My Tucson Wedding

Your out of town guests, coming to your wedding, may want to visit one of our closest attractions, “Saguaro National Park”.  The Park’s entrance is around two miles North of “Saguaro Buttes” on Old Spanish Trail.  Check out the Park’s web site (Click Here). The Park has a Visitor’s Center and a 8.3 mile paved road that you can either drive with your car or ride a bike through. (Pictured to the right top with the red/yellow line.) It also has miles of hiking trails, and some of the most beautiful views in Southern Arizona.Wikipedia has this article on the park. “What is unique about this park is that it starts off in the Sonoran Desert and gradually gives way to a montane coniferous forest of the Rincon Mountains. The highest peak in this range is Mica Mountain, at an elevation of 8,666 feet (2641 m). While this side of the park has fewer Saguaros than its counterpart they remain larger in size, due to higher amounts of rainfall and run off from the Rincon Mountains. The key feature of this district is its 8.3-mile (13.4 km) loop, which connects its two picnic areas and central trails. Recently after a lengthy road improvement project, and refurbishment of the Visitor Center, the Rincon District is fully open once more. Hiking on this side of the park is readily accessible to visitors. There are trail heads present at the east end of Speedway and Broadway, but these trail heads are commonly used by horses and get heavy usage on the weekends. Off the park’s loop road there are several additional trail heads. Each Visitor Center will supply a map of hiking trails on request.”  The picture on the bottom shows the park in the background as a wedding is taking place.

There’s a lot of wild life at Saguaro Buttes, we have wolves, javalinas, deer, rabbits, squirrels, even an occasional panther. There’s also wild life that I haven’t figured out what they call it. This is the first time though, that I have seen Bovine, commonly called “cows” at Saguaro Buttes. They escaped from the neighbor’s place and were happily feeding on some of the vegetation. I guess these creatures would not be called wild life but rather tame life. Sorry, for the poor excuse at humor.

Candles are always an elegant touch and they add romance to any setting. This bride added her own candles to enhance the table and centerpiece as well as the whole reception room.

A candy station is a nice addition to your wedding reception. Who doesn’t like candy?  This candy station had various types of candies, from chocolate kisses, cashew nuts, red licorice, to candy coated almonds, along with various types of cookies. Also included were some plastic bags with ties so guests could take some home. A center piece made of  red roses as well as long stemmed red roses were placed on the table in keeping with the wedding theme.

Chanelle and Mardochee were married in a beautiful ceremony on June 18th, at Saguaro Buttes. They choose not to have any bridesmaids or groomsman standing with them during the ceremony but rather to keep it very simple. The decorations were done beautifully by the brides mothers, who had a candelabra, white tooling and  a wonderful arrangement of flowers on the arch. Click on the picture to increase its size.

Jennifer and Tony were married at Saguaro Buttes on June 11th, 2009 at 6:00 PM. They had guests from Penn., Virginia, Florida, Mass., New Mexico, Georgia, and Maryland.  “Soltero Video” production took the videos. They will be moving to Omaha, Nebraska after their wedding, as Anthony will be stationed there for the Air Force.

Our new ad for the Summer addition of the “Tucson Bride and Groom”, “Tucson Lifestyle Weddings”, and the “Wedding Guide” was designed by Chris Norden. Chris does excellent work and I would recommend him highly. His web site is www.chrisnorden.com  He has done professional layout work for a number of magazines across the country.

Over 250 wedding guests at a recent wedding at Saguaro Buttes enjoyed the beautiful views of Saguaro National Park on a beautiful, balmy evening, while waiting for the ceremony to start.

Black dresses for the bridesmaids and the traditional white Brides dress make a stunning photo. The red and white flowers add a classy touch.

At a recent wedding at Saguaro Buttes, the Bride and Groom choose to have a Cup Cake Tree. It is a nice alternative, and requires no cake cutting, which makes it much easier to distribute. (Look out for the kids helping themselves when no one is looking though.)  For more ideas about having a cup Cake Tree for your wedding, go to: http://www.cupcaketree.com 

A popular photo taken at Saguaro Buttes during the ceremony is what I call the “Group Photo”.  Right before the recessional as everyone is standing, your guests are asked to turn around as the photographer takes the position on the top patio to get a nice picture of everyone looking into the camera instead of the usual one of the back of your guests heads. 

At a recent wedding at Saguaro Buttes, Tony and Jennifer decided that they wanted their ring bearer to be their favorite pet, Uzi their beloved dog. And so they had their “Dog Whisperer” escort Uzi as part of the processional, and when the preacher asked if  ”there were rings” Uzi came forward to present those symbols of matrimony.  All things considered Uzi did a wonderful job, and was a great addition to the wedding.

A “Financial Peace University” class by Dave Ramsey will soon be presented at Saguaro Buttes, on Tuesday evenings, starting July 7th, @ 6:30pm. Dave Ramsey has a National Radio program as well as a TV program on the Fox Network. He is known for his in depth knowledge on the subject of finances and presents it with humor.  Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend this free class. The materials which include a notebook, books, CD’s and software are offered at a discounted rate of $100.00.   For couples with upcoming weddings at Saguaro Buttes who would like to attend, we are offering the material, books, CD’s, and software, free of charge. Registration is necessary to attend, please e-mail Dave, dave@saguarobuttes.com, to register.  Registration deadline is June 30, 2009.  For more information check out his web site at https://www.daveramsey.com  or (Click Here)

This elegant Ice Sculpture graced the Saguaro Buttes reception room at a June wedding.  Frozen inside the ice heart was a beautiful bouquet of red roses. Atop the sculpture were carved doves and the whole sculpture was illuminated from below.  Many  guests commented on this beautiful display.

The father/daughter dance is probably one of the most touching parts of the evening. In some circles it is customary for the bride and her father to have the first dance together, and either during that dance or shortly thereafter, the father relinquishes his daughter to her new husband. These dances are often emotional and memorable. In the father daughter dance, the father is losing his protective role of his daughter and purposefully assigning it to his new son-in-law. Whether the daughter is 18 or 50, the idea of giving her care over to another can be lovely and yet somewhat sad, and the music or song selection is important. About.com has listed the Top 10 Father/Daughter songs. (click here)  Check them out.

The wedding arch or arbor is an important part of the ceremony site and each bride and groom decorate their arch differently, according to personal taste. At a recent wedding the Bride and Groom covered the arch with Black Feathers which gave it a unique look. At Saguaro Buttes we provide a basic decoration for the arch, but you are free to decorate it as you desire. Some have used bolts of white fabric draped, and other various floral decorations. It is only limited by your imagination. For more ideas on various ways to decorate the arch check out this web site (click here).

The “Wish Tree” was used at a recent wedding at Saguaro Buttes. There were different colored leaves that guests are encouraged to write some words of encouragement on, during the reception, and hang on the tree branches. There was a plaque with these words written on it (pictured below) “Please write your wish or advice for us to see. It could be anything great or small. We will read and welcome them all. Please hang your leaf when you are through. For your thoughts of love we truly - Thank You!”