What is your name and your groom’s name? MacKenzie & Brett
What was your wedding date?Saturday, November 19, 2016
How did you and your groom meet?Brett and I met his senior year at prom. He went with a friend and I went with his best friend. Long story short, we spent the whole night talking, traded phone numbers, and the rest is history.
We are dying to know, how did he propose?! In March of 2015, Brett planned an “Escape the Room” game inviting our closest friends and family. While I didn’t know it at the time, he had planned ahead and hidden a note in place of one of the clues to help us escape the room. We were about 50 minutes in to the 60 minutes groups are given to escape when my friend Amanda said, in a very loud voice, “MacKenzie, come look over here in the oven.” I had already looked there, several times, and she pulled out a metal, magnetic lock box and handed it to me. As I slid the box open, a small folded piece of paper fell out. I opened the note that read “Your next clue is with your fiance.” I turned around and Brett was down on one knee with a beautiful ring.
What were your wedding colors and why did you choose them? Brett and I chose navy blue, oranges and peaches for our fall wedding. We wanted a contemporary look to merge with our rustic venue.
The Dress
Where did you find your dress? Would you say that finding your dress was relatively easy or difficult? I found my wedding dress at David’s Bridal. It was the second gown I purchased and I fell in love with the soft features of the skirt and the beautiful designs at the top of the dress.
Where did your ceremony and reception take place? Was there any special meaning behind the choice of the venue(s)?We held our ceremony and reception both at Shenandoah Mill. Brett and I fell in love with look of the mill, and how easy it was to coordinate the event. We love our pictures!
The Cake
What was the flavor of your wedding cake? Brett was in charge of the flavors and look of the cake. The bottom layer was almond flavored cake with a chocolate hazelnut filling. The middle layer was pumpkin spice with cream cheese filling. And the top layer was red velvet with cream cheese filling. The frosting covering the outside of the cake was a light buttercream. It was delicious!
What details from your wedding that made it unique to you? Our favorite part of the wedding was the unique participants in our ceremony. Our grandmothers were our flower girls and they were so honored to be asked! And, not to mention, they looked adorable coming down the aisle! We also used our dog as our ring bearer. During the ring exchange in the ceremony, we called to have her released. She ran down the aisle in a tutu with the rings tied to her collar. It couldn’t have gone smoother!
Other than marrying your husband, what was one of your favorite moments from your wedding day?Seeing my dad before he walked me down the aisle. Brett and I chose not to do a first look, so our photographer captured a first look between my dad and me.
The Honeymoon
Did you take a honeymoon? If so, where did you go? We are planning our honeymoon for June of 2017. We have a Caribbean cruise scheduled with some exciting excursions planned.
What is one piece of wisdom you learned from your planning experience that you would like to share with future brides?Enjoy the planning process and do only what you can. If you do it right, the experience of planning and involving your family will be just as valuable of an experience as the actual wedding. Don’t worry too much, because the day of, all you worry about anyways is enjoying the day.
Who were some of the other vendors that were a part of your dream team?Graceful Cakes– Wedding Cake
Cassy Carmody Photography Shenandoah Mill-Venue
Meet Real Bride Angie and her husband Greg. They met in 2011 and tied the knot in 2016 at Schnpef Farms. What did Angie love most about her wedding? Read on…..
In Angie’s Words
What is your name and your groom’s name? Angie & Greg
What was your wedding date?Saturday, September 10, 2016
How did you and your groom meet?Greg and I met through mutual friends at the University of Arizona in 2011.
We are dying to know, how did he propose?! We spent the day doing things we hadn’t done before. This included hiking new trails in familiar areas. We were on top of a peak at sunset at Papago Park. I was completely taken by surprise.
What were your wedding colors and why did you choose them? We chose navy blue and yellow because they were appropriate for the season and everyone looks good in navy blue! I wanted to carry sunflowers so the yellow was a natural fit.
The Dress
Where did you find your dress? Would you say that finding your dress was relatively easy or difficult? I found my dress at David’s Bridal. My mom and two of my three bridesmaids were with me. It meant a lot to have mom there because I rarely see her since she lives out of town. I chose the second one I tried on which is funny because I didn’t like it on the hanger. My mom picked it out and insisted I try it. I came out of the dressing room and got the dream reaction! After trying on the next dress I realized that Mom knew best and nothing compared – I was hooked!
Where did your ceremony and reception take place? Was there any special meaning behind the choice of the venue(s)?We had our ceremony and reception at Schnepf Farm’s Red Barn. We got a phenomenal deal through the bridal expo and it was located perfectly equi-distance between where our two families (Greg’s are from North Phoenix, mine from Southeastern Arizona).
What kind of flowers did you have in your bouquet and at the ceremony/reception? My bouquet was composed of Sunflowers and white carnations (carnations are my favorite). My bridesmaids had sunflowers and white daisies.
The Cake
What was the flavor of your wedding cake? We had a marble cake, made by one of my best friends.
What details from your wedding that made it unique to you? Instead of numbering our tables, we chose to name each of them after a location we’d lived or visited and shared a story about an adventure we had there. It made it a lot more fun and interactive for our guests. Each table also had different topics to make suggestions for i.e. Date night, funny jokes, books to read, bucket list ideas, etc.
