The combination of dramatic desert and warm, soft sunlight is my favorite thing about this Arizona wedding shot by Green Door Photography.  Jaclyn and Jared’s quaint Arizona wedding is set at the Tempe Center for the Arts.  One of the lovely, appealing aspects of holding your wedding at an art gallery is that it really does dress itself.  Another is the striking aesthetics that make for particularly incredible photo ops.  The architectural photos from this wedding are breathtaking!

Jaclyn’s story: When we thought about what we wanted our wedding to look like, we knew what we definitely did not want: ordinary. Many of the venues in AZ were lovely but didn’t match our personality. So, our main goal was finding a venue that had personality, was different and felt right. We found that when a coworker suggested I look at the Tempe Center for the Arts. I absolutely loved it’s funky lines, lighting, simplicity and water views. It had a very urban appeal in a very suburban city. I loved it. After finding the venue, our main inspiration for our wedding was “budget”. We were on a tight budget, so we had to find what we could make work. When it came to colors, I liked how yellow and black looked together, and figured that various shades of yellow would work well. With this, we didn’t have to pick things to match exactly, and so whatever we found, we used. I think it added more to the look to have non-matchy dresses, flowers and accessories. A friend suggested that our colors reminded her of bees, which I loved, so we added a bee to the save the dates, to the invites and to the favors. Now Jared and I joke that bees are “our thing” and friends have started giving us gifts with bees! We didn’t really have any other design theme, as we let the vibe of the venue speak for itself.

I would like to say that flowers and centerpieces were do-it myself, but really, t hey were do it by family. My aunt orchestrated the favors by procuring M and M candies in our colors and working with my uncle, who is a glass artist, to create shot glasses with our names, initials and wedding date. We got together one night and poured the M and M’s into the glasses and wrapped them with a bee accessory. My aunts are also florists and volunteered, very graciously, to get the flowers together. I am not a very creative person and I was just grateful to have their help, so I let them have full reign on the flowers. I just showed up on the day of the wedding to the most beautiful bouquets! Now, especially when I look at the photographs, I am even more grateful for the flowers because they added so much to the look of the room and were absolutely gorgeous.

The day of the wedding was wonderful. We had such a great time. We asked Jared’s father, Gordon to be our officiant and he did not disappoint with a unique and very personal ceremony. Toe nail clippings came up during his speech, which I don’t think many will forget. I loved it because it was perfectly him and us and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. There were a few minor hiccups during the event. First, Jared forgot the rings. I can actually see in the wedding pictures the exact moment he told me and because Jared has a history of being a prankster, I naturally thought he was joking. Luckily, my soon to be sister in law came to the rescue and all went well. The party was wonderful, though one guest did enjoy himself a bit and in an intoxicated state did accidentally topple over another guest.

Its hard to pick one thing that we loved the most. We loved seeing all of our family and friends in one place, and seeing them let loose. I saw family members dance, who never dance, kids smiling and having a good time, and people enjoying the food. I do have to say, however, that one of my favorite things about the wedding was the photography. I consider the pictures to be my treasure from the day, and by far the most valuable. They captured the emotion and the feel of the venue as well as documented all that occurred. I am so grateful for those pictures and know they will be loved by my family for a long time.

Venue: Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe, AZ | Wedding Dress: Salome by Two by Rosa Clara purchased at Uptown Bridal, Chandler, AZ | Shoes: Rocket Dogs purchased at DSW | Wedding Hair: Sarah Leng | Wedding Makeup: Janelle Gaudur | Bridesmaid Dress: Variety – all bridesmaids purchased their own black dress | Caterer: Santa Barbara Catering | Wedding Cake: Honeymoon Sweets | Invitations: Design Jenna Clark (sister of a friend), Print: Steve Burm at Hogue Printing Solutions | Florist: Florist Angela Burm with Cindy Humphrey | Entertainment: Arizona Music | Photography: Nicole Wickens - Green Door Photography