An Intimate, Colorful Wedding in the Arizona Desert

Alexandria and Aaron Kressin, who go by AG and AK, respectively, met through a mutual friend in August of 2021. “Before connecting us, our friend had successfully introduced four other couples that each went on to marry, the first of which recently celebrated their 11 year anniversary!” AG notes. Now, that pal can say they made five successful love connections.

On one of their earliest dates, AG and AK went to an escape room, and it’s a day they always remembered fondly. When it came time to plan his proposal, Aaron surprised Alexandria with a recreation of that memorable outing. In the final segment of the game, Alexandria unlocked a door revealing an oversized poster of a candy ring surrounded by candles. “It wasn’t until I turned around and saw Aaron walking towards me with a box in his hand and he said, ‘Yes, this is happening’ that I realize what was happening,” she remembers. The couple celebrated with a surprise engagement party with 45 of their closest loved ones.

When they started planning their wedding, the couple quickly arrived at a unified vision: hosting their loved ones for an entire weekend of events. “We wanted to create a group trip vibe for the weekend and maximize the convenience for everyone,” Alexandria says. To achieve that, they booked a private estate in Scottsdale, Arizona, with three on-site properties where guests could stay. “What really sealed the deal was the phenomenal customer service and accommodation provided by the property management team,” the bride notes.

With a “desert in bloom” theme in mind, Alexandria and Aaron turned to the full-service wedding planning and floral team at Bloom and Blueprint to help execute on all of their big ideas. “I leaned heavily on the design genius of my planning team and their ability to help me create something from the ground up,” Alexandria says. Check out their use of custom patterns, vibrant colors, neon lighting, and stylized tropical floral arrangements in these photos by Alexes Eides Photography.

The couple worked with Page + Parcel to create an invitation suite with vibrant jewel tones. They incorporated a monogram of their first initials, cactus illustrations, and a custom pattern that was later used to wrap their dance floor. 

Alexandria wore a Grace Loves Lace sheath wedding dress with a racer back and long train. “Once I found this dress, I immediately knew that it was perfect,” she says. “When I began looking, I knew I wanted a very understated style that did not rely on a lot of embellishments.” She styled her look with spiral hoop earrings by Alexis Bittar, her best friend’s diamond tennis bracelet as her “something borrowed,” her grandmother’s engagement ring as her “something old,” and hair pins for her braided updo as her “something new,” which she received as a gift from her mother.

The bride’s mom also surprised the couple with a “something blue” on the big day: “My mother had customized handkerchiefs made for Aaron and I for our ‘Happy Tears’ that had our wedding date embroidered in blue thread,” she says.

She wore her go-to lip color, “Stunna” from Fenty Beauty, and had her braids pulled into a high ponytail. “Braids and my natural curls are Aaron’s favorite hairstyles,” the bride says. “I opted for braids because I knew we were going to be in Arizona for a week and I wanted a very low-maintenance hair care that could easily be styled in a variety of versatile looks.”

Aaron wore a green velvet blazer, oversized velvet bow tie, and black tuxedo pants from Suit Supply. He accessorized with his grandfather’s cufflinks and wore YSL’s “Aromatic Pineapple” fragrance. “He also wore gold chains from his own collection and the new customized gold and diamond necklace that he had made for us as my wedding present,” Alexandria says. 

Early in their relationship, Alexandria and Aaron bonded over the fact that they’re both camera shy. They decided to have a first look before the ceremony to break up the “posed” photo segments and give them time to hype each other up before the festivities began. “It was also important to us to maximize our time with the guests and we were determined to attend part of the pre-ceremony and post-ceremony cocktail hours,” the bride notes.

The couple held two separate cocktail hours; one before the ceremony and one after. Guests were treated to arrival drinks, which were displayed on arched bookshelves featuring a patterned backdrop that matched the couple’s invitation suite. An oversized cutout of Diana Ross, which was embellished with a disco ball necklace and floral hair, was also on display.

After grabbing a cocktail, guests were invited to scan a QR code that gave them access to a real-time feed of wedding photos. The bride and groom asked that everyone hold off on sharing photos of the wedding on social media until the end of the weekend, but loved ones were encouraged to upload and download their favorite snaps from the photo aggregator. Comfort baskets full of essentials like makeup remover, bobby pins, and mints were also available at the start of the ceremony, ensuring everyone had what they needed to enjoy the night.

Loved ones were also encouraged to take part in a pre-ceremony ring blessing ceremony, where they could pray or share good thoughts over the bride and groom’s wedding bands before they exchanged them.

At the outdoor ceremony, guests were seated in a semi-circle around the couple and their officiant, who was the mutual friend who introduced them. “We stood on a stage floor that was wrapped in the same customized pattern we used as the envelope liner of our invitation suite,” Alexandria says. Each row of seating was decorated with an oversized tropical floral arrangement in a different color scheme to frame the aisle. They brought in plush burnt orange couches as the first row of seating for another pop of color.

Aaron asked one of his best friends from childhood to be their DJ for the day, and he helped curate an exceptional selection of songs for every part of the ceremony—including the ceremony. Alexandria walked down the aisle with her father by her side. “When my father and I lined up, the DJ played the introduction clip of Morgan Wallen’s cover of Drake’s ‘Chicago Freestyle,’” the bride says. “They chose this because of the ode to Chicago and the lyrics include some clever word play and a double entendre for the evening.”

The bride held a bouquet of cascading pale blush orchids, which was arranged by their wedding planner’s in-house florist. 

Alexandria and Aaron wrote their own vows for the ceremony. “AK’s vows included a brief prayer and I helped him craft the very end of his vows which he used to introduce our exit song,” the bride says. He added the lyrics to the end of his vows and their DJ queued the music as they jumped the broom. After, they made their exit down the aisle.

Those personalized vows weren’t just poignant for the and groom—guests felt they were extremely special, too. “All day, our guests kept complimenting us on the impact that our vows and selected readings had on them and so many of them were very emotional, which I did not anticipate,” the bride remembers.

Alexandria admits that creating the reception seating chart was the hardest part of the entire planning process. “I decided that I was going to use the dinner seating to encourage our guests to make new friends,” she says, which led to the “self-imposed burden” of getting it just right. She made sure guests were near other attendees they knew while still having the chance to meet new people.

Tables were arranged in a caterpillar shape, with a mix of round and rectangular tables curving across the venue’s lawn. The seating chart featured the custom pattern seen throughout the wedding décor and black and white pictures of each guest at their designated seat.

At the post-ceremony cocktail hour, the newlyweds served three more signature drinks with custom cocktail napkins featuring an illustration of their dog. “His” cocktail was a Wisconsin Old Fashioned while “Her” cocktail was a gin, chartreuse, and lime juice drink inspired by a specialty sip from the Detroit Athletic Club. They chose the “Ready, Aim, Fire” as their last signature cocktail, and it was a recreation of the bride’s favorite offering at Employees Only in New York. It included mezcal, pineapple juice, lime, honey, and smoked chili bitters.

For appetizers, they served southwest arancini, Korean chicken bao buns, and spicy tuna rice crisps as appetizers. “AK and I both love food–truly, madly deeply–and we really wanted our food to stand out,” Alexandria says. They enlisted Lauren Allen Culinary Events to cater the wedding with all of their favorites.

At the reception, the couple’s planning team built customized archways with embedded neon lighting, creating a pathway to the back of the estate for dinner. The floral arrangements from the ceremony were repurposed along the pathway lit with custom uplighting. The reception tables were covered in colorful linens to create a color-blocked design.

String lights were strung overhead, adding to the intimate, cozy atmosphere. The head table was decorated with an overhead floral installation with disco balls and a hanging mirrored shelf.

Each place setting featured colored stone dishware, tortoiseshell utensils and napkin rings, and a mix of black napkins with a white trim and multi-colored floral printed napkins. For added color, the couple incorporated goblets in various colors and scattered floral centerpieces.

Guests visited a custom bar featuring the couple’s custom monogram and a disco-inspired tropical floral installation. The signage incorporated a border of the couple’s wedding-day pattern and flower arrangements included monstera leaves with a “secret menu” item; Cohasset Punch cocktails as a nod to the couple’s original hometown of Chicago. “We hid the name of this in the various aspects of the décor,” Alexandria says. “It was written upside down on one of the floating serving platters and printed on the monstera leaves that were on the bar.”

As big food lovers, a dessert station was a must for this couple. In addition to favorites like salted chocolate chip cookies, apple pie empanadas, and mini key lime pies, their caterer recreated one of Alexandria’s godmother’s original butter cookie recipes. “I wanted to incorporate a family recipe and honor one of my favorite childhood traditions: baking and decorating Christmas cookies with my godmother,” AG says.

After selecting their wedding date, the couple realized that some of their closest loved ones would be celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries over their wedding weekend. To honor these occasions, AG and AK worked with their caterer and dessert vendor to prepare items like a carrot cake for their friend’s 40th birthday and a special branzino meal for their officiant’s birthday. “For the wedding anniversaries, we asked our dessert vendor to bake personalized mini cakes that were re-creations of their wedding cakes for a happy dose of nostalgia; each cake also included their anniversary dates,” the bride says.

Later, they brought out a food truck to serve sliders and fries as late-night snacks. 

For the reception, AG changed into a strapless black gown with a corseted bodice and feather detailing throughout the skirt from Wona Concept. She accessorized with black beaded drop earrings and Jimmy Choo mules with crystal embellishments along the strap. 

At dinner, while guests dug into their meals and special desserts, Alexandria and Aaron stood up to deliver a joint speech. They also used this as an opportunity to surprise their officiant. “We presented him with an oversized check as payment of his ‘consulting fee’ for introducing us and his favorite bottle of tequila,” the bride says.

The couple swapped the first dance tradition with a “first shot” instead, and their DJ kept guests on the dance floor all night long.

To couples planning a wedding, AG and AK recommend focusing on the aspects that are most important to each of you. “We were extremely committed to our own vision and approach and I cannot be happier that we did this,” Alexandria says. “It was genuinely one of the best times of my entire life and I can’t wait to tell our future children about it!