A Colourful, Mexican Themed Wedding at Tohono Chul Park

This Mexican themed wedding in the Arizona desert is totally amazing and unique! Incredibly, Reagan and Ryan planned their fabulous wedding at Tohono Chul Park in just six months. We haven’t featured a wedding in the desert before, but it’s such a spectacular, natural backdrop and really sets the scene for this Mexican inspired wedding.

We love all the colourful handmade details and pretty little Mexican touches that add to the beautiful styling of the day — and wait until you see their wedding cake…

A big thank you to Plain Jane Photography for sending us this incredible wedding.

Natural Beauty and Charm

“We wanted to get married in the desert. Like, IN the desert. We were originally planning a backyard wedding at my mom’s where the ceremony would be in the gorgeous natural desert near their house. However, the logistics of throwing a party that large at their home started to get overwhelming. Then I remembered visiting Tohono Chul as a child, and I’d read so many testimonials on how beautiful the park is now. The natural beauty and charm was exactly what we were looking for.”

Colourful Wedding

“I knew that I wanted to wear flowers in my hair and that our wedding would be colourful. My flower crown was my favourite part; I couldn’t have asked for anything more perfect! It was made of fuchsia, orange and yellow ranunculus, and red carnations.

“I saw a bouquet in a Carolina Herrera fashion show made solely out of magnolia leaves, and I fell in love. I wanted to add some white flowers to the mix, so my florist added ranunculus and I think some garden roses to match my flower crown.

“My sister made the signs that guided people to the ceremony, the menu, and all the signs for the welcome, exit and photo booth tables. She even opened up her own Etsy shop afterwards!”

Special Ceremony

“Everything about our ceremony was special. We chose to have our ceremony in the Spanish Garden, which is an area behind where most weddings at Tohono Chul take place. The garden is outside an old house; it’s a clearing surrounded by bushes and trees which create a canopy of shelter from the sun.

“My best friend Lisa officiated the ceremony. We had no idea what she was going to say or how it was going to go. All we knew was she had interviewed each of us separately along with some of our friends.

“When we first stood together, she asked us to turn around and face our guests. My friend Amanda stood up and declared, “I knew I loved Reagan when…”. Another eight guests, including my mom, then all stood up in turn and gave a reason why they loved us.

“Lisa went on to give the most beautiful speech about life, us and our friends. Then she called our friends Vlad and Sean to the front to perform a rendition of a very silly song from the show ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, called ‘Dayman’. In Ryan’s interview, he said one of the moments he knew he loved me is when I woke up and started singing that song in bed.”

Mexican Theme

“We wanted to have a colourful wedding, and we both have eclectic and unique taste. Growing up in Arizona I have a strong affinity for Mexican culture and décor so it sort of evolved naturally into a Mexican themed wedding, given the natural Arizona desert setting.”
6

Personal Touches

“We did a lot ourselves, but it was a mix of bought goods with added personal touches. For example, I bought the tin milagros ornaments for the name cards, but I made each name tag. I wanted them to look like Mexican tiles.

“We used colourful paper tissue flowers for the photo booth backdrop, and we ordered papel picado for the table numbers and cake banner. These weren’t do it yourself, but we had these awesome loteria glitter matchboxes as favours on the exit table.

“My cousin is a very talented photographer, so that was an easy choice! She captured our day so beautifully, and helped to make it extra special.”