Arizona-Phoenix — The Knot Community

Busy Weekend

Syndelin — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:11:49 +0000

Hey ladies! How is it going? Board has been a bit slow lately. =)

I got a lot done this weekend! Finalized my invitation designs, had my first dress fitting, picked up some awesome vases for reception centerpieces, finished up picking out all the details for our ceremony, and started working on a set song list! Whew! I'm tired. LOL

I think all we're down to now is finding what or who we want to use for our flowers, getting the invites out, finalizing menu, and getting his ring and attire sorted. I actually finally feel like we're on track and doing good! So much less stress.

How are you doing? What do you have left to do?

Tre Bella brides -- photos!

LadyB64 — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 20:46:40 +0000

Hi girls!

Well, my wedding was three weeks ago and it was absolutely perfect. Our ceremony was at my husband's father's church but we used Tre Bella for getting ready, first look, bridal party photos, and reception (of course).

Here's the link to our photographers' blog with some awesome photos of the day. I'd love to see you pictures, too!

God bless,
Brenna
http://radiantphotographyaz.com/radiant_life/?p=4721

lcarp203

Celles — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:37:34 +0000

I don't usually gush, but since we have a venue and several vendors in common (and, obviously, fantastic taste! ;), I almost feel like I know you. You have been so sweet and so amazingly supportive -- not just of me, but of all of us Phoenix brides -- and I am SO happy for you and your fiance, and SO excited that you're getting married tomorrow.

I hope you have the time of your life.

Congratulations!

P.S. Don't forget to come back and share pictures! You're already gorgeous, so I know you will make a stunning bride! I know I'll be stalking Drew's blog for the next week or two, lol.

Have you been to Xona Resort?

acnahm — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 15:59:52 +0000

I booked a room there for myself and my bridesmaids the night before the wedding, and my FI and I the night of the wedding. However, I have never been there, so I wanted to get opinions if you have been there. Is it nice, like other Scottsdale resorts? Do they have good customer service? Any input or experiences would be great!

* Marissa0717 *

lcarp203 — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 12:05:46 +0000

Congratulations! You are now married! Come back and tell us all about it!

Ok now I'm stressed...

Marissa0717 — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 15:35:35 +0000

AAAAHHHH! I was fine until this morning, now I feel overwhelmed. And the weird part? Everything is done and planned for my wedding this Saturday! All I need to do is show up! In my mind though I keep wanting to double (and triple) check everything, I worry about a break out, and I am second guessing some of my planning. And I honestly know that it is all going to be fine, but as of othis morning I feel like, well, nothing is in order.

Anyone else feel this way right before they got married? I feel like a total nut!

I am beyond totally excited even though this nervous feeling has set in!!! Maybe it is the excitement getting to me...?

I need Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

chalis&richard — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 00:40:23 +0000

Hello ladies, I just thought that I would let you all know that I am using a wedding planner for my wedding day and up to that day. I wasn't going to but I had heard alot of people talking about their wedding and how they had a wedding planner and how they were able to enjoy their day instead of stressing all day about everything. So I am going with Platinum Designs Event Planning. I met with 9 wedding planners and decided to go with them. they were young and very nice and outgoing. What made them stand out the most was they wanted to make sure that whatever I wanted they would do there best to make happen. The others just sounded more like they wanted to steer me in other directions. For instance I told this one that I don't want a church wedding because my FI was not religious but they still were trying to get me to go to the church. I just felt more comfortable with these girls. Their phone number is 417-837-9288 and web address is platinumdesignsep.com Just give them a call.
Posted by chalis&richard

Sedona Wedding - Vendor Reviews

janjan550 — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 03:16:58 +0000

We got married on 10/9/10 and everything was perfect. I expected there to be more stress or problems on the day of, but everything went wonderfully as far as I could tell. I posted a link to some pics in a prior post if you're interested.

Here are my vendor reviews:

Venue – Poco Diablo Resort in Sedona, AZ (www.pocodiablo.com/">http://www.pocodiablo.com/) – The grounds at Poco Diablo are beautiful and the layout of the resort is great for a destination wedding weekend. Many of the rooms surround the small golf course, with patios that open up to the course for a great atmosphere for hanging out with the friends and family. The ceremony itself was in front of the gazebo which is beautiful. The ceremony was followed by a cocktail hour on the Rose Terrace, followed by the dinner on the Canopy Patio. The remainder of the dancing and other fun was back on the Rose Terrace. The entire event was outside, which I LOVED. I was somewhat worried that having separate areas at the reception might be awkward, but it was not a problem at all. I did not want a ballroom reception at all, and this was the ideal solution for us. I would not change the decision we made to pick Poco, or the decision to have the entire event outside. We have received many compliments from wedding guests about how beautiful the place was and how much they enjoyed being there. Absolutely no regrets about making the decision to get married in Sedona, instead of Phoenix, and no regrets about choosing Poco Diablo. We had two others venues we liked, and specifically one other that I kept wondering about even after we picked, but when all is said and done, I am 100% sure we made the right choice. From the time that we booked until our wedding seven months later, the person in charge of the weddings changed. The new person, Jill K, is great to work with. There were a few things that the original person promised that were not in the contract and were not able to be fulfilled, but they were relatively minor and barely worth mentioning. It seems as though the real problem may have been the original person promising more than was normal for no additional charge. Also the resort changed ownership during this period which caused some frustrations relating to the hotel room reservations for our guests. This were eventually all sorted out, but was a headache at the time. Aside from these few minor frustrations, everything was wonderful. I know every wedding has some stresses or issues, so the fact that we had so few is a positive reflection on Poco Diablo, and most of the stresses related to transitions within the resort, which are unlikely to recur on a regular basis.

Photographer – Danielle Daigle (www.danielledaigle.com/">http://www.danielledaigle.com/) – We LOVE Danielle. We met with a few other photographers in the Phoenix area. We loved her work and found her to be very comfortable to work with. Her style is awesome, and she is the perfect balance between a photographer that completely takes charge of everything, and a photographer that looks to you for all the ideas. She definitely has her own ideas and suggestions, but she is not domineering or controlling, and is very open to understanding any vision you may have. We actually had multiple people tell us at our wedding how cool the photographers were and have had tons of compliments since then on the actual pictures. She was so accommodating with our engagement pictures, which we did in Sedona, and in fact she spent more time with us for our engagement pics than some photographers would have spent with us on the actual wedding day. I can’t say enough good things about Danielle.

Flowers – Mountain High Flowers (http://mountainhighflowerssedona.com/) – We decided to just go for bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages for flowers for the wedding to keep the cost down. We met with one popular flower shop in town and thought the prices were way beyond what we felt was reasonable. They had very “couture” vision and we were not able to work out a plan with them. We were looking into just doing something ourselves or going with Safeway flowers, when we were referred to Mountain High Flowers. They never made us feel uncomfortable about wanting to keep things simple and budget friendly. They were super nice and accommodating, and the result was some very lovely flowers. For us, this was a great option. Neither of us had any real vision for flowers, beyond colors, and could not justify a big portion of our budget on what we perceived as a small part of what makes a wedding great. We also had our whole event outside, so a ton of flowers seemed unnecessary. I am happy with the flowers, and they looked great in the pictures.

Officiant – Anthony Flesch from Weddings in Sedona (www.weddingsinsedona.com/">http://www.weddingsinsedona.com/) – Anthony has a lovely South African accent which is very calming to me. We selected Anthony based on research and referrals and he was a good blend of the Sedona vibe, without being too “earthy” as I call it. Weddings in Sedona was easy to work with and provided suggestions in other areas of our wedding, even though we only contracted with them for the officiant services. They also provide wedding planning services, which it seems like they would be good at. The officiant only pricing was more than I would have anticipated, but the cost is consistent with the other officiants in Sedona, so I believe the price is fair. Cake – Sedona Sweet Arts (http://sedonaweddingcakes.com/) – Cake was lovely and tasted great. Sedona Sweet Arts was easy to work with and delivered a cake that was delicious and exactly what we asked for.

