Traditional Church Wedding in Phoenix

Q1: Tell us about your wedding

“We knew we wanted a fairly traditional church wedding. We are not one’s to gamble with the weather and have our special day outside.

“Our color scheme was set mainly from the beginning with the main colors being burgundy, blush pink, and light gray. What was so funny about choosing these colors is that I noticed how extremely popular they had become. ( As a side note, burgundy/maroon is a great color to go with any time of the year because it is so versatile.)

“A common part of a Christian wedding ceremony is the candle lighting ceremony, where two small candle sticks are lit together onto one candle to symbolize the joining together of two people as they become one. We followed something similar with this tradition and included a unity rope in our ceremony. The rope is made of three chords which the bride and groom braid together.

“The idea for this piece comes from Ecclesiastes 4:12 ‘And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.’ The reason we chose this symbol was to signify not just the coming together of the bride and groom with each other, but the bride and groom coming together in unity with Christ who is the center of our marriage.

Q2: Let’s talk wedding decor

“I am the type of person who believes, less is more. Many of our decorations were not extravagant, but gave a simple and colorful touch to the buildings.

“The church was simply decorated with Toole and flowers for along the aisle chairs. On the stage, we had an arbor decorated with flowers, and more material as well as two flower arrangements to the side.

“The reception hall, was the area that had the most décor. The tables were covered with burgundy tablecloths. As centerpieces we had a, bud vase, candle, frame with a  verse, and Hershey’s kisses all siting on top of a mirror bases.  We were able to borrow a wooden pallet photo booth from the church which we decorated with flowers and a W/J symbol.  What really made the entire reception hall come together were the lights that were beautifully strung along the ceiling .

“The church had put on a Christmas banquet a few weeks before our wedding and they had put the lights up all around the ceiling; they asked if we would mind having them up during our wedding. (Um, of course not!)

“Basically all of our wedding décor was DIY. Pinterest, mom, aunts, and ladies in the church were all helpful resources in making the décor come together. Many of the items we used were borrowed or given to us by people that simply didn’t need the materials.

Q3: What were the florals like in your wedding?

“I had flowers everywhere! When I first started planning my wedding, I knew I wanted a lot of flower décor. We had flowers on the aisle seats, the arbor, the guest tables, the lobby, the photo booth, the bridesmaid dresses, my dress, I even had a greenery crown as my head piece.

“Flowers were the center of nearly all my decorations. All the flowers we used were fake, except for the bridal bouquets. However, we were still able to use fake flowers that were good quality.”

Q4: Did you personalize the day in any way?

“The main thing we did to personalize our wedding was write our own vows.  Writing your own vows is not for every couple, and it is definitely a lot of pressure. For my husband and I, we really wanted to communicate specific promises to each other that reflected our faith and the Biblical picture of marriage that we were entering into. Although the vows were to each other, we later realized what a joy our guests experienced hearing us read our own vows.”

Q5: Let’s talk fashion

“Again, we were going to a simple, but elegant look. The bridesmaid dresses were a beautiful, knee length, burgundy color, made with a  with lacey flower pattern that gave it a more elegant look. I tend to be more practical when it comes to fashion, so when choosing the bridesmaid dresses, I tried to find something that they could wear again for church or another special occasion.

“My dress had a similar look. The ivory dress had a flower, lacey pattern at the top, with lace flower sleeves. At the waist it was comfortably fitted and we added a sparkly sash piece so it wouldn’t look to plain. The skirt part may have been my favorite because it was made with 4 or 5 layers of flowing chiffon.  The way that it flowed made me feel like a Greed Goddess.

“We had a slightly easier time choosing the Groomsmen’s look. To compliment the burgundy, we had the men in a tailored, 3 piece, light gray suit. I have to say, the Groom looked really cute.”

Q6: How did you meet?

“Will and I met at church over 7 years ago when we were both in high school. Unknown to me, he had a crush on me from the moment they started attending the church.

“We were friends throughout high school, but not close friends.   All of high school, Will never mentioned having any interest in me, and I was very oblivious to the fact that he did.

“The night before I left for college in California,  he finally told me that he liked me and asked if we could started getting to know each other better. We started dating that summer and dated for three years while going through college. During that time, I transferred back to a college in Arizona.

“Will is pretty good about keeping secrets, so the time leading up to the proposal was subtle. One of our favorite spots to spend time together is by the fire in his parents backyard. This is where he decided to pop the question and it totally took me by surprise for two reasons.

“One, I was not expecting him to propose until maybe the summer, and two the ring was huge and absolutely gorgeous! No joke, I was hyperventilating for a few minutes and barely managed to shout out a “Yes, I’ll marry you!”

“His sister videoed the proposal and then later my family came over and we all celebrated, it was a very sweet memory.”

Q7: What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?

“The most anticipated moment of the day was our first look. We had been dating for over 3 years, we were ready to be married. We had been patiently waiting and working for this day and we’re beyond excited to finally be husband and wife. The first look and reading our vows were the most special momenst of our day. We were so thankful to see how God had brought us together. We cherished being able to spend a few minutes alone during our first look and just take in the moment. We were glorifying God as we read our vows for how He had given us both the gift of each other that we did not deserve. These are moments that we will keep reliving in our memory and in our marriage.”

Q8: Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you’d like to share with other couples planning their day?

1. “When you first start planning your wedding, decide TOGETHER what are the 3-5 most important pieces of the day that you want to invest your time and money in. For us, it was photography and my dress.
2. Will and I read a book during our engagement and it gave a piece of advice that went something like this, ‘Don’t plan for the day, plan for a lifetime.’ Remember that the wedding day is just  day;  in the midst of all the insane planning and work, don’t forget to prepare and keep your marriage the focus of what you are doing all this crazy planning for.
3. The last piece of advice was given to us by another couple who had been married for a few months. During our engagement, they told us not to worry because engagement is the worse part. I know that sounds awful, but it may be true. Dating is great because it’s new and you are getting to know each other. Engagement is still fun, but it is very stressful and there is so much focused centered around one anticipated day. Marriage is amazing, because you are married. The pressure of the wedding is gone and you can finally begin your life together.

“So I would say to all the couples out there, if engagement seems really exhausting right now, don’t worry marriage gets better.”