Beautiful Desert Wedding in Tucson, Arizona

Finally. I am FINALLY writing this blog post. Between all of the travel, getting back home, spending time with family, getting caught up with work & getting ready for the bridal show, I somehow FORGOT to blog. I’m not going to lie and say I was too busy, although I was and still am busy, but my wonderful pregnancy brain forgot until I was getting the slideshow for the bridal show ready, and I saw one of their bridal portraits. I feel HORRIBLE. I love this couple so much, and it has taken me a week longer than normal to blog their wedding. So I made it a priority to get it done TODAY. So, here I am, doing that nap time hustle. Ryleigh is snoozing, so I am blogging. #MomLife. P.S., This blog post is LONG. Like, Titanic long. Hang in there…

This all began from a Facebook message. Aundria messaged me in January, and we had a video call in February, so I could show them I was a real person (LOL!). Once they signed the contract, the planning began. I usually talk with my couples, have meetings, engagement sessions, etc., to plan and make sure everything is perfect for their day. Planning Aundria & Austin’s day was a little different. I had to book where we were going to stay, how we would get around, and of course, how we would get there! I know I didn’t want to go alone, and taking my husband AND daughter would’ve been way too much, I decided to ask my mom. She came along and I am SO glad she did. Not only did she save me money on the rental car, because I am not 25, but she kept me company and helped me so much on the wedding day. When we left for AZ, I was 14 weeks pregnant. So having her there to help me was amazing.

We left for Knoxville on Wednesday night, so we didn’t have to drive at 3am to get to the airport. We got to the hotel Wednesday night around 9, and hit the hay. We woke up at 4am Thursday morning to head to the airport. We got parked & got through security *almost* perfectly. The officer asked if the backpack he was holding was mine, of course, it was. With a carry on FULL of batteries, camera equipment, and ring boxes, I am surprised he didn’t need to look in THAT. He asks to look in my backpack, which held my laptop, chargers, and essentials for the plane. Guess what he had to look at that was SO suspicious???……..MY. TRAIL. MIX. Yes, you read that right. He had to check my trail mix! I was holding back laughter as he felt up my trail mix, but he decided it was okay and sent me on my way. The next thing that happened sent me into a FULL ON PANIC ATTACK. As we approached the gate, we heard an announcement that group 9 had to check all carryons. Guess what group we were in? 9. Keep in mind, we had two carry ons..our clothes, and EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO SHOOT THIS WEDDING. My camera, lenses, batteries, SD Cards, etc. About $15,000 worth of camera equipment that could be lost if it didn’t make it onto my connecting flight in Dallas. So I walked up to the gate agent and explained that there was NO WAY I could check this bag, because I had to shoot a wedding and COULD NOT risk it getting lost. Not to mention all of the batteries I had were lithium batteries and they can’t be checked because they can explode in the bottom of the plane? She basically said too bad, it HAD to be checked. She told me to take the batteries out and bring it back to her. So here I am in the middle of an airport, trying to cram every essential piece of equipment into my tiny backpack. I roll the half empty bag up to the agent with tears in my eyes, and she stares at me and tells me I can take it on the plane… THANK. YOU. JESUS. So. I take everything out of my backpack, repack it into my carryon camera suite case and board my happy a$$ on the plane. Crisis. Averted.

One layover in Dallas and another plane ride later, we made it to Tucson. We made our way to the car rental counter, got our keys, and loaded into the Ford Escape. 30 minutes and a few missed turns later, we arrived at our Air B&B! I just want to say, the decision I made to book an apartment instead of a hotel was the BEST decision ever. We got to our apartment at like 10am on Thursday. So we had all day Thursday, Friday, and half of Sunday to do whatever we wanted. So why not be on a couch watching Netflix instead of in a hotel? It was amazing. We went to the grocery store and made most of our food. We did, however, have authentic Mexican food. Which was a first for me, and it was DELICIOUS! They didn’t know what queso or cheese dip was, but it was still good. Also, we got to order on Door Dash, which we don’t have access to where we live. So we had hot meals delivered to our door without having to get out of our pajamas. We did leave the apartment, I promise. We went to the mall, downtown, we got manicures and