So it turns out all that (air quotes here) “wedding planning” I’ve been doing for the past several months is actually coming to fruition.
Ryan and I put down a deposit, set a date and signed a contract for our wedding venue earlier this summer.
It was, of course, chaotic. Ryan was on a fire somewhere, I was on a fire somewhere, we scrambled last-minute for the last Saturday that was available next fall, and we paid a deposit over the phone after three days of phone tag.
But, we booked a date and signed a contract and we officially have wedding plans in progress!
We spent about two months looking at wedding venues both online and in person (more on that later) before we landed on Aldea Weddings in the Woods here in Flagstaff.
Ryan and I went back-and-forth for a bit about whether we even wanted a wedding. We considered eloping in Sedona, researched ceremonies in Mexico, ran through the logistics of a DIY National Forest permit wedding, reached out to a few local restaurants about a patio wedding, priced out a micro wedding, thought about the whole private-elopement/ public-after-party combination that’s really popular right now…
But after the two of us sat down together, we decided we did want a traditional large family wedding here in Flagstaff.
Once we figured that part out, we started looking around to find our perfect venue, knowing we…
A.) Needed a fall wedding date (that pesky fire season!)
B.) Wanted to get married in Arizona, and
C.) Had a pretty large guest list we needed to accomodate.
I did briefly look at wedding venues back home in Michigan, but we decided that it would be way too much of an effort of plan something across the country during our chaotic summer work schedules. Also, while we do have friends and family back in the Midwest, the bulk of our people do live here in the Arizona.
We also briefly considered Phoenix since it would be easier for guests flying in, but just really loved the idea of having our wedding here at home in Flagstaff.
After some researching, some budgeting, some planning, and some touring, we picked Aldea, which is a new(ish) venue located in the Flagstaff community of Mountainaire, just south of town off Interstate 17.
Ryan has a pretty large family, so we knew we needed a venue with a capacity of at least 130. Aldea can fit 150, and it’s so close to home.
There were several things we loved about Aldea, actually.
It’s an all-inclusive venue, so we basically pay a flat fee and they handle the food, drinks, photographer, florals, decor, officiant, cake, etc.
This was a huge selling point to me, because not only am I way too busy with work to even think about setting up 15 different cake tastings, I am also incredibly indecisive.
So, love it when someone else makes the decisions for me!
However, I am pretty decisive on a few things, and the food was one of them. We didn’t want to be restricted to an in-house plated caterer, and Aldea gave us the flexibility to pick something other than a pre-plated chicken dinner, which was also fantastic.
Aldea also has an on-site coordinator for the day-of, so we don’t have to worry about hiring a wedding planner. Aldea has a full closet of decor and place settings and whatnot, so we basically get to tell them what colors we like and what vibe we’re feeling, and they’ll do all the set-up and take-down of everything.
Yay sustainability!
There’s a ton of outdoor space for socializing, dining, drinking and dancing, and a small indoor area for both Ryan and I to use to get ready, sign our marriage certificate, and to hide from the cold.
I am definitely a bit worried about the weather. Flagstaff gets notoriously chilly both in the fall and at night, so we’re a bit wary of the evening cold and any threat of potential rain.
However, all the pros definitely outweighed the cons for us.
Aldea has a gorgeous outdoor ceremony area on-site, so we’ll get to exchange vows standing in front of the towering pines, and we’ll get to walk out into the forest we both work for to take our wedding photos.
Aldea also has a fire pit (s’mores bar?!), several outdoor lounge areas, space heaters, and a stunning covered pavilion where dinner will be served.
Aldea has a hard 10 p.m. cut-off out of respect for the Mountainaire community, so Ryan and I already got our after-party set up in downtown Flagstaff for the evening.
Aldea is also (of course) dog-friendly, which means Ochi can take part in the festivities!
It’s just a perfectly rustic, outdoorsy, foresty, Flagstaff-y venue that’s perfect for the two of us, and fits our relationship so well.
We still have quite some time until the wedding, but there’s still so much to plan and get done! I’m getting a bit more excited (instead of overwhelmed) at it all now that we have this one big hurdle cleared.
