Dec

categories: cakes and sweets, fabulous reception sites, Giveaways and Contests, real weddings, Wedding Inspiration

Arizona’s Desert Botanical Gardens is a source of tremendous pride and beauty for us desert dwellers and when they announced that they were hosting a “Garden Wedding” for one lucky couple, we knew this was going to be big.

Out of over 250 couples, one was chosen: Cara and Brett. They won a dream wedding that included everything they needed for a perfect day- coordination, photography, food, music, attire, stationery, etc. The public was able to choose most of the elements for the wedding such as invitations, Cara’s dress and hair style and the food by voting on AZCentral.com. I voted for a few of the items and it was really fun to participate. The end result was gorgeous:

The ceremony was at the Wildflower Pavilion and placecards were hung from flowing ribbons intertwined with framed flower vignettes.

I really love how the girls’ dresses compliment the garden’s surroundings; the perfect pop of color!

Look at how gorgeous Cara is! Cara and Brett’s ceremony incorporated a traditional Scottish ribbon ceremony. Even though many of the decisions of the day were made by the public, Cara and Brett definitely made it their own.

Dinner took place underneath the stars and among the twinkle-lit trees on Ullman Terrace.

The cake was a modern interpretation of a traditional Victorian cake. This is one of my favorite details from the day.

Guests were served unbelievable treats throughout the evening: they were entertained by a live band and dined at interactive food stations that reflected the couple’s roots of New England, Texas and Arizona. Yum! Signature cocktails were served after the ceremony and there was a 20 person sundae bar (imagine brownies, caramel, candied pecans and whipped cream!) after dinner. Just as the clock struck 10:10PM, Cara and Brett shared a kiss on the dance floor while guests sipped on root beer floats and nibbled on cheescake lollipops. WOW!

Sharing the love is what weddings are all about and not only did Cara and Brett get to do this on 10.10.10, they also received overwhelming love. This couple, who met under unlikely circumstances would never have dreamed that they would be the couple chosen for the “Garden Wedding” sponsored by the Desert Botanical Gardens. Surely this is a great start to their lovely life together.

My favorite image from the day: