Adrienne & Mike’s Big Day (and the people who helped make it happen)!

This wedding was a unique one for us because not only was this day the joining of two people, it was the joining of a family.  The way they included the kids as often as possible in the events of the day truly represented that this was about more than just romance, it was about the love of a family.  This picture shows the special prayer they had during the ceremony to ask God to bless their new family.

One thing we really want to highlight about this wedding were the excellent vendors we worked with.  The ceremony was held at the Arizona Golf Resort in a special little area designated for weddings.  So it not only had the beautiful, open, expansive green of a golf course, but it also maintained an intimate quality within the walls of the fountain.

Though is was a hot summer day in Phoenix, Arizona, the Arizona Golf Resort made it as comfortable as possible by providing water for all the guests and umbrellas to offer extra shade to those who requested it.  The trees surrounding the wedding area also did a great job of shading and providing relief from the scorching sun (and of course they add that non-deserty look that we always savor as a welcome break from cactus ridden AZ)!  The location provided hotel rooms for the wedding party to get ready in as well as golf carts for transportation during photography so we could get around their enormous property with speed!  We were told there are all kinds of features on the grounds that we never even made it over to, including a fabulous lake!

All the people who work at the Arizona Golf Resort were super helpful and ready to assist us with our every little whim. It makes you kind of feel like a celebrity… or at least like someone on a local newstation or something!  The wedding coordinator at the resort that we worked with (April) was super kind and helpful as well, not to mention eager to go above and beyond in finding ways to make weddings at their venue even more wonderful than they already are (she asked for our opinion on the matter!).

I had to include the picture below in the blog because it totally cracks me up.  They insisted on getting what they called “a graduation” picture.  I love it because it’s so old school 90210.  Graduation photo indeed!

The other vendor we worked with at this wedding who totally impressed us was the wedding planning company that Adrienne and Mike hired to help coordinate their backyard reception (sounds like quite a challenging project if you ask me)!  A Simple Touch Wedding Decor is the company we’re discussing and the star from this company that shone out was the particular wedding planner we worked with, Molly.  We say wedding planner, but she was more like a wedding magician because not only could she do ANYTHING, she did it all with amazing style and class.  And of course, what’s a good leader without an amazing group of supporters who do an amazing job as well.  The entire team at A Simple Touch is outstanding.

I can’t even begin to tell you all the things that A Simple Touch provides.  Everything from wedding planning, to decorations and table cloths, to faux ceilings (I didn’t even know they made faux ceilings)!  Not to mention they do all the work involved with all of that stuff, like set up and tear down.   I mean, just look at these pictures… talk about skillz!  They provide all their own custom wrought iron decorations (like the arch you see in the cake picture below) that can be used for all kinds of things.  They had one giant wrought iron tower with a freaking chandelier in it!  I deem that as an official essential to every cool wedding.  Breanna’s offical seal of approval, now that’s a gift to be treasured! Ha ha, j/k.  But for real, look at these pictures! How cool is this stuff?!!

Out of all the things A Simple Touch does (and does well), their biggest value lies in the fact that they take the burden of the bride’s stress and shoulder it all themselves!  The entire night took on a life of it’s own as dessert trays were shifted in and out, chairs were shuffled, and hor d’oeuvre trays were stocked. All this went on while the couple just smiled cluelessly and danced the night away.  WONDERFUL!!  That’s exactly how a wedding should be!  But unfortunately we see far too many weddings that either begin or end with the bride in tears (and not the good, sentimental kind).  So to avoid makeup smears and smudges ladies, we highly recommend that you check out A Simple Touch and consider using them to be your official stress bearers!  Oh and as a side note, my favorite thing about Molly is that she’s carrying all this stress and she’s TOTALLY chill!  I never thought “chill” and “wedding planner” could go together in the same sentence before.  And this is a very important quality about her because a stressed wedding planner can create a bridezilla out of the most laidback girl, where a chilled out wedding planner can chill out the most high maintenance bride.

So if you haven’t figured it out by now, we want to say thank you to The Arizona Golf Resort and to A Simple Touch Wedding Decor … you guys are amazing!  And if you only hear one thing after reading this blog, hear this… the vendors you hire for your wedding can make or break the entire day!  So do your research, learn what to look for, and spend the money necessary to hire the best in some of these essential areas (even if it means skimping in areas that aren’t as vital)!  You may think you’re saving money, but if you end up with an obnoxious DJ, boring wedding photography, or an unorganized wedding planner… you’ve actually just wasted thousands of dollars!

We’ve worked with a lot of vendors over the years (both good and bad) and we are committed to helping everyone have their dream wedding, so send us an email if you need referrals in any area and we’ll do our best to help you find someone you’ll be very happy with.  Follow in the footsteps of Mike and Adrienne and leave the sucky weddings to the lame people!

Click to see the rest of Mike and Adrienne’s AZ wedding photography.