Alex was a free spirit that visited our Phoenix bridal salon earlier this year. She came in with long curly hair, a fantastic attitude, and a definite vision for her wedding. She recently shared some photos, and kind words about our service, with us:
Hi, Ann (and Strut Team)!
Ann, I wanted to thank you for helping me find the perfect dress for Jason's and my outdoor, Rock-a-billy Bohemian wedding. It was THE BEST wedding, and it all started with the dress!!
Thanks again, and I continue to recommend you and your services to every friend I know!!
Sincerely, Alex D.
Even better, Alex sent us fantastic and fun captions for her photos. Enjoy!
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These are the centerpieces I created with my mom and my mom-to-be. We made these with saved-up corks, and added our favorite wine bottles, sea shells, and flowers. All in all, the cost was minimal, as all of the items were either Dollar Store purchases or recycled materials… Although there was a LOT of wine drank to get to here! 😉
Here is our cake… It was a custom-designed wine barrel on the outside, with red-velvet cake and Strawberry icing inside! Even the little grapes were edible. We served cupcakes to our guests (Orange with white chocolate icing, red velvet with strawberry icing, and carrot cake with vanilla icing).
Jason designed the cake, and was quite pleased with himself, based on how it turned out!!
The weather leading up to the wedding day was beautiful, typical Central Coast CA warm, sunny days and cool nights…. Except September 10…. It was cool and rained a good portion of the morning!! However, it cleared up just as the wedding started. Dad walked me down the aisle to Queen's "Somebody to Love". Mom made my bouquet. Jason told me later how thrilled he was when he saw me in the dress… Tells me, "I love strapless dresses, I think they're very sexy!" I guess I'll have to wear them more often!! 😉
Here are the two of us, during the ceremony. My mom added some ribbons into the tucks of my dress, and I added a shawl. Jason was wearing a Barong, a traditional Philipino dress shirt. He chose this as it was very dressy, but did not require a jacket or a tie. My mom made his boutonniere.
Speaking of boutonnieres, my mom and I made one for every wedding guest who attended the wedding. We made these out of old jewelry, beads, shells, ribbons, lace, flowers, even feathers! Again, just another successful stop at the Dollar Store for some great (and personalized) wedding favors. It was really cool walking around and greeting everyone after the ceremony, and seeing which boutonniere they chose for themselves!!
We got married on the deck of Jason's parents' house. It was such a beautiful setting!! The girls all picked their own outfits (they just were told a specific color), and the guys were all in Barongs. One of Jason's oldest friends was also a Universal Life Church Reverend, and thusly married us. Lastly, my flower girl had a halo, wings, and a wand in lieu of a bucket of flowers!
At the end of the ceremony, after Jason and I kissed, we turned around to all of our guests… Wearing Fake Red Wax Lips!!! Oh, it was too funny – so much so, we needed to get a picture of us with the lips in!!
Our wine toast was called a "Toba-tini" – one of our favorite wineries along the Central Coast in Paso Robles, CA is Tobin James, who produces a sparkling white wine as well as a late-harvest Zinfandel. A Toba-tini is a combination of these two wines. Our toasting glasses we purchased from the Fellowship Foundry, which specializes in hand-crafted pewter items. The Fellowship Foundry can be found at the Arizona Renaissance Faire every year.
The reception was catered by a close friend of the family, and we set it up as one long table (with Jason and I in the center). Our first dance was to (again) Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls"… It wasn't planned to be our first dance, it just happened that way!! We were even serenaded by the caterer at one point, who came out and sang "L.O.V.E." by Nat King Cole. For dessert, one of the groomsmen brought home-made cordials, spiced rum, and cranberry brandy for everyone to toast the good time. It was a perfect day! <3
