Summer Love Story of Courtney & Peter

This sweet couple first contacted me this spring, excited about their upcoming summer wedding at Sedona Golf Resort. We spent time in-person, by phone and many emails later to create a ceremony that reflected their Love Story. Before we all knew it August was upon us and their wedding date had arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sedona Golf Resort offers a stunning setting for a father to walk his daughter down the aisle.

The views are remarkable…

Robert Godridge capturing the happy wedding party.

 

 

 

 

Sedona Golf Resort is a great location for your wedding, for you can have your ceremony and reception all in one location!

Happily Every After….Congratulations Courtney & Peter!

 To the amazing wedding professionals that made this day special,

it is always an honor to work with you, thank-you! ~ Rev. Shanandoah

 Ceremony & Reception Venue:  Sedona Golf Resort

Photographer: Robert Godridge Photography

Floral: Bliss Extraordinary Floral

Hair & Make-up: Chocolate Blonde Salon

Music/DJ: Starz Entertainment

Cake: Sedona Sweet Arts

 

July 5th,  and this  sweet Japanese couple choose to celebrate their honeymoon with another wedding here in the United States! Sedona offers many views, and one of the most photographed is at Red Rock Crossing, with Cathedral Rock as your wedding backdrop.

Our forest service works hard to maintain Sedona’s beauty, and here at Crescent Moon Ranch it shows. They offer only five wedding time slots per day, maintaining an intimacy per each couple. If you do not mind a little adventure crossing the stones then I highly recommend this location.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Takayuki and Sakura Sumara!

Spring Equinox will grace our calendars tomorrow, yet Mother Nature decided to share one last kiss of winter. What woke me yesterday morning was the stillness, not even a bird chirping. I slipped from bed and peaked through the blinds to be greeted with a white blanket.

 

Of course my husband, Lynn, and I decided we had to go for a ride out to the Village of Oak Creek and play in this Winter-land Beauty!

Bell Rock kept peaking out between the mist!! All I kept thinking was, I’ll be up there in five days for a wedding. Thankfully our high desert sun will dry the trails in time!

This morning there was over ten inches on my patio furniture! Since the snow was continuing to fall we decided to go play in Oak Creek Canyon!

For those of you getting married soon, not to worry…the sun is already out, melting the beautiful white powder. By tomorrow it will be full sun and in the 50’s and by the weekend the high 60’s. Sedona Spring Weddings can be magical and it is always good to be prepared!

If you ever do find yourself here in Sedona when it snows, do yourself a favor, and go play in our red rock wonder!

Valentine’s, Thirty-five Years Remembered

I remember being in the second grade and awaiting Valentine’s Day to come. It was the first big holiday after the celebrated New Year and everyone started talking about it weeks ahead. Of course, when you are only seven what else is there really to anticipate? Vacations from school, an occasional extra day off, or a holiday that got everyone buzzing and I was caught up in the excitement of this Love day to come. Even as little kids we are taught to share, give and express sentiments of love on this one day of the year, Valentine’s Day.

I hounded mom for weeks to buy me those little cards that I would fill out for each student in my classroom. I had written down all their names during recess, not wanting to leave anyone out. There were thirty of us and that was going to be a task! Mom finally picked up the cards at the grocery store just days before Valentine’s Day. I sat at the kitchen table and worked on each card diligently. I remember mom asking what was taking so long. I looked at her mystified, thinking, ‘Didn’t she know?”, and told her I was writing something to each kid. Something nice about them that I noticed and needed them to know I saw in them. Even then, thirty-five years ago, I was writing, writing about the beautiful characteristics of each person in my class.

Jump ahead to today, thirty-five years later, crow’s feet accentuate my eyes, laugh lines share stories around my smile, heart grown by the years and wisdom filling my sails and yet, the one constant that remains is the love of writing about another person. Seeing, truly seeing, their amazing gifts to this world and when it comes in the package of love and marriage, I am honored to write ‘Their Love Story’.

I, myself, have a wonderful Love Story, filled with almost fourteen years with my husband and the Valentine’s Days that I remember now, all have him in it! A vintage bottle of wine shared on the shores of the Bahia of Conception after a morning of kayaking with dolphins and grey whales, satin red lingerie that I love slipping into, deeply romantic dinner at an elegant restaurant and this year has earned its place at the top of the list.

We celebrated Valentine’s Day on the edge of the Grand Canyon. The sweet gift of this year was not only the experience of this day of Love with my beloved, but also the honor to write a Love Story into a marriage ceremony for a couple. To officiate a wedding on the rim of the Grand Canyon, on the exact day that Arizona turned 100 and snow graced the south rim’s landscape is a memory that I will call upon for decades to come. The mist curled around and parted, revealing the Colorado River below and magic, yes that ancient magic that leaves everyone around a little quiet, looking at each other, even strangers, with that deep knowing that they are sharing this unique day, this amazing moment. Magic danced around this sweet couple so filled with joy, the expansive views before them and a limitless future, all tied up in Love on this special day, Valentine’s Day.

So, on this day after, I am reflecting, as I usually do about the wedding from the day before. I offer prayers to

each couple that I facilitate into marriage and wish for them a glorious journey ahead. I find, on this day, dipping down into my own memory lane, into the start of my writing all those decades before and I am grateful to this day of the year, dedicated to Love. Grateful for my early gifts and desire to write about the spirit and soul of another being, to see that manifested into a ‘Love Story’ at my wedding ceremonies has a magic all its own.

May many memories of Valentine’s Days fill your life with great Love Stories!

 

~ Blessings of Love ~ Rev. Shanandoah

 

With all the statistics out there a marriage can look daunting, even a gamble. You hear it on talk shows, the average years a marriage last is… Or there are more divorce couples than married ones. It is like the article that touts the great benefits of eggs, the next one tells you to stay away from them. How about how great coffee can be for you in the 5 O’clock news and by the morning addition, you are warned to stay away from it. Good grief, if we listened to everything a statistic or news report told us we would never leave the house! Last week I witnessed three instances where love shined through with the years, instantly reminding me of just how well love can last.

 

My first was on Tuesday when I had the honor to officiate the renewal vows of a couple that was celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary! Yes, twenty-five years later this couple was still so madly in love that they almost did not remember that the photographer, the limo chauffeur or myself were in the room. All through the ceremony they only had eyes for each other, giggled like they were in high school, and as a matter of fact couldn’t even keep there hands off each other!

 

My second encounter with deep love was a few days later on Saturday, while out with my husband at a restaurant. We were waiting to be seated and I watched a couple approach the front door, their years shone well into retirement and wedding rings grooved deep into their fingers. She walked just slightly ahead of him, limping, moving slowly with determination. My guess was a stroke some years before. What really caught my attention was her husband, just behind her, not trying to help, yet love and protection watched her every step. She reached for the door and he closed the short distance between them and finished pushing the door open for her, love pouring out of his eyes and his heart. I swear, I could see the intense energy pass between this couple that only love and years can create and I was touched to tears. I snuggled in close to my husband’s side and I know it will be like that for us when we reach our Golden anniversary.

 

The third encounter happened on Sunday. My husband and I have a favorite Sunday breakfast place, up in Oak Creek Canyon and I have seen many people come and go over the years on that outdoor breakfast patio. So many interactions, people from all over the world and yet this sweet old man put the final fire in me to prompt this sharing of deep love I witnessed in just one week. See, he came with a fairly large group and everyone was milling around the tables while they were brought together to accommodate the group of twelve. He busied himself with chatting with an acquaintance and when he finished most of his group had sat down and he grab the closest chair to him. Looking up I could see his eyes lock on the woman across from him, “I can sit over there.” “It’s okay,” her voice carried the short distance to our table. He puzzled this remark, still looking around and proceeded to get up and move slowly to her side of the table. She glanced to him, warmth and love in her eyes and he settled himself in with a quick nod, a smile and his face radiated like he won the biggest prize at the fair! See, his beloved sat just inched away on the other side of the table, and even though the years had worn well between them, the distance of sitting that ‘far’ away was just too much. It still brings a chuckle out of me to remember the look of love and that nod.

 

So, the next time a statistic wants to get in the way of your heart, shut off the TV, put down the paper and look across to your beloved, tell them why you fell in love with them. Surprise them with a date night, a weekend away, a box of chocolates…Well, you get the idea. They may be surprised and yet I think it is one of the secrets to keeping love and marriage thriving well into our Golden years!

 

Have a great week!!

Blessings ~ Rev. Shannadoah

How do you make a 100 guest Dream Wedding Give-A-Way come off without a hitch? It’s all in the wedding professionals, a group of individuals that truly have a PASSION for weddings!

 

This amazing wedding idea started back in January of this year when The Wedding Chronicle produced the Sedona Bridal Show and one lucky couple walked away the winners to this extraordinary gift. Over the months following the Sedona Bridal Show the wedding professionals that volunteered their time, energy and service to this Dream Wedding have been diligently working. Last night all that hard work come into fruition!

 

L’Auberge de Sedona offered the Cottage Lawn by the Creek as the ceremony site, Sedona Luxury Weddings coordinating wedding party, guest and vendors with splendid precision, Patricia Vega worked her magic and artistic craft with the hair and make-up, Garage by Ivy provided a mixture of succulents and white roses for the floral decor, Fitzhugh Jenkins played lovely guitar for the guest and ceremony, Sterling Weddings officiated a customized, one-of-a-kind, ceremony.

 

The reception moved over to Tlaquepaque where Classic Party Rentals had already draped the tables with their  specialty linens, Heartline Café was busy serving yummy hor d’oevre with the promise of a scrumptious dinner to follow, AZ Nights kept the music flowing and the whole day was being captured on film by Cameron + Kelly Studios! Cameron and Jamelle, I’m looking forward to those great photos!

 

Great job everyone! I KNOW Ben and Sarah are blissfully happy right now!

