When you’ve got a bouquet like this, two flowers are all you really need: hot pink peonies + pincushion protea. Emily ended up using orange + pink for fun pops of color throughout the wedding, as you’ll see all the photos by Leslie D Photography. Also noteworthy are the smoke bombs (just wait!), and a little detail called a $200 wedding dress. Mhm! Let’s start with that:
So she found the perfect gown at Lulu’s (which would be perf for bridesmaids too), and since it has stretch to it, didn’t need to alter it at all. So great. Exactly why we’re fans of alternative wedding dresses. E also whipped up the Swiss dot veil herself + snagged these $15 sandals online. AND the waterfall braid below? She did herself with the help of this tutorial.
Emily says, I was walking by West Elm one day and saw their display and asked to buy it! They couldn’t sell me everything, so I got a few leaves of each, traced them all, and started cutting. I would say it was the best idea I fell into. I cut out hundreds of white paper tropical leaves, found a photo backdrop frame and some nautical netting, and a few days before the wedding my sister and I put it all together, leaf by leaf.
Since they both have big families, their guest list was easily over 300. They cut it down by having an 18+ celebration, and everyone loved having a true vacay. Plus, having it on a Sunday, they had the whole weekend (pool party included!) before to hang out.
Being that all guests were staying at The Saguaro Hotel (the most colorful explosion of desert fun), I wanted to balance all of that with clean modern, all white everything that The Clayton on the Park offers. I wanted the only pop of color to be the hot pink of the uplighting, the peonies, and the blooming cacti, and then throw in black patterns to add visual texture and excitement (with pillows, the terrariums, drink straws etc.)
Jeff & Emily – Scottsdale, Arizona Wedding from Katherine Mendieta on Vimeo.
They couldn’t have confetti at the venue so they asked Leslie about smoke bombs and voila! One practice sesh later they were good to go. See more of Emily + Jeff’s wedding style in our gallery and on her Pinterest:
One of the standout moments was having one of our best guy friends get ordained, and marry us with an incredibly personal ceremony. One night over food and drinks, he videotaped us, asking questions that helped him create the ceremony. Jeff and my relationship started out so strange (short version: on a bachelorette weekend in Nashville, out at a bar, us girls met a random bachelor party. Jeff dared me to be his girlfriend for 24 hours… And we never broke up and now are married!). We decided from the first day that since our relationship started out so strange, that we would always keep it weird. So, when our ‘Rev T’ Thomas read the Dr. Seuss poem, “We are all a little weird and life is weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love,” it made our whole love story come full circle at our wedding ceremony.
Cheers!
Photographer: Leslie D Photography / Videographer: Katherine Mendieta Photography and Films / Ceremony Venue: Marshall Gardens in the Scottsdale Civic Center Park / Reception Venue & Catering: The Clayton on the Park / Event Coordination: LVL Wedding and Events Phoenix / Florist: Fiori Floral / Hair & Makeup: Bride (with this tutorial) / Invitations: Bride with Zazzle / Sugar Cookies: Bride + MOH / Rentals: Event Rents / DJ: MT Sounds / Bride’s Dress: Lulu’s / Shoes: Qupid / Engagement Ring: Henri Daussi from Hamra Jewelers in Scottsdale, AZ
