Our Wedding Story
The best day ever.
3/25/16
March 25th, 2016 was the best damn day of our lives. It was everything we could have dreamed of. It was magic, we loved every second of it! And there isn't one thing we would change. Even the nickname that was created for myself, call me patty, I wouldn't change. BUT, i'll get into that later! We decided to get married on a Friday. We wanted to be able to have the entire weekend to soak in all the wedding bliss... And that we did. But first, the rehearsal!
The Rehearsal Dinner
Our rehearsal dinner was held up on a Thursday, and Zach's parents hosted it at a restaurant called Vivace located at base of the Catalina mountains. This place has some amazing views that look over Tucson. It is a beautiful and DELICIOUS Italian restaurant. This happens to be the place we went to the night that Zach proposed to me! This place will always hold a special place in our hearts. And now we get to go back to celebrate anniversaries when we want- always remembering those special memories. Here's some photos that were captured, with all of our special family and friends who joined us that night!
(BTW: My dress is from For The Love Of Lemons- I wish I could wear it everyday)
Our rehearsal dinner was so much fun! It was such a great way to introduce our family to the BIG wedding weekend. Another reason we wanted to have our wedding on a Friday was because we wanted to host a family BBQ at our house to thank our parents for everything they did for us. The following day, we held the BBQ in our backyard (after some much needed bloody mary's and mimosas of course!) Then we thankfully had Sunday to relax and recharge before going back to work the next day. (sigh)
Now, let's get to the good stuff!
THE BIG DAY
The night before the wedding day, I stayed at my mom’s house with my mom and sisters. Zachary stayed at our house with all of his groomsmen, his brother, his dad, and Irish whiskey of course.
We all got dolled up and ready at our DREAMY venue. We got married at 242 Park Avenue, a former railroad warehouse. Park Avenue is located in Tucson’s Lost Barrio close to downtown Tucson. It was the perfect place for us- it fit us and our style beautifully. Exposed brick walls, chalk art, wood floors, string lights, marquee LOVE lights, all the vintage feels, an outdoor ceremony, indoor reception, live music, an overall historic gem- it had it all! We fell in love with this place the moment we saw it, and knew we had to have it.
The venue has two separate corridors for bride and groom to get ready. The groom's room has tons of games, pool table, jukebox, couches, and more. It was the perfect place for the gentlemen to relax, sip on some beers, play a few games, and chill while the ladies did their thang. On the other hand, the brides room was spacious, had beautiful decor and details, huge vanity mirrors, brick walls, vintage couches and more. We were able to get ready with ease! As I was finishing getting ready I was able to pop in and out of the venue to make sure things were getting set up as needed. It was nice having everything so close in proximity!
The small little details, wedding decor, guest favors, flowers, everything- we had worked on for months before the wedding, and it all came together beautifully. With the help of my mama, my maid of honor Shaina, my two sisters and our photographer Megan Wilde and a little bit of champagne- everything turned out perfectly! My older sister who is a makeup artist did all of our makeup, and my hair stylist Nicole Cruz did our hair. I will never forget the butterflies that stayed in my belly all day. Those anxious tingles of love and excitement.
Here are some pictures of the pre wedding prepping, all our wedding decor, the calm before the storm. Enjoy!
Our First Look
We chose to have a 'first look' so that we could get the photos out of the way, and capture the experience we wanted without feeling rushed. We also wanted to be able to enjoy our own cocktail hour and get the party started. Am I right? The first look is something I will never forget. This special moment of seeing him for the first time. It was one of the sweetest moments of my life. I cried, per usual. Here are some snaps of our first look.
The Ceremony
Our ceremony was lovely, it occurred on a warm and sunny Spring evening. A railroad track split the aisles and led to a historic train caboose. It was on that caboose where we joined hands and said I do. It was the cutest little setup. Our close family and friends surrounded us, with our 4 groomsmen and 4 bridesmaids. We read our own vows, shed some tears, cracked smiles, and shared laughter. We had a live guitarist serenade the moment with songs from our favorite artist, City and Color.
Quick side story. Our officiant, who was super awesome up until this point, had made a big mistake in the middle of our ceremony. Granted, he was apparently on medication for tearing his Achilles heal. (Ouch!) BUT, our officiant called me the wrong name during our vow exchange. “And do you PATRICIA...” We immediately burst out laughing, as my dad yelled "IT'S ERIKA!" Zach whispered to the officiant to make another 'joke' and to call him Robert. Everyone had a laugh and the processional went on smoothly. We just about died though! It is something we will always have a funny story to tell with our wedding. And now, Patricia is my alter ego name when I get hangry, pissy, or when I need to calm down a bit. When Zach, my sisters, and our best friends call me Patty or Patricia, then BOOM, I know I need to calm my shit- or go eat a snickers bar. Still kills me to this day- but I secretly freakin' love it.
-Patty Walker
Alright, it's Erika again. Back to the ceremony!
Our ceremony was only about 20-25 minutes. Short, sweet, and to the point. We just wanted to be married already, dammit! We shared some stories of our relationship, spoke our vows, had a ring warming, and a bubble send off from our guests as we walked back down the aisle. We were finally Mr. and Mrs. Walker. <3
It all came together wonderfully.
Directly after the ceremony, we snuck away to grab a few more quick pictures with the sunset by ourselves! Honestly our photographer Megan Wilde was amazing, and was able to catch such special moments for us at just the right times. We jumped back into the venue and joined our guests for cocktail hour. We decided to have live music during this hour, with an awesome local guitarist named Toby Slade. He sounded pretty rad playing a variety of acoustic jams. Our guests mingled, drank our signature cocktails, ate hors d'oeuvres, located their tables, and got ready for the REAL party. Oh! Another plus side about our venue was that we could bring our own alcohol, which saved us a TON of money! (Thanks Costco!)
Drinks were flowing and the party was gettin’ going.
NOW IT WAS TIME TO PARTY!
THE RECEPTION
Once the reception kicked off, the night was filled with so many fun activities. We danced the night away! Zach and I had our first dance as Frank Sinatra played Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. Then Zach danced with his mom and I danced with my dad. Little did Zach know, my dad and I choreographed a dance routine to Can’t Touch This. In the middle of our slow song, my dad whipped out two pairs of black shades and we got down to some MC Hammer. (I'll have to attach a video of that later!) We played the shoe game. This is where our Maid of honor and Best Man asked us a series of questions, which is answered in a fun way. If you don’t know what the shoe game is, then you gotta look it up and think about adding it to your future wedding. (It’s awesome!) We had an anniversary 'how many years have you been married' dance. My grandparents were the last ones standing on the dance floor! Married for over 60 years. GOALS! The speeches our friends and family gave were amazing. Something we will never forget and will cherish always. We were surrounded by so much love.
We had some delicious drinks, food, cake, and guess what else? We had an AFTER PARTY SONORAN HOT DOG STAND. That's right. Outside of our venue later in the evening, the famous Sonoran hot dog stand arrived, locked and loaded, ready to feed our guests with some late night drunchies (Drunk munchies, duh.) To top it all off, we loaded our guests into a English style double decker red bus. Then, the party bus led us downtown. The bus was decked out with classic cans dragging from behind, string lights surrounding, and a big ‘Just Married’ banner.
It was filled from top to bottom with our closest friends and family- ready to continue the party! We set sail to downtown Tucson to showcase our celebration with fireworks, music, and sparklers! We finally got dropped off at the historic Club Congress, and continued our night there into the wee early morning hours! SO. MUCH. FUN. We spent the night at Hotel Congress in one of their historic rooms. Waking up the next morning, we joined our closest friends for a boozy breakfast while reminiscing about our magical night.
Oh, what a night it was!
Our entire weekend couldn’t have gone any better. We loved every single second of our special day. Zach's favorite part was exchanging our vows. My favorite was our first dance together (and all the activities on the dance floor!) Love was everywhere that day. We made sure to soak in every sweet moment together.
*lonnnnnnnng sigh*
If only, we could have another wedding ;)
Here is a final video sharing our special day, we hope you've enjoyed hearing about the best day eva as much as we loved reliving this day with you. Enjoy!