Hair – Heather Tomasek from Head First Salon in Flagstaff ((928) 779-6949) – Heather works in Flagstaff but lives in Sedona. I was referred to her by a friend in Flagstaff and it worked out perfectly. She came to the resort in Sedona to do my hair, the bridesmaids, and my mom and sister. She was creative with and did a great job with a wide range of hair types and styles.

Rehearsal Dinner – Cucina Rustica (www.cucinarustica.com/index.htm">http://www.cucinarustica.com/index.htm) – My husband’s parents, generously hosted our rehearsal dinner at Cucina Rustica. The food was awesome and the restaurant is beautiful, We had a large group (around 35), so my husband’s parents had made the arrangements well in advance and had a special reduced menu for our event. On the day of, when we arrived, it became clear that they did not have us in our own area as it had been indicated, and the restaurant was very busy and loud. The reduced menu was very nice, but was not the agreed upon menu, and the service was slow. Our guests all commented on how wonderful everything was, so I don’t think the problems were things that would be noticed by a guest who did not know how it was supposed to be. But as a person in the know, it was clear that it was not exactly as planned. The food really is spectacular, there is no denying that. I wish the execution had been a little better. The servers all tried to pull it all together, and I have no complaints about them. I think the issues stemmed from poor communication on how things were intended to be executed from the person who coordinates these types of events. My husband’s parents let the manager know of the issues on the rehearsal dinner night and in a follow-up e-mail, and the manager was very apologetic. I would definitely eat there again if I was in town, because the food is so good, but I might avoid having such a large group there on a busy night. DJ – Our DJ was a family friend of my husband’s who used to be in the business, but now mostly just does stuff for family and friends. He was awesome and kept the crowd going. I am glad I didn’t know in advance all of his plans because I probably would have vetoed some or at least worried, but I am glad he did all the things he did. He proved to me that it is better to just trust the professionals you have hired and not try to control everything yourself.

Am I doing everything that I need to?

Dallas222 — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:08:43 +0000

Hi! My FI and got engaged in June and it pretty much has been a whirlwind since that day. We dated long distance (me in Dallas and he in California) and now we are both in California. Moving, planning a wedding, and working full time has definitely taken me out of my normal comfort zones.
We are having a very small wedding (40 people) at the Hyatt Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale. I have moved away from my friends and family and my MOH (my sister) lives in Japan so I kind of feel like the success of this wedding falls solely on me and it is making me nervous.

Any advice on how to get my bearing back and make sure I am doing everything I need?! :)

Group On Deal for Dance Lessons.

guamibear — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:56:00 +0000

I might try this one.

http://www.groupon.com/phoenix/deals/fred-astaire-phoenix?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&c=a&addx=jennifer.marie.may@gmail.com

Officiant Fees - what is normal?

Syndelin — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 03:24:22 +0000

I'm just curious... we met with the first officiant we've seen today, and his fee seemed kind of high, but I really have no idea at all what is normal for them to charge.

If you don't mind sharing what you paid, or what you've been quoted, I'd love to know if he's basically in line with other local ones!

Thanks!

Non-wedding venue suggestions

MoFree — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 17:45:31 +0000

We're looking for a venue for FIL's 60th birthday in the Scottsdale-downtown Phoenix area for 75-100 guests in mid May. Budget is not a major factor and have a fairly generous budget. The party will be in the evening. Is May considered prime time for holding an event and am I likely to find the more desirable places already booked? I'm not sure if it will be too hot to hold it outside, so a place with both indoor and outdoor facilities is ideal.
Thanks for your suggestions.

Did you have to purchase wedding insurance?

krkapple — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:15:10 +0000

My venue requires liability insurance. It's not that expensive, but it just seems like an unnecessary expense. Did you have to buy it? Who did you go through?

OMG What to Wear!!!

sld0618 — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:30:26 +0000

I have my e-pics in two weeks from today. I have no idea what I should wear! FI keeps asking me so he can plan if he needs to go shopping (busy school schedule) so I need to figure it out pronto! Help me out with some suggestions please! I don't want to be matchy matchy, but still look nice and match together...if you get what I mean! Our pictures are going to be at Tempe Town Lake. What did you ladies wear for yours or plan on wearing for yours?