February 18th, 2012

Sponsored By The Sedona Wedding Studio

♥ A cordial invitation for all brides to discover… ♥

The H’Art Of Having A Sedona Wedding

Your’re Invited!

The 2012 Sedona Bridal Boot Camp has been expanded into a full week of events and festivities!  Last year, both days were at capacity prompting the expansion.  Sedona Bridal Boot Camp is brought to you by Sedona Wedding Studio, Northern Arizona’s largest and most comprehensive wedding organization. The 2012 Boot Camp will offer fresh and inventive ways for brides to plan their stylish Sedona weddings.

Again this year, The 2012 Sedona Bridal Boot Camp has been planned surrounding Valentine’s week.  The week’s festivities will begin with a boutique style Sedona Wedding Studio Open House Soiree on Saturday, February 11th that will welcome studio members, media, studio friends and brides alike.

The Valentine’s week of events will culminate with the expanded 2012 Sedona Bridal Boot Camp on Saturday, February 18th!! Brides will be able to meet numerous Sedona Wedding Studio vendors in an intimate setting while sampling food, cake and other treats as they stroll among beautiful vignettes, displays, and permanent exhibits in the gorgeous SWS Showroom.  This year’s expansion will include a fabulous “wedding inspirations” pavilion, where brides can find everything and everyone they need to plan their Sedona weddings.

The Sedona Bridal Boot Camp website is in the works and will be launched soon.  Don’t miss this important Sedona wedding event.  Please contact us if you need immediate assistance.

 

 

 

With the summer in full bloom, if you are like my husband and myself, we are busy hopping from barbeque to pool party to music festival, thoroughly enjoying the extended hours of light, visiting with friends until well after the stars shine in the sky. All the fun, visiting and keeping up with the summer’s high social schedule can leave little time for just the two of you.

My husband and I are very busy and creative spirits and can easily fill every night of the week with some great activity that only comes around during these wonderful summer months. So, many years ago, ten to be exact, we made a pack. A pack to make at least one day a week, just ours. For us that one day a week involves no phone, no news, no internet, no work, no…well you get the idea. It  took us a little time to train our friends and family that on Sundays we are unreachable, but with some loving consistency they now know we are ‘off’ for the day.

We take ‘Our Day’ and visit with one another. We revisit dreams, come up with new adventures to plan for and work on solutions to a projects all while hiking, smelling flowers, sitting ankle deep in the middle of a creek. Are you getting the full picture? We un-plug and fully concentrate on our desired dreams together, our relationship, our concerns…it is all about us. I choose to marry my best friend, my lover and confidant, why would I not want to still spend time with him; dreaming, planning and growing old into our future together.

It is so easy with our intensely busy society, technology and to-do lists that we put off deepening our relationship with our beloved until later. You already have one another, right? See each other over coffee in the morning and share a meal at the end of day, touching lightly on the highlights that happened during the in-between hours. This is great and important, yet there is so much more to when you plan a day just for the two of you.

 

We have kids, I work two jobs, etc., etc… you’re telling me. You can always, and I mean always, come up with excuses! Then I say to you, start slow with this new idea. Make one day a month Your Day! If the whole day is too much to start with at first, go for a few hours. Commit to each other again. Remember when you were first falling in love? You would make time at 11 o’clock in the evening if it meant spending just 30 minutes with one another. I invite you to re-kindle that flame and put each other first. Yes, first before the kids, before work, before other engagements. Trust me, if you put a little more time back to one another then all the others that require your attention will be easier. In a short amount of time, you’ll see that the specific attention that you are focusing on one another starts to manifest your dreams easier and you’ll move that one day a month to one day a week!

Have fun this summer and remember as you are enjoying all the fun out there take a little time for your beloved!

Many Blessings ~ Shanandoah

Sedona Celebrity Cake Artist Opens Sedona Cake Couture

Brides planning their Sedona weddings and locals alike are in for a real treat…  literally. On February 26th, Sedona celebrates the grand opening of Sedona Cake Couture.  Owner, Andrea Carusetta, is well-known for her numerous appearances and awards on The Food Network and TLC network.  Nationally recognized for her splendid creations in cake, Andrea is already a household name in Arizona.  Andrea’s cakes are totally decadent ( as really good cakes should be ) and they are unsurpassed in original design, creativity and of course, flavor.

Sedona Cake Couture’s grand opening warmly welcomes Sedona locals as well as brides who may be planning their Sedona wedding over the weekend of February 26th.  There will be cake, cake and more cake from 10:00 am to 5:oo pm.  Guests will also be able to tour the beautiful Sedona Wedding Studio’s facilities as they sample this-flavor-and-that while viewing a fabulous galley of cakes.

That’s not all. There will be an invitation only after hours party for VIPs and Sedona Wedding Studio members shortly after 5:00.  Local chefs, resort Food and Beverage Directors, restaurant owners, Scottsdale event planners, coordinators and media guests will dot this red carpet event.  Champagne and cake for everyone!  Don’t miss it.

event details