Lemons, Lemons Everywhere- Danielle & Hank's Wedding

I love poring over the many gorgeous weddings posted on blogs. The creative details, amazing photos, beautiful dresses- but the thing that I think really adds something special is when explanation or advice from the bride is included. It allows a bit more insight into the day, and I know when I was planning my own wedding, it was something I gained a lot of great information and inspiration from.

I want to include more of this here at The Loveliest Day. I started with Jessica & Zach's wedding a few weeks ago, and now I have another fabulous bride who was willing to share her wedding.

Danielle is not only a beautiful bride, but also a friend. I asked her if she would be interested in sharing her wedding, and she went above and beyond providing a wealth of details and advice. Enough from me, here is what Danielle has to say...

When Hank and I first started planning our wedding, we knew we wanted something traditional, but at the same time we wanted to be sure it was a reflection of us. Hank's Mom used to own a flower shop for fun, so she was well-versed in all things wedding and was a huge help in the entire process. It's funny, because when I was a little girl, we would drive place this huge "castle," and I was always so curious about what princess lived there. As it turned out, this "castle" was an old mansion-turned-wedding venue, and this venue ended up being the place we got married! When we decided on Stonebridge Manor, we had visited one place prior. Our biggest dilemma was our guest list. At 300+ people, we were having a hard time finding a site suitable for our number without going the hotel/resort route. Most of the places I called wanted to split the guests up into different areas of the venue during the reception. This was not ideal for us, so when we came to beautiful Stonebridge and they could accommodate everyone comfortably, we knew right away it was where we wanted to be.

One thing that I wanted was a string quartet, and when Hank and the officiant walked down the aisle, the group actually played the Star Wars theme song. Hank had NO idea and the look on his face in our video is priceless. The guests loved that little surprise too.

I planned every single little thing myself- from the floral design to the table settings to the cupcakes to everything in between, and I found a lot of inspiration online, via messageboards, Martha Stewart, and random wedding sites. I decided to go with a running "lemon" theme, so our centerpieces, altar arrangements, cocktail hour, cupcakes, and candy table all reflected this choice. A couple little unique touches we added were a cupcake tower rather than a traditional cake, and we also had vegan cupcakes. Hank's Mom was insistent on having more foliage in the white tent, so we actually went to a nursery and she bought 10 large trees for the reception. We also put little boxes with "Love is Sweet!" printed on them at each place setting, and guests filled them with yellow/lemon candies from our candy bar.

The moment we got engaged, Hank had his heart set on renting a vintage photobooth, so we did that in place of a guest book. Our friends and family could use the photobooth throughout the entire night, and keep the photos as a keepsake of the evening. There was an attendant at the booth as well, and she encouraged everyone to place a strip in the book and sign next to it. It was a huge hit and because we had unlimited photos, the book is so full of amazing moments and messages. It's probably my favorite "thing" from the wedding, and totally worth it, in my opinion.


*You might recognize the adorable little lady in this photo booth strip from the photo booth photos I posted from my own wedding the other day. Yes, she was a bridesmaid in both of our weddings:)

Thinking back to this day, there are a few things I would have changed. I would have spent more time researching photographers, because although I am happy with the photos, I don't feel that they really represent us as a couple, stylistically. I would have definitely liked more editorial style shots. But, luckily I do have a lot of them that I cherish so I don't have any complaints...but if I could go back and do it again I would have chosen someone else.

Secondly, we had two very bad experiences both before the wedding and afterward. First, the chef at the venue was incredibly rude and completely unaccommodating to Hank's vegan requests. To give you an example, during our testing he actually yelled at my mother-in-law and stormed out, completely unprovoked. It was insane, but luckily we remedied the situation via the venue's wedding planner, and our food turned out wonderfully in the end. It did add a lot of stress though. My main advice when dealing with someone difficult would be to number one, not deal with them and move on to a different vendor. If you're in our boat, where it was too late and money was already paid, communication is key. Talk to the person, and don't avoid for fear of confrontation or upsetting someone. It's YOUR day!

Secondly, our videographer was horribly difficult to deal with after the fact, and we didn't receive our video until over a year later, after week after week of "it will be done this weekend, I promise." Hearing promises for an entire year is a little much, and it was just an overall bad situation. Lesson learned though- always be sure a date is in the contract. Had there been a date, we could have gotten back our money due to his extreme tardiness.

Other than those couple of things, there is nothing else I would want to change or avoid. The night went off without a hitch, and thinking about how beautiful and magical it was still makes me giddy. With that said, here are some "tips" that I'd love to pass on:

1) You get what you pay for. I really feel this is true. The number one thing NOT to skimp on: photography/videography. After your day is done, these things are all you will have left, and you want to be sure you have beautiful memories to look back on!

2) Don't forget the WHY. By this, I mean that you shouldn't get so caught up in every single detail, in things going right or wrong, that you forget just WHY you are doing all of it! You are celebrating this wonderful love, and it should be a joyous occasion. It's almost like that saying "the reason for the season" around Christmas time. Don't forget why you're doing all this planning in the first place!

3) Savor every moment. My best friend Autumn was the first of our group of girlfriends to get married, and she gave me some invaluable advice. She told me that when I got to the aisle on my Dad's arm stop for a minute and take it in, look at all of your friends and family looking back at you, look at Hank up there waiting for you, feel all of the love in that very moment, and try your hardest to take a permanent mental photograph. I did this, and I am so glad I did. The night went by so quickly, and I love that I really stopped (many times) and savored it all.

4) Have fun! It's easy to get wrapped up in talking and visiting that you forget to get out on the dance floor with everyone! I definitely danced the night away, but I can imagine how easy it could be to lose track of time and miss out on a lot of fun during those short hours.

5) Sneak away for a quiet moment with your new husband (or wife!). Hank and I did this, and it was truly amazing. We walked up and away from the reception for just about 10 minutes, but it was unreal to be able to really enjoy each other for a brief moment, tell each other how much we love each other, and again, "take in the moment."

The Vendors:

Wedding venue: Stonebridge Manor in Mesa, AZ
Photographer: Fred Ferguson
Cake: Let Them Eat Cake
Vegan Cupcakes: Cassandra Jackson
Floral: Zuzu's Petals
Photobooth: Arizona Photobooth Company
Dress: Azteca Bridal
Hair/makeup: Cosmos Day Spa

Danielle, thank you SO much for taking the time to share all of this!