Holding their October wedding at a bar they like to go to together, The Thunderbird Lounge in Pheonix, Arizona, Alexis and Taylor wanted a celebration that was laid-back and fun for all their guests. “The bar has a 70s theme and was the perfect vibe for what we were going for so we didn’t really have to do much to it in terms of décor which suited us,” Alexis told us. “We had one of our best friends marry us, he wrote a beautiful speech, a butterfly release ceremony and we also had a fire dancer at the end of the wedding to close it out.”
The couple kept things casual and thrifty across the board, having a friend do Alexis’ hair and make-up, she picked up a bunch of flowers from a grocery store to use as a bouquet and the couple went for high street options for their own outfits. “I didn’t really enjoy the dress shopping experience,” Alexis continued. “No dress was really my style/size to even try on and I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. Plus It was in 2021 so I felt a lot of people were shopping for dresses at that time. I ended up shopping online so a lot of mail try-ons and returns but when I did find my dress on ASOS I was very happy with how it looked and felt very much like myself in it!”
What few décor touches they needed to add they DIY’d themselves, spray painting baby’s breath for centrepieces and having Taylor’s aunt sew them table-runners from fabric they liked. “Our favourite part of the whole planning process was talking about it, I loved saying ‘yeah we’re planning a wedding right now!’ Going through everything together over lunch, celebrating at happy hours and talking about it… the excitement of knowing we’d be married soon was ace.”
Alexis and Taylor chose to have their portrait session with photographer Brookklyn prior to their ceremony and they loved having that time together. “It felt and was so special and intimate to us having that time before our ceremony together.”
“I walked down the aisle to my favourite song by The Doors and I really will always remember that. We actually didn’t have vows, instead our best friend married us and he wrote a beautiful speech so after that we just went on with the kiss! We then did a butterfly release ceremony which was a beautiful and a funny moment because some butterflies were still sleeping. It was a very fun ceremony with dancing and laughter.”
When asked if they had any advice for future engaged couples, Alexis offered; “Make it your own! It’s so easy to get wrapped up in what’s expected at a wedding but it’s your day and your love! So make sure it’s how you want to be spending it!”