Other than marrying your husband, what was one of your favorite moments from your wedding day? I absolutely loved my flower girls reaction to her dress. She is 2 years old and upon seeing her dress her eyes got big and she whispered “princess?” She reacted the same to my dress too, it was adorable!
The Honeymoon
Did you take a honeymoon? If so, where did you go? Yes! We took a 5 day, 4 night Carnival Cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. It was so fun!
What is one piece of wisdom you learned from your planning experience that you would like to share with future brides?There will always be one member of the bridal party that let’s you down. Remember, this is your most important day, not theirs. Lower your expectations of everyone and you’ll truly be dazzled by those who do show you extra love.
We are so excited to introduce Katie and her real bride story. It’s been 3 years since Babydoll Weddings provided hair and makeup services for her back on October 19, 2013 – the day that Katie married her handsome prince. Katie and Chad have known each other since childhood and we still can’t get over the fact that they built their own venue for their big day! It was the perfect combination of romantic, country, and vintage styles. Just look how gorgeous this venue is! Read more below!
How did you and your groom meet? My husband and I met when I was about 8 years old. He was good friends with my sister and, as a result, he became a good family friend. Later in life, we reconnected at his parent’s New Years party, and that was the start of our dating relationship.
The #babydoll tribe is dying to know, how did he propose?! We went camping, and right before we were getting ready to drive home he surprised me with a romantic picnic. Sitting, overlooking this beautiful valley as the sun was setting, he dropped to one knee and asked me to be his wife!
What were your wedding colors and why did you choose them? My colors were blush pink/gold/ivory. I wanted soft, romantic colors as I was going for a country vintage vibe.
Where did you find your dress? Would you say that finding your dress was relatively easy or difficult? I found my dress at Suzanne’s Bridal, and it was relatively easy… I narrowed it down to 2 dresses; one was this BEAUTIFUL lace gown that had a long train, and the other was a light organza gown, with subtle blush colored flowers. I ended up getting the organza dress because when I was in it I just kind of “glowed”.
Where did your ceremony and reception take place? Was there any special meaning behind the choice of the venue(s)? When my husband and I went to look at venues, nothing really “spoke” to us – and everything cost SO much – so we decided to take the money we would have spent on a venue and built our own. 🙂 My husband bought property out in Maricopa years ago, and we designed and built exactly what we wanted, which means we planted over 300 trees, trenched and installed irrigation lines, planted grass, and erected a “pole-barn”. What a special day it was, when we were actually enjoying the fruits of our (and friends/families) labor!!:) As a result, we now have a place that will be in our family forever.
What was the flavor of your wedding cake? We had 4 or 5 different flavors. Shoutout to Sugarlips Cakery!!
What kind of flowers did you have in your bouquet and at the ceremony/reception? Roses, Hydrangeas, Baby’s Breath
Did you provide favors to your guests? If so, what were they? Yes, my cousin made these BEAUTIFUL boxes, and we put little seed packets in them.
What details from your wedding that made it unique to you? Everything:) we built it from the ground up! One thing that we especially loved was that my dad built us a picture wall. When we sent out our thank you cards, each family received their photo, too.
Other than marrying your husband, what was one of your favorite moments from your wedding day? Fireworks erupted during our first dance as husband and wife… it felt like a fairytale!
Did you take a honeymoon? If so, where did you go? Hawaii (Big Island)
What is one piece of wisdom you learned from your planning experience that you would like to share with future brides? Don’t stress out too much… no one will remember those “little things” that didn’t get done. Have fun!! Remember, you are throwing the biggest party of your life, and you are marrying your best friend, so all will be well!
Who were some of the other vendors that were a part of your dream team? Jessica Q Photography!
As wedding stylist we really don’t step out to anything other than behind the scenes, but in all honesty those behind the scene moment are so crucial. It’s really important that the bride and her wedding party look their best. We recently had such a great time doing Daniella’s wedding at the Windmill Winery. Our stylist Amanda, Rachel, Sam, Alyssa, and Kedisha we’re total rockstars! Click more to see how the look came all together.
In this week’s Bridal Portrait Series, we are featuring our brown eyed girl Bride Laurie. Laurie is seen wearing a sweet lacey gown with simple accessories, including some fun lace-boots, perfect for a country chic wedding.
Babydoll Weddings Lead Stylist Micky shares with us how Laurie’s makeup look came to be:
Laurie was looking for a natural smoky eye, so I decided to use a variation of browns from light to dark to help enhance her beautiful big eyes. I wanted to keep her lipstick natural as well but added a little more of a darker pink to give her some color.
Please enjoy Laurie’s Bridal Portrait Session:
Vendors:
Hair & Makeup: Hair by Sabrina, Makupe by Micky at Babydoll Weddings
Where did your ceremony and reception take place? Was there any special meaning behind the choice of the venue(s)?
Other than marrying your husband, what was one of your favorite moments from your wedding day?
Who were some of the other vendors that were a part of your dream team?
How did you and your groom meet? 
Where did your ceremony and reception take place? Was there any special meaning behind the choice of the venue(s)? 
and erected a “pole-barn”. What a special day it was, when we were actually enjoying the fruits of our (and friends/families) labor!!:) As a result, we now have a place that will be in our family forever. 
What kind of flowers did you have in your bouquet and at the ceremony/reception? 
