Went to my first Arizona wedding this weekend...
And it was certainly interesting and very different from NY. There were a couple of things I thought I'd share cause it may come up for some:
1. She had the ceremony outside on the golf course, very nice but she had the guest book right at the area that you walked in. It created quite a long line. When you are standing in the sun, it starts to get hot. So maybe not the best placement for that. She also had no one directing people where to go, we started walking towards the door of the building (the wrong one at that) when I looked back and saw an arch in the golf course hedge and some people standing there.
2. She had a unity candle, but no one brought a lighter to the table ahead of time. They had to turn to the audience and ask if anyone had a lighter. Thankfully 1 person had one. It was funny and light, but just an FYI.
3. They didn't have a religious ceremony but her FH is Jewish, so they planned on having him break the glass and then be announced. The officiant wasn't let in on that I guess cause he was about to announce them and she had to walk away herself, get the glass and then he stomped it.
4. The mic kept going out during the whole ceremony, so make sure your DJ triple checks that it works. Not sure anything could have prevented that.
5. On a good note, her entrance song was the orchestra version of When You Wish Upon A Star. (Disney theme wedding) It was very cute.
On to the reception...there was no cocktail hour.
6. If anyone is having a small wedding and thinking about having open seating (I am) it does work. I will say that much. She had about 100 people maybe and she had open seating. It worked just fine. When we walked in and realized there were no escort cards we went and took a seat. The only thing she didn't do was have reserved family tables. That was an issue. It was a good thing we had the foresight to reserve a seat for our friend (her brother and GM) otherwise he may have had no real place to sit.
7. On the table were a glass of water and a glass of champagne. If you wanted Ice Tea, Lemonade, Coffee, etc...you had to get it yourself at the drink station. There was an open bar for beer and wine. Cash for mixed.
8. Now onto the food. There were bread baskets on the table but no dishes. There were a couple buffet stations. After the Wedding Party was announced and came in they all got their food and sat down. So we were sitting there like, what do we do? Do we just get up and on line? Will they tell us to? So our friend (the GM) said just go on up. So this is what they had:
1. Bagged salad in big bowls to pick from
2. A tray of O'graten (sp?) type potatoes
3. A tray of steamed string beans
4. A tray of legs and thighs that were baked
5. A carving station of Prime Rib with sauces
That was dinner. After we were finished (it was 6:30 maybe) I said, was that dinner? Was that cocktail hour? I was so confused. Not upset, but found it kind of funny when comparing it to NY.
9. The wedding ended at 10, the ceremony was at 5:30. Now when I say it ended, I mean it ENDED. DJ stopped, lights came on and it was over. Even before it was ending the family was going around taking off the chair covers and sashes, putting things away. It was so bizarre.
So that was a run down of my first AZ wedding. I have another one in Jan that may be a little different, I can't wait to see.
1. She had the ceremony outside on the golf course, very nice but she had the guest book right at the area that you walked in. It created quite a long line. When you are standing in the sun, it starts to get hot. So maybe not the best placement for that. She also had no one directing people where to go, we started walking towards the door of the building (the wrong one at that) when I looked back and saw an arch in the golf course hedge and some people standing there.
2. She had a unity candle, but no one brought a lighter to the table ahead of time. They had to turn to the audience and ask if anyone had a lighter. Thankfully 1 person had one. It was funny and light, but just an FYI.
3. They didn't have a religious ceremony but her FH is Jewish, so they planned on having him break the glass and then be announced. The officiant wasn't let in on that I guess cause he was about to announce them and she had to walk away herself, get the glass and then he stomped it.
4. The mic kept going out during the whole ceremony, so make sure your DJ triple checks that it works. Not sure anything could have prevented that.
5. On a good note, her entrance song was the orchestra version of When You Wish Upon A Star. (Disney theme wedding) It was very cute.
On to the reception...there was no cocktail hour.
6. If anyone is having a small wedding and thinking about having open seating (I am) it does work. I will say that much. She had about 100 people maybe and she had open seating. It worked just fine. When we walked in and realized there were no escort cards we went and took a seat. The only thing she didn't do was have reserved family tables. That was an issue. It was a good thing we had the foresight to reserve a seat for our friend (her brother and GM) otherwise he may have had no real place to sit.
7. On the table were a glass of water and a glass of champagne. If you wanted Ice Tea, Lemonade, Coffee, etc...you had to get it yourself at the drink station. There was an open bar for beer and wine. Cash for mixed.
8. Now onto the food. There were bread baskets on the table but no dishes. There were a couple buffet stations. After the Wedding Party was announced and came in they all got their food and sat down. So we were sitting there like, what do we do? Do we just get up and on line? Will they tell us to? So our friend (the GM) said just go on up. So this is what they had:
1. Bagged salad in big bowls to pick from
2. A tray of O'graten (sp?) type potatoes
3. A tray of steamed string beans
4. A tray of legs and thighs that were baked
5. A carving station of Prime Rib with sauces
That was dinner. After we were finished (it was 6:30 maybe) I said, was that dinner? Was that cocktail hour? I was so confused. Not upset, but found it kind of funny when comparing it to NY.
9. The wedding ended at 10, the ceremony was at 5:30. Now when I say it ended, I mean it ENDED. DJ stopped, lights came on and it was over. Even before it was ending the family was going around taking off the chair covers and sashes, putting things away. It was so bizarre.
So that was a run down of my first AZ wedding. I have another one in Jan that may be a little different, I can't wait to see.
