Fun Wedding in Sedona, AZ
Amelia and Shawn’s outdoor wedding was so personalized and perfect! The couple truly incorporated special parts of themselves and their love into this ceremony! Make sure to watch their fun Sedona wedding video to see all of the love and happiness from their unforgettable day.
Watch the couple’s fun Sedona wedding video right here, but don’t forget to keep reading to hear even more from their amazing day!
1. What part of your wedding planning are you most proud of?
There are 2 things I’m most proud of with the wedding planning:
1) I did a good job interviewing and choosing vendors to provide the services we needed to create a successful event. The one vendor I had to change 1 month before the wedding was because I didn’t interview more than 1 florist to make sure she had the right skills and personality to fit our needs. Every future bride and groom need to know that they are the CEO of their wedding. It’s much easier to manage a project if you start with hiring the right people from the get go. I hate micromanaging and prefer to hire the right people from the beginning so I don’t have to stress later on and be supported by trustworthy experts to help me make decisions.
2) My husband and I worked very hard to personalize our wedding with creative design choices that also expressed our creative skills. We wanted an authentic experience. Between the two of us, we had 11 DIY projects. To name a few of our projects: I threw large platters and vases on a potter’s wheel to be a part of our centerpieces and wedding decor. We made free standing light structures to decorate our wedding reception banquet hall and my husband programmed the lights into different rhythms and colors for our reception including our first dance, our friends’ Bollywood dance, and the Hava Nagila.
2. Where did you get married?
Sedona, AZ. Our romantic relationship started on a camping trip in Sedona over 4 years ago.
3. Why was using WeddingMix appealing for your big day?
My friend who got married before us recommended that we get a videographer to capture the important moments of our wedding. It was one of her biggest regrets from her wedding planning decision process. We didn’t have much in our budget to afford a professional photographer AND a professional videographer. WeddingMix allowed us to capture those memorable moments that are best remembered by video without breaking the bank.
4. What special moments from your wedding do you want to remember forever?
The whole 4 day weekend was a special moment and I don’t want to forget anything. But if we had to pick:
– Shawn’s birthday party and him doing improv with our improv moderator and our guests. The best moment was when they did an activity where he and the moderator pretended to be returning from their honeymoon and 3 of our guests had to act out the “pictures” from their trip. I don’t know if we got video footage from that but it is a great memory.
– The double rainbow that greeted us when we arrived in Sedona.
-Sedona’s spectacular views.
– Seeing family and friends we haven’t seen in years. I had family who came all the way from England and Scotland.
– The look on Bobby’s face (our ring bearer) when he opened the ring box and discovered the drone for the first time at our wedding rehearsal. His look went from cautious and confused to complete joy and surprise. It was awesome!
– Native American flute playing while watching the sunset on our Sedona tour. The tour overall was a beautiful experience.
– Our first dance, the Bollywood dance, and the Hava Nagila.
– My bridesmaids and I singing in the car on our way to first looks.
– Our first looks prior to the wedding. We both cried.
– Frankly, I want the whole ceremony on video from the singing bowl blessing to the conga line recessional. But if I had to choose the highlights of the ceremony: our mini Chinese tea ceremony, my cousin George reciting our poem, our ceremony vows with the coin toss, Bobby and the drone presenting the wedding rings, and the conga line recessional.
– The steel band playing with the groom, father of the groom, and the bride dancing next to the band.
– Footage of our amazing buffet dinner including the whole roasted pig and the decorated reception tables that had my ceramic platters, DIY butterfly chapstick favors, and handmade napkin rings.
– The speeches from the matron of honor, the best man, and father of the bride.
– A picture of our cake and cupcake display. My husband designed and made the cupcake and cake stands.
-People taking pictures at our PhotoBooth which included a DIY parasol wall and DIY green button that was connected to a programmed camera (thanks to our tech savvy friends who helped us set it up last minute).
– Our grand exit with the flower petals.
5. How did WeddingMix help capture those moments?
I communicated to everyone about wedding mix at every appropriate opportunity. I posted the link to our Facebook event website 2 weeks prior. I sent an email out a week before the wedding. I mentioned wedding mix in our welcome cards that came with our welcome bags for the guests who stayed over for the weekend activities. And I placed tent cards on the reception tables.
We rented 4 HD camera phones from Wedding Mix. I gave one to the groomsmen, one to the bridesmaids, one to my cousin who liked gagetry (and who didn’t like being in photos or videos), and the 4th was randomly passed around to everyone at the party to capture moments they saw fit.
6. What is your top wedding budget tip(s)?
Weddings are expensive in general but since we had a destination wedding, we decided to have our wedding on a Sunday. Choosing a Sunday wedding date helped us get a lot of great discounts, negotiating power with vendors, and saved us a few thousand dollars overall.
Vendors
Sierra Blanco was our photographer. Their photography skills are out of this world and belong in bridal magazines. I felt bad that my husband and I didn’t model up to their skill level. The nature views were breathtaking.
Agave of Sedona was our venue. The facility was well kept, chic, modern, and their view is spectacular.
Bigfoot BBQ were our caterer and did an excellent job making a delicious Luau inspired dinner including a roasted pig.
Rhythm is Life Steel Band was our Caribbean steel band that played at our wedding
Bobby Russell/ Sedona Sounds DJ was our DJ. He did a great job at the reception and made good music decisions to keep the party going.
Pink Petals was my lovely florist who did an excellent job with the flower design with 1 month’s notice and was willing to collaborate with me with the centerpieces that I designed and threw on the potter’s wheel.
Ask the couple a question: