I am so excited to share this beautiful fall wedding at the Omni Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona. Taylor and John were the last of their close group of friends to finally tie the knot. And as a result, they decided a destination wedding to one of Arizona’s premier resorts was the best way to celebrate. Their Scottsdale wedding was filled with loads of love, honor, and good ol’ college pride. Geaux Tigers! Hook ’em Horns!

The Details

Taylor’s mother has a long-standing family connection to Carlson Craft. In honor of that history they decided to use them for her wedding invitation suite. A simple but classic design with custom hand-lettered calligraphy. In addition, Taylor also honored her mother and grandmother on her bouquet. Taylor’s bouquet was wrapped in lace from her mother’s wedding dress and a locket with her maternal grandmother’s photo was attached since she was unable to attend to due her fragile health. And then we also surprised Taylor’s mom by including a heart locket with her mother’s picture on her wrist corsage. Such a beautiful and simple way to honor the people we love.

Getting Ready & First Look

One of my favorite aspects of the Omni Montelucia are the private suites that also include private backyard spaces. Taylor and her family stayed in the beautiful Camelback Suite. This subsequently allowed both indoor and outdoor privacy as they got ready for the big day.

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Do you not just love Taylor’s bouquet?! When Taylor started talking about her wedding vision and described the flowers and bouquet she wanted, I knew exactly who we had to go see. No one does a beautiful and lush garden-style bouquet better than Sarah of Sarah’s Garden. And her mom Betty’s dress?! I have never seen a more on-point dress by the Mother of the Bride! It is by far one of my favorites to date.

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Ceremony & Bridal Party

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Another wonderfully personal element was Taylor and John’s decision to have John’s father officiate the ceremony for them. It’s always special when a couple can have someone special to them be a part of such an important and intimate experience.

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Taylor’s bridesmaids in their beautiful BHLDN dresses. Bridesmaids in unique but coordinated dresses is always one of my favorite trends.

Reception Details

Taylor and John’s ceremony and reception were both on Valencia Lawn, which required us to execute a “flip” during cocktail hour. In less than one hour, the Shine Events team, the Omni Montelucia Staff and the floral team at Sarah’s Garden brought the reception space to life.

One of my favorite wedding tips to give brides is that we can repurpose ceremony flowers to the reception. For example, we took the flowers that bordered the ceremony aisle and used them to highlight the head table. We then took this philosophy a step further and reused the bride and bridesmaids’ bouquets as the table centerpieces. (While that isn’t quite as common of an example of repurposing wedding flowers, for this wedding it was an important detail. We didn’t want to sacrifice the flowers selected but also needed to stay within a specific budget.)

Our bride’s precious bouquet! Sarah (of Sarah’s Garden) worked hard to make sure the bouquet looked beautiful as a bouquet but could then transition easily to be the head table centerpiece. (And don’t worry, we removed the lace and locket before we placed in the vase.)

The centerpieces above started out as bridesmaids’ bouquets. They were designed slightly larger to accommodate their need to perform double duty and transition to centerpieces. And no one was the wiser! Win – Win!!

I love to bring in the bride and groom to see the space BEFORE we allow their guests in. This allows some time to reflect and see the space we have been working for so long to design with them.

After Taylor and John cut their cake and hosted toasts, we brought everyone inside the ballroom with a good ‘ol New Orleans (and LSU) inspired Second Line. This helped guests become excited about going inside to dance and party the rest of the night away. And it could not have gone more perfect. In fact, their whole day was perfect and I loved being a part of it with them. Taylor and John’s families are some of the kindest and most loving people I have ever had the privilege of working with and I can’t wait to see them again.

Wedding Planner: Shine Events | Photography: Courtney Leigh Photography | Florist: Sarah’s Garden | Venue: Omni Montelucia | Rentals: La Tavola Linen | Cake: A Bakeshop | Beauty: Etoilly Artistry | Band: The Lucky Devils | Lighting: The Event Co. | Wedding Dress Designer: Galia Lahav | Bridesmaid Dresses: BHLDN | Tux: Knot Standard