My Tucson Wedding

On November 18th, 2009 Andrew and Jessica’s were married at Saguaro Buttes and the ceremony was performed by Pastor David Hallstrom.  Jessica and Andrew met in August 2005  playing Halo II over the internet. Andrew was living in Abilene Texas and Jessica was in Tucson. They have wedding guests coming from Nevada, Louisiana, California and Alabama. They have three beautiful children, Arianna, Ian, and Alyssa. Andrew works for Best Buy and Jessica is a stay at home mom.

Bobby Soltero of Soltero Productions has recently released a new video of a wedding at Saguaro Buttes. You can see this video by (clicking here) .  You can also check out their web site at (click here). Soltero Productions has videod a number of  weddings at Saguaro Buttes and  is one of our recommended vendors. They truly do a professional job and you will not be disappointed. Their phone number is 520.349.7753.

The beauty of Saguaro National Park are the Rincon Mountains. At Sunset they change colors and are absolutely beautiful. The shadows give the mountains texture and character and there is a peaceful tranquility that sets in around sunset. It’s a great time to get those gorgeous pictures. Saguaro Buttes is located adjacent to this park and we have unobstructed views. This picture was taken Oct. 4th, 2009, at around 6 PM.

Should you buy or rent a tuxedo?  A rule of thumb is if you plan on wearing the tuxedo three or more times in a year, buy it. If you will wear it less than three times a year, it may be better to rent. Tuxedos pretty much stay in style over the years, so if you choose a double breasted or single breasted, a cummerbund and bow-tie or a vest and necktie, it will not matter too much as they all stay in style. Give yourself enough time for alterations, provided by the store where you are purchasing it. A good rule of thumb is 1 or 2 months prior to your event. Use the internet to check out the various styles of tuxedos but it is very important that you try them on before making the final selection. What looks good in a picture may not look good on you.

Wedding table center pieces add elegance to your evening. This center piece grouping of three varied sizes of cylinder vases, have beautiful red roses setting on a layer of clear beads with a floating candle atop the water.  Once the candles are lit the evening has a romantic glow.

Mel and Ryan married on October 31st, 2009 at Saguaro Buttes by Pastor David Hallstrom.  They met in 2001 at the U of A, playing co-ed soccer. They had wedding guests from all over the states, including; Pennsylvania,  Illinois,  New York, Texas, Alabama, California, and Oregon.

Here is one way to beautify your outdoor wedding. Red silk flowers were placed along the aisle and the chairs were set farther back from the aisle to make room for them. This was a beautiful presentation for the bride to walk through on her way to her groom.

Dustin and Alyssa were married at Saguaro Buttes on Oct. 15th, 2009 by Pastor David Hallstrom at 4:45 PM.  They had wedding guests from Pennsylvania, California, and Texas among other places. They have a beautiful baby daughter named Rylee who is seven months old.  Dustin and Alyssa met in 2002 as they worked at Jason’s Deli.

Tomas and Tiffany were married at Saguaro Buttes on Nov. 27th, 2009 by Pastor David Hallstrom at 4:00 PM.  Tiffany and Tomas met at work at TGIF’s in September of 2006. They have a beautiful daughter Taylor who was also be a part of the ceremony as the flower girl.

As the wedding officiant this is a question that I receive quite a bit, as we are planning the wedding ceremony. First, I always leave this up to the bride and groom to make the final decision, but my advice is that if they are younger than 5 years old, it may be a good idea to have them seated during the ceremony.  Younger children can be very distracting during the ceremony, as they have a hard time standing still, and this can take away from the occasion.  Older children usually do fine. A few practical suggestions is to make sure that they go to the bathroom before the ceremony, this can be an important detail. Also seat their parents close to the front, so they can be more easily seated with their parents after they walk down the aisle. Flower girls add a lot to the cuteness quotient in a wedding, and your guests love watching me come down the aisle.

Andrea & Alberto were married at Saguaro Buttes on October 10th. 2009 at 4:45 PM by Pastor David Hallstrom. They have known each other for many years having attended the same elementary school, Limeweaver, High school, and the University of Arizona. They had wedding guest from California, Minnisota, Idaho, Texas, and New York. Alberto teaching High School at Tucson High School.

Chris and Amy were married by Pastor David Hallstrom on a beautiful balmy Thursday Evening at Saguaro Buttes, Oct. 8th, at around 5:15 PM. Chris is a pilot for the National Guard stationed here in Tucson and Amy works also in the same Unit. They had family and friends from California, Texas, Missouri , and Pennsylvania.

Joe and Nikki were married at Saguaro Buttes on November 5th, 2009 by Pastor David Hallstrom at 4:00 PM.  They met while in College in Ohio, Joe moved to Tucson 4 years ago and Nikki moved here 2 years to be with Joe. They had wedding guests coming from Ohio and Michigan. Joe works for Pima Community College, and Nikki works for a local company in the Human Resources department.

It can be fun to have large wedding parties, to include as many close friends as possible and to make them feel a part of your special day. Large wedding parties also make for some great photo opportunities. Here are a few things to keep in mind with the larger wedding parties. It will be more expensive, even though most bridesmaids and groomsmen pay for their own costs such as airfare, dresses and suits or tuxedos, you will still have the cost of attendant gifts, rehearsal dinner, flowers, etc. Secondly, it is less intimate with the larger wedding parties. Thirdly, it takes more work to organize, to communicate and to arrange the larger parties, someone said it is like herding cats. Because some brides have so many friends to include, they instead have just one attendant, this minimizes possible hurt feelings. With every decision there are trade-offs, and the decision is ultimately with the bride and groom.

Anthony and Melissa married at Saguaro Buttes on November 8th, 2009  at 4;15 PM by Pastor David Hallstrom. They had a beautiful November evening, and a colorful sunset.  They have planned a honeymoon in Cancun.

Brian and Shoshana Galvez are pictured in this Silhouette taken as the sun was setting on Oct. 4th, their wedding day at Saguaro Buttes. It was a nice balmy 79 degrees at sunset, perfect weather for a perfect wedding.

Getting the perfect sunset for your wedding pictures is the luck of the draw. Sunday, October 4th, 2009 was one of those days. It was one of the more beautiful sunsets at Saguaro Buttes. We can not guarantee sunsets like this on your wedding day, but if there is a beautiful one like this one pictured, you will have the perfect place to take those memorable photos.

Saguaro Buttes is located next to Saguaro National Park which makes a wonderful backdrop for photos of the Arizona landscape. Just over this ridge are Indian caves. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Paul and Elizabeth had a beautiful sunset for their wedding at Saguaro Buttes on Oct. 3rd.  The ceremony was performed by both Pastor David Hallstrom and Deacon Efron from St. Rita Parish. This photo is a casual pose of all the wedding party.

Alex and Kris were married at Saguaro Buttes on a balmy Friday evening on October 2, at 4:30 pm by Pastor David Hallstrom. This was truly a destination wedding as they had family and friend from literally all around the world and Alex and Kris currently live in Chicago. Their guests came from New Zealand, Australia, England, Canada, Washington, New York, Georgia, Illinois and DC.  Alex and Kris met for the first time in October of 2004 in Australia, as Kris was in a Doctoral program studying and Alex was from New Zealand visiting her brother.  They have a beautiful daughter Holly, who is pictured here.