Phoenix Icehouse Wedding

When a couple wants their wedding day to feel more like a ‘fun and happy party’ than anything else, you can feel it in their images. Such is the case with this Phoenix wedding from Lang Photographers and Encore Creative, which skillfully mixes modern design elements with beautiful details, like mismatched berry toned bridesmaid dresses and a mod striped table runner. Let’s jump in!

From the bride, Caitlin: When planning our wedding, what we wanted most was a fun and happy party for our closest friends and family to come and celebrate our love with us. We wanted it to feel like a wedding but without all the formality. We kept it very modern with hints of tradition throughout. Most importantly we wanted to keep it simple and focus on celebrating the love Lars and I have for each other.

Bouquet recipe: Peonies, succulents, cosmos, dahlias, freesia, and ranunculus.

Our wedding venue was this amazing early 1900s warehouse that once stored ice blocks for the city of Phoenix. It was more of an unconventional wedding venue but it provided us with an amazing canvas to create our dream wedding. With the overall industrial feel of the warehouse we went with more modern designs. It was simple, bright, modern, whimsical, with a touch of romance and elegance. Every part of our wedding was DIY from the flowers, to the table runners, even one of my bridesmaid’s dresses! We found ideas from Pinterest of course but put our own personal touches. The backdrop for the ceremony and the chandelier were made from wax paper which my mom hand stitched onto to white string. The table runners were made from fabric from Ikea and all of the floral arrangements were put together by me, my mom, and my aunts. Right after I got engaged we started collecting vases from goodwill and anywhere we could find!

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? My biggest advice to couple planning their wedding now is to be willing to compromise! Many of my favorite DIY pieces came from compromise because the original idea was out of our price range, the hanging chandelier for example. If you go with the flow rather than fight it, it makes for a much more pleasant experience. My next tip is to stay organized especially when planning a DIY wedding. Our label maker became my best friend. Another tip is to spend money where it is important and cut back on less important things. Photography and videography were my most important things, without picture and video it would be impossible to remember all the small details. Video is such a fun great way to really have the spirit of the wedding captured. We saved money were we could and spent it on what I thought mattered most. I think most importantly, remember to plan a wedding you want. I didn’t want to throw a bouquet so I didn’t; I wanted both my parents to walk me down the aisle, so they did. It is your wedding you don’t have to follow a tradition if you don’t want to! And always, always remember that this day should be about you and your spouse. It is ok if a few things don’t go as planned, it will happen, but as long as you and your spouse say “I do” in the end, than it will be a perfect day. That’s what I wanted most for my wedding. A celebration of our love and that’s exactly what it was.

See Also

Intimate La Valencia Hotel Wedding Editorial with a Garden Luxe Feel

Wedding Music:
Processional: “Simplest Love,” Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Recessional: “All You Need is Love,” The Beatles
First Dance: “Sea of Love,” Cat Power
Father/Daughter Dance: “Child of Mine,” Carole King

Wedding Location: Phoenix, AZ / Photographer: Lang Photographers / Event Planner, Bouquet, and Boutonnieres: Encore Creative / Flowers: Bride and Family / Venue: The Icehouse / Wedding Dress: Suzanne’s Bridal Boutique / Wedding Shoes: Seychelles / Reception Dress: Nordstrom / Groom’s Suit: JC Penney / Caterer: Arizona Taste / Wedding Cake: Robert’s Catering / Pies: Piefection / Donuts: Bosa Donuts / DJ: Crum Bro’s Entertainment / Videographer: Romantic Wedding Videos