conscious of my groom, and in the midst of the pinks and golds, I made sure that there were elements that really spoke to him as well. For instance, he is a huge whiskey and bourbon fanatic, so our signature cocktail was an Old Fashioned – paying homage to his Kentucky roots.

Intimate Wedding in Georgia in Bold Pink

We opted for a non-traditional reception as half of our guests were not from Arizona, and those who were, we don’t see often since we live across the country, the focus of our reception was to spend as much time with everyone that we could, and to have a great party! So we left out things like the bouquet toss in order to achieve that. Our band was phenomenal and had our guests dancing all night! Along with our friends and family, we were able to enjoy the day, and truly celebrate our love and life together. Our entire event was so amazing, so wonderful, and like most brides, I wish I could put our day on replay! We have many vendors to thank for pulling off such a spectacular event, as it would not have come together so beautifully and been executed so flawlessly without all of their hard work. Our wedding planner, Amy Bacon, was so helpful, and she suggested most of our incredible vendors, thought of necessary details that hadn’t even crossed my mind, and kept me on schedule. Our incredible photographer Kelsie was amazing. I had seen a wedding that she shot at the same location and was hooked – I knew that her vision would be the best representation and provide the feeling of our special day.