A Winter Wonderland: Lindsey & Brandon’s Wedding Slideshow from Jared Platt on Vimeo.

Brandon and Lindsey were married at the Montelucia Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona on the first weekend in December. Everything about this wedding was beautiful. Thanks to the the hard work of The Montelucia Staff, Embellish Design for Entertaining, Julia Baker and Amy’s Floral Design.

Brandon and Lindsey’s rehearsal dinner was quite a production on its own.  Everything was white, with a little hint of green.  Everyone wore black and white.  That is, everyone…

…everyone except for the bride!  Lindsey strolled in with Brandon in a red dress that was absolutely stunning.  The band began to play “Lady in Red” and they danced.  It was perfect.

The Montelucia’s Castillo Lucena is an impressive room.  I have shot wedding ceremonies, wedding dinners and receptions in this room and each time, the room is perfect.  The rehearsal dinner was no exception.

Brandon’s tux for the rehearsal dinner reminded me of James Bond.  It was a good looking tux.

And the bride’s wedding dress was as beautiful as the rehearsal dinner dress.  We actually hung the two dresses side by side to decide which was better.  Couldn’t choose.

I love a good portrait with activity in the background.

Like I said, the wedding dress did not play second fiddle to the rehearsal dinner dress.  It was very beautiful.

Now comes the bath tub.  Lindsey was getting ready in the bathroom and I saw this tub…  How could I leave without putting her in the bath tub for a photograph?  That is one beautiful bath tub.  Only at the Montelucia!

And I have to take my hat off to Amy’s Floral Designs and Embellish Design for Entertaining.  Their work was nothing short of spectacular.  And they were so great to work with.  Everything worked together to create a beautiful winter wonderland.

The flower girl ran out of flowers a little short of half way down the isle.  I think we should give flower girls a lot more flower petals.

Of course you can see where all the flower petals went.  I love the designs on the grass out of flower petals.  That was a perfect touch.  I actually want to know who thought that one up?  Brilliant.  It adds so much to the photo.

This is a new spin on the Unity Candle.  It is called a Unity Cross.  Although it is a bit too complicated to actually put together during the ceremony.  I think it would take too long, like building a lego set during the wedding.  So they had it mostly put together so that all they had t o do was put in the pins to secure it.  I’m not sure if anyone would sit through a Unity Cross ceremony if they started from scratch.  But the end result is quite nice, don’t you think?

The winter wonderland was even more impressive with little gems hanging off of everything.

And yes, the cake had glowing balls made of little gems.  No one can match Julia Baker’s cakes.  And now she has a little shop at the Montelucia Resort.

And of course a few portraits of the wedding couple around the grounds of the Montelucia.

After our portrait session, we made our way back to the wedding dinner and reception.  Of course there is always the pre-reception fussing to get the bride ready for her grande entrance  I always love the shots of bustling the dress and looking in the mirror, etc.  You get the same interesting activities that you get at the beginning of the day, but now the bride is nearly perfect anyway, all made up, hair done, but not perfect.  It is beauty with the added allure of a few hours of life.  I like it better once there is less perfection.  I am always telling other photographers, there is no life in perfection, it is in imperfection that we find life and passion, etc.

The wedding couple had a great first dance.  It was well choreographed.

I have shown this image before as a teaser to this wedding.  I love it so very much and the most important thing about this wedding is that it is a truly real moment.  It was caught before the bride was aware of me and my camera.  The subsequent photographs when she is aware, are not quite so perfect.  I told the story of capturing the image in my teaser post in which I postulate on her thoughts as the photograph was being made.  I have since learned from Lindsey that I was right about her thoughts.  I am so proud of capturing this moment.  It is my favorite image from the wedding day.

I love the movement.

Like I said, it was a winter wonderland.  The frosty flecks of snow on the branches along with the clear gems made every centerpiece sparkle.

Wedding Details:
Photography: Platt Photography
Wedding Location: The Montelucia Resort
Event Design: Embellish, Design for Entertaining
Flowers: Amy’s Floral Design
Wedding Cake: Julia Baker
Makeup and Hair: Holli Christensen
Officiant: Pastor Brian Hommel
Videography: Beautiful Day Films