Is your family upset about your small wedding? This Arizona couple has advice!

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Sometimes you can have it all. Finding Tuscan charm in your own home state (whew, saving on those European flights!) tailoring a gown to your exact style, canceling out the noise and celebrating your marriage as intimately as you please – what a dream, right? Paige and Justin made it happen in their elegant Arizona wedding.

With the Superstition Mountains as their backdrop, the Arizona couple planned a wedding whose style would last the ages – as captured by Katelyn Cantu Photography. Forgoing trendy items for more classic decor, the rustic space had a timeless charm, just as they had hoped for their intimate, twenty-five person party.

Telling your friends and family that you’ve chosen to celebrate your marriage with an intimate wedding can be difficult, particularly when you receive the less than empathetic responses. Even after all the flack they received for their limited guest list the couple had no regrets: “There is a way that many people will tell you that a wedding is supposed to happen. Forget that!”

Oh Paige, will you be our new bridal BFF?

Our Love Story

Justin and I met while doing the online dating thing. We messaged back and forth for about a week and then we met in person. From that moment on, we zeroed in on one another and became each other’s everything.

It was during a weekend in February and we had tickets to a matinee. We decided to make an entire day out of it and planned to go to a nice brunch beforehand. Him in his suit, and me in a dress we went to brunch and drinks at the Royal Palm Resort. While we were there, we went for a walk and in an alcove, on the property he got down on one knee.

The Attire

For the wedding dress, I selected a dress that exuded classic timelessness, modesty, and one that I felt flattered my body. I was very detail oriented when it came to my look, but luckily I had a team of amazing people that helped me along. For example, I spent forty-five minutes with my seamstress going over ten plus bustles. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is. My dress fit me perfectly and I didn’t have to worry about being captured at an unflattering angle. I was so comfortable in my dress and it was beautiful.

For my husband’s suit, he picked something that was a smooth fitting suit. The colors were picked for the spring with a summer weight fabric, and most importantly something that was comfortable and true to who he is.

The Wedding Style

I really wanted our wedding to be something classic and timeless. Both of us are old souls trapped in the wrong time, we both like to joke, but this influenced a lot of how we planned our wedding. We wanted something elegant, nice and romantic. A day where we can look back on and it stay in-style. It was a balance of classic and simple.

We were very inspired by the romantic Italian influence on the location we chose. Our colors and style followed. As the bride, I didn’t want to choose anything that was too trendy, that’s just not who I am. So I chose colors and styles that were simple and classic.

The Flowers

My amazing mother-in-law was in charge of all the flowers, decor, set up and overall style of this entire wedding. She even made me three bouquets so I could choose which one I liked the best! She made my bouquets, nosegays for herself, grandma and my mother. She did the aisle runners, the florals on the head table, the candelabras, centerpieces, stairways, and my hairpiece. It was a mix of eucalyptus, peonies, garden roses, wax flowers, and baby’s breath.

The Intimate Guest List

We had twenty-five people attend our wedding. That was another huge part of our wedding. Both of us come from very large families, so we had to set a firm boundary and stick to it. This meant that only our immediate families (siblings, parents, and grandparents), and a handful of friends would be invited. We took some flack from that. We got some nasty messages from family members and some snarky comments, but at the end of the day, our wedding day was to celebrate love.

We wanted to look back at our day and be able to remember every moment, not be rushed around making “rounds” to see great uncle’s daughter, twice removed, etc. We had quality time with each other and got to spend intentional time with our families and close friends.

The Traditions

This is more of a personal tradition between my husband and myself, but we are avid note writers. Our relationship began with us sharing a journal and passing it back and forth with notes to one another. On our wedding day, this was no different.

We wrote each other notes in the book and I actually wrote him a book. In this book was our story. It was stories of our times during dating and other special moments captured in a book that I gave to him on our wedding day.

Favorite Moments

There were so many memorable parts of that day. My favorite moment from that day was having a bit of tunnel vision for my groom. It was an oops moment when I had completely forgotten that we hired a videographer, but that’s just how focused on him and us we were. This is why a team of wedding professionals and assertive no-nonsense friends and family can be super beneficial. The bride and groom can take a step back and let everything fall into place.

As romantic as our day was, it wasn’t without its hiccups and laughs. There is a photo of myself buckled over in laughter from a clueless comment from grandma. And I love it because our day was just so simple and joyous.

On a more humorous note, when I began the walk down the aisle I immediately burst into a tear puddle. The waterworks started flowing. I had my younger brother escort me down the aisle and in typical little brother fashion he looks over at me and goes, “Seriously?!? You’re already crying. C’mon Paige. Get it together.” An amazing mixture of joy and happy tears and an overwhelming out of body experience. That’s what I loved about our wedding day was that it was so filled with what defines us as a couple, Joy and love.

The Cake & Decor

We wanted something that was guaranteed to taste good, and that would look nice. My husband and I ordered the cake, they did a free tasting for us, and it was delicious! My mother-in-law added the flowers to the cake and added some special touches to make it go with all the rest of the decor.

All of the flowers, table runners, aisle runners, centerpieces, bouquets and candles were set up and put together by my mother-in-law. She has a keen eye for design and was more than happy to assist us. The other personal details were the handwritten notes that we gave our guests and each other.

For favors, both of us wrote personal notes to all of our guests. These handwritten notes were an opportunity for us to express our gratitude in a way that we are both best at, writing. The other favors were a surprise to my husband. He wanted a groom’s cake (in the shape of the Chrysler Building, an architecture nerd), but we decided that it would be an added expense, that wouldn’t necessarily add any value. So instead, I had custom cookies made up in the Chrysler building and ones with the seal we had on the invitations. He was very pleasantly surprised.

Advice to Other Couples

My advice is to do what you want to do and don’t worry about fulfilling the status quo. There is a way that many people will tell you that a wedding is supposed to happen. Forget that! Do your wedding how you envisioned it and what will make you and your significant other the most satisfied. For example, I didn’t have bridesmaids because my friends and sisters knew how special they were to me. It saved money for them, there were no expectations, and they got to enjoy the wedding all the same.