Luxurious Intimate Wedding in the Arizona Desert

The desert just outside Tucson Arizona is the perfect place to be in the middle of winter. With just a small group of family and friends you can create a masterpiece of an intimate wedding using just reminants of buildings and some beautiful floral displays to accompany it. The location here was an abandoned building out in the middle of the desert just north of Tucson in Arizona. The couple wanted to do a November wedding with just a handful of guests where they could have an intimate dinner with their close ones.

G’s wedding dress was a perfect corset top with a long overskirt. the vintage feel of her whole look was styled to fit her personality and aesthetic perfectly. Her extra long veil provided the va va voom drama and draped so elegantly. Her sling back shoes with pointed toes and bows complimented the look perfectly to keep the classic and vintage feel of the whole ensemble.

A’s attire perfectly complimented the vintage look of G’s. His linen suit in a burnt rust color was baggy in the legs so a cuff pant was in order. The crisp white under shirt needed no tie of any kind. With his dark features the warm rust color perfectly matched his skin tone and complimented the chic vintage vibe G was putting out.

The table setting was put right in the middle of the abandoned stone house as if they were dining in the middle of what used to be a living room. The table setting itself was family style, meaning just one long table where everyone sits together. This ties an intimate wedding together perfectly so that everyone can be all together and celebrate the couple. The table setting itself was all about texture. The table cloth is a heavy linen or burlap material which was oversized running off the edges of the table down onto the dirt ground and anchoring the table in the outdoor space. White planter rocks are the next element of texture that tie in the outdoor space with the tablescape by providing a centerpiece upon flowers to be mounted throughout. Different texture flowers sprout out of the crisp white rocks on the table making the whole table feel like a garden, while taller flowers add even more dimension and and add layers to the tablescape. The plates have a simple texture and a stone color look that differentiates the cream colors but still adds that layer of texture and interest. Finally, the menu is set on each plate with pearls holding it down in the corner. the play of outdoor element with the rocks but more luxury elements of the pearls create a crown jewel of a tablescape for this exterior environment. With all the texture throughout the living space dining sleek and modern black chairs anchor everything down and tie in the darker colors of the stone walls with the event space.

Smaller rooms were ornamented with florals galore. The all white florals were strung up and draped elegantly off the top of the walls, in door ways, and along the crumbling rock at the base of the entries to different rooms. In a space where you can incorporate a lot of florals - this was the way to do it. There were so many different textures of white florals that it continued the experience of the dining space into other rooms. When creating a monochromatic floral moment there has to be interest with texture and Floral Disco did just that. Playing off the grassy nature of the shrubs surrounding she brought greenery along with the different floral elements to create a gorgeous floral display to tie in the crumbling stone structure with the luxury of this intimate wedding.

When the sun began to set we took all the portraits of the couple and got the most magical golden light coming through the opening of the ruined building. I loved using the dining table as a place to pose the couple. People spend so much time on the details of place settings with their planners and then don’t get quite so many images of it all. So I really wanted to focus on getting some images of the overall aesthetic of the luxurious space with the couple inside of it, enjoying it.

The best way to end their portrait session was this beautiful desert sunset. Only in Arizona do you see these perfectly golden gradient sunsets where you can stay out forever taking portraits on your wedding day. To get G + A off to their dinner and end portraits we wrapped and got them on their way to enjoy the night with their close ones privately.

Photography: Madeline J Studios

Planner: Riviera Creative

Floral: Flower Disco

Outfits: Natalie Grey

Take a slow scroll of more moments from this couple’s session: