Fresh and Modern Art Gallery Wedding: Tena & Simon {Verdi Photography}

I am LOVING the color scheme in today’s wedding; it’s just so fresh, and modern, and just {for lack of a better word} so cool.  Seriously - and all of the decor was DIY, and made with love.  From the votive candle “escort cards”, lovely cake, and tissue paper poms to the gorgeous flowers and stunning {and I mean stunning} bride and groom, this wedding is going down as one to remember, and you can’t help but fall in love with these two as you witness the love they have for each other.

Thank you to Verdi Photography for sharing these images with us, and thank you to Tena and Simon for sharing your day with us {and keep reading to hear about the day from the bride herself!}

Now on to some serious eye candy!

And the lovely flower detail in Tena’s crinoline?  This is a tradition that Tena and her fellow sorority sisters do each time a girl gets married - I love it!!

I love this shot!

Even their stunning invites matched perfectly with the color palette - via the lovely Angela Cook of Swatchbook Weddings, who was also the maid of honor!  If you haven’t checked out Angela’s work, head on over to her blog, website, or facebook, she is amazing {and an absolute sweetheart}!

The happy couple

LOVE that boutonniere…

A quick outdoor shot with a pop of color in an otherwise gray sky…

And even the bathrooms provided an amazing backdrop!

And for the ceremony:

Handritten vows…

That brought tears of joy {and laughter}…

Followed by “I do!”

And…. party time :)  Can you believe these votives perfectly matched, designed by Angela and assembled by Simon {and adorable, at that!}

Tena’s dad made the “puzzle” guest book!

Yay for the poms!!

LOVE the cake!!

From the gorgeous bride, Tena:
Our goal for the wedding was to have a fun event for us and our families and friends. But, it was also important to have a lot of unique and special touches sprinkled throughout. The decorations, ceremony and even food were unique. We carried a peacock theme throughout, but I didn’t want to overdo it, so there are just little hints of peacock feathers here and there: my hair clip, garter, bouquets, bouts and table decorations had little bits of feathers.

The ceremony included stories about me and Simon which were read by my MOH and his Best Man. They included how we met (from his POV and from mine) and how each of us helped each other out of a jam (“Tena the Fool” and “Simon the Fool.”) These personal stories provided a little bit of laughter during the ceremony.

All of the decorations were made by myself, Simon, my MOH or one of my parents. My Dad made the puzzle guest book and my mother and I made all of those tissue paper poms. :) My MOH is a wedding stationary designer (swatchbookweddings.com/blog) so she designed the invites and other signage for the event. And my trusty husband was VERY involved in the table numbers and escort cards (votive candle holders).

Going along with the “fun” theme, we wanted our menu to be comfort food with a twist. A macaroni and cheese bar with a bunch of unique toppings and gourmet quesadillas. Unexpected, but very memorable.

My favorite part of the day was seeing how everything came together. 13 months of planning and a lot of stress all paid off, I felt a huge sigh of relief after saying my vows knowing that my “wedding planning responsibilities” were over, and that I could focus on enjoying the start of my new journey with Simon!

Photographer: Photography by Verdi
Caterer: Santa Barbara Catering Company
Floral Designer: The Garage by Ivy
Reception Venue: Tempe Center for the Arts
Invitation Designer: Swatchbook Weddings
DJ: Curtis Whipple
Cake: Honey Moon Sweets
Wedding Gown: Brides By Demetrios
Bridesmaid Dresses: Twirl