Mac and Amy’s wedding: a historical tour of Phoenix with mad style!

I have to admit that during our first meeting with Amy and Mac all we really heard was “The Icehouse”.  Sorry, guys… we thought you guys were cool too, but the word “Icehouse” just seemed to echo in our brains for a long time afterwards! 😉

We were so excited because we’d shot there once before and have been itching to do it again ever since!

I’m sure you can see why!

If the Icehouse sounds like a weird name for a wedding venue, it’s because it’s only recently begun to be used for weddings… it’s actually the place where they manufactured ice in 1910 to ship produce on railroads.  After that time, it was used for the police to store crime evidence (crazy huh?!). In the 90’s a couple of artists bought it and now it’s used for all kinds of events… including weddings like this one!

Needless to say, it definitely has some history to it!  And as you can see by the pictures… it’s sooooo cool too!

(The Groomsmen were psyched about their gambling picture!)

(Like us on Facebook to tag yourself in some of the photos).

Let me back up a bit and tell the story from the beginning.  The day began at the hotel everyone was staying, Hotel San Carlos, which is another historical building  in downtown Phoenix (this wedding was like a regular old history channel special!) that was opened in 1928.

It was the first air conditioned, high rise hotel in Phoenix.  If you’re an Arizona history buff (and don’t already know all this) there is plenty more for you to read up on and the info on their site is pretty interesting.

Oh and by the way, apparently this hotel is haunted!  One final fact about Hotel San Carlos that is particularly relevant to Mac and Amy’s story is that it was the first high rise hotel in Arizona to have elevators.  And Mac knew just how to take advantage of these elevators.  He wanted to see his beautiful bride for the first time as the doors slid open… and it worked out perfectly.

(They wanted their bridal party around for the reveal moment to cheer them on.  I like how you can see the bridesmaids swooning in the background!).

(They exchanged gifts during their reveal moment.  Amy gave Mac this pocket watch and he gave her diamond earrings. Both gifts were a hit!).

(Two of my- Breanna’s- favorite ring pictures of all time!).

After spending some time shooting at the hotel (and the bar next door to it as you can see in the picture below)…

…we loaded up on Ollie the Trolley (yes, that really is the name of it!) to drive around downtown Phoenix for some photo opps.

Of course, the first stop we made on our historical tour around Phoenix was at the gas station to get some beer for the road.

It was soon time to head over to the Icehouse for the main event of the day… the wedding.

Mac and Amy’s ceremony was positively stunning.

With the old bricks, wide open ceiling, and the many little touches they both made to the look and feel of the place… the beauty was just unreal and definitely unique!

After their ceremony of perfection, a little time for celebrating…

…and a little more time for photos around their amazing venue….

…the doors to the reception area were opened and you could almost hear an audible gasp from the guests by what they saw.  In standard Icehouse wedding tradition, there was a huge warehouse looking room that was contrasted beautifully with all kinds of stunning details.

The biggest difference between Mac and Amy’s wedding and a typical wedding at the Icehouse is that Mac and Amy handmade and customized so many little details.

They spent lots of time setting up the lights to fit the room perfectly. The manzanita trees that you saw at their ceremony and also behind their head table, were all hand picked (from nature, not a nursery) and potted by them, and well…. I could go on and on about all the amazing details there.  You’ll just have to see them all in the pictures!

Riette, who works with Downtown Phoenix Venues, is the go to person for all the events that happen in many of the cool venues around that area, did an amazing job setting up all those little details and enabling the entire look to come together just right!  Props to Riette and her team for making Amy and Mac’s vision come to life!

Oh and one more thing about the details of the day that I can’t forget to mention… Mac and Amy were each in charge of a cake. Amy handled the groom’s cake and did an excellent job having it done in full Ohio State fashion (The Buckeyes were a constant theme throughout this wedding… even Amy’s garter had their logo on it!).  Mac took care of the actual wedding cake and rumor has it, he made it himself!!!

Seriously, that is amazing, isn’t it?!

I don’t think this wedding could’ve been any more perfect for Mac and Amy.

(More bridesmaid swooning).

They put so much of themselves into it and the results were so worth the time and energy!  Everything was beautiful…

…including the bride herself of course…

…their party was amazing…

…and they were just so SO happy throughout it all!

Mac and Amy, the best of luck to you both.  Thanks for allowing us to be a part of this and for doing such a good job planning everything and giving us great material to work with! 🙂  Congrats!

Click to see the rest of Mac and Amy’s downtown wedding photos.