Hotel Reception Help

sld0618 — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 19:00:06 +0000

Hey ladies, I was wondering if you had seen any hotels for plated about 25 dollars a person in the Phx, Scottsdale, Tempe area? Has to hold at least 150 people. I found the Sheraton Tempe that has the price with awesome food, but I'm just checking if anyone knew of any other hotels during their searches!

TIA!!

OK- becoming very frustrated with VENUES!

tluzum — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:09:19 +0000

OK..I feel like I've been looking everywhere for a great venue. Our wedding will be in October 2011...around 150-170 people...and I would reeeally like to stay under $10,000 for the ceremony/reception. It'd be great to find a venue that allows outside caterers or alcohol. Indoor/Outdoor-doesn't matter to us. Any suggestions??!! We've looked at Inspirador (small and pricey), Tre Bella (too small), SanTan Elegante (beautiful, pricey, just not sure yet). We're planning on looking at Venue at the Grove tonight and Stonebridge Manor and Noah's this week.

Any other suggestions for places? Or opinions on venues I've mentioned? I'm stressing out!

Finally found our baker... and I'm in LOVE!

Beckity — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 03:55:31 +0000

After a good 2 monthis of searching, we've finally located the baker who will be doing our cupcakes for us for our wedding in March.

I'll preface this by saying, I'm not a huge fan of cupcakes. My original idea was to do assorted mini desserts. After one tasting with a baker, I was a bit discouraged because while I loved her brownies, I was not crazy about her cookies or cupcakes.

My FI works with a woman who owns (with her friend/business partner) a small gormet cupcake business: Our Lady of Cupcakes. They've done weddings before and offered to do the cupcakes for our wedding at a good price. Although I don't really like cake, I'd heard such great things about them from people at his office and decided to set up a tasting.

OMG. I felt like I could see through time eating those cupcakes. I don't want to even call them cupcakes- they are beyond.

So I've since decided to do an array of assorted cupcakes, as well as candies. I'm so excited!

For Sale

MrsFirelove — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:46:20 +0000

I have lots of stuff-
Cylinder vases
Unburned votive candles
Parasols
Mesquite Branches
Oil burning Unity Candle
New earrings
Silk orchids
Please email carmelelynn@gmail.com or PM me for prices and pictures!!!

Candy bags?

guamibear — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 05:08:21 +0000

Anyone know of where I would be able to purchase inexpensive paper or wax paper bags for a candy buffet?

Thanks!

Envelopments Swatches

dg0299 — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:51:52 +0000

Does anyone have a Mini Deck of Envelopment swatches that I can purchase or borrow? They are for sale on the envelopment website for $20 but I don't really want to pay that much just to look at sample colors. Plus, I can't seem to find a nearby store that carries the paper in stock. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Amazing Photo Session Giveway!

sboobear03 — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 17:56:03 +0000

Hey Knotties!

Have you done your epics yet? Calhoun Ink has a great giveaway right now. It is super easy to enter and she does AMAZING work.

She did my cousins wedding a few months back. The pictures turn out fabulous!!

http://calhounink.blogspot.com/

Inspirador

tluzum — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:53:49 +0000

Anyone have their wedding at Inspirador in downtown Chandler? Or been to a wedding there? What'd you think? Anyone know their prices?

all-inclusive honeymoon reviews

tluzum — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:20:05 +0000

We're beginning to brainstorm on honeymoon ideas. We'd really like to go somewhere with a beach but that also has things to do like kayak, hike, snorkel, that sorta thing. I've looked into Sandals but want to know which one is preffered or recommended??

Also, has anyone done the Couples Resorts? Breezes? Any other all-inclusive resorts? Anywhere that's NOT recommended?! Thank you!

Arizona Golf Resort

jemmini6 — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:12:10 +0000

My FI and I toured there on Saturday and loved it. The coordinator seemed to be really on top of things and they have good reviews on weddingwire.com. We actually have a contract in hand, but I just wanted to know if anyone has ever been to a wedding there, etc or any other experiences with them?

Economy Wedding Candy

AniRuiz29 — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:11:53 +0000

I'm having a candy buffet. Does anyone know where I can buy candy in bulk for cheap? A store or website?

DJ's

sld0618 — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 01:57:33 +0000

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a DJ. We want a good party, interactive, some normal wedding songs but also want some hip hop and a lot of dancing!!

Reasonable linen rental or for purchase?

numb3rMel — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:12:11 +0000

Hi ladies!!! DH and I were just married in Cancun, MX! YAY! Now its time for the AHR for all the friends and family. I have five 60" tables that need 120" linens. Does anyone know of a place that sells or rents them out for dirt cheap? The tables themselves are costing me about $8 to rent, I'm floored that the prices to rent linen are upwards of $12 each. It may not seem like a lot but wow! It adds up quickly. I've searched the board and found a couple of places and I've tried CL and EBay with little success. My AHR is next Saturday! eek!

TIA!!!!

Hotel Block for Guests

MrsWeiner — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 23:09:17 +0000

Hi Ladies,

I need some ideas and advice... I am getting married in dowtown Mesa at Regency Garden. I had originally set up a hotel block for guests at the Mesa Marriot off of Alma School. They had been great at first even offering to drive guests in a shuttle to and from the venue on the wedding day/night.

Back in June I signed the contract and they said they had apparently not received it. However, they failed to contact me about that until 2 months ago. I was smart and had a copy, forwarded that and the new contract back to them. Today I get a call saying that my block is STILL pending! They have apparently not received the 2 prior contracts that I have signed. I was so frustrated. We are about 4 months from the wedding and I have had the information on my website since the STD's went out. I did not put the website on the invitations which have already been ordered. I'm nervous about changing the block because I don't want the guests to be confused and with more than 150 people invited, and 1/2 out of town, I do not want to contact all of those people.

Long story short, the customer service was horrid and I really don't want to deal with them 'losing' my information again. Thoughts? Ideas? Other hotels in the area that are close enough to that venue?

What would you do?

Thanks!

Vendor reviews (with grades in honor of my teacher-ish-ness)

nycegrrl99 — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 19:34:43 +0000

HI ladies! My handsome husband (man I love saying that) and I got married on 10/10 in a beautiful blur of awesome. I wanted to get some vendor reviews up sooner but honeymooning took precedence! :)

Venue/DOC: Tre Bella/Kim A
In a word...AMAZING! The venue looked exactly as I'd pictured and I got so many compliments on the smoothness of the day. Kim was such a help through the whole process and she made sure that I didn't have to worry about a thing the day of the wedding.

Centerpieces: Blume B
Really nice ladies with some serious talent. My centerpieces were actually flowerless (serious family allgergy) but no one felt like we'd skimped since they were so beautiful. Delivery was so smooth I never even saw them, it was like the centerpieces just magically appeared. They were a little pricey (which is why I wound up doing my own bouquets.)

Transportation: Aloha Limos A
Super nice driver! We got exactly the vehicle we wanted all decked out in Just Married signs. He even stopped at a starbucks for us on the way to the airport at 6am. The booking was easy and the lady who scheduled seemed genuinely excited for our event! The vehicle was spotless and we were so happy

Cake: Phoenix Cake Company A
YUM! My cake was lovely, even prettier than the inspiration pic I brought. Everyone had two or three slices so they could try all the different flavors because they were so good.

DJ: Premier Audio (Tre Bella's house DJ) D
They seemed nice in our initial meet, but there was no follow up. We hadn't finalized our song choices but the DJ never verified. My processional song was not the instrumental version I requested (so did not want to walk down the aisle to someone singing) and my husband and I wound up being introduced at the reception to the one song we asked him NOT to play. Also, he was not a "master of ceremonies" like we thought we were getting. I spent my evening trying to get my family and friends dancing because the DJ didn't engage them at all. It was so bad that 90% of my guests were gone a half hour before the reception was even scheduled to end. This was the only disappointing part of the whole day.

Rehearsal: Joe's farm grill A
What a great place for a large group with kids! We had a rehearsal breakfast and they were super accomodating! They worked out a great system for us all to order and get our meals, the food was delish, and the grounds were immaculate.

Graphic Designer Recs?

terri11 — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:59:47 +0000

Hi Gals,

Does anyone know or have a graphic designer they can recommend? Want to get some bids for custom invites.

Thank so much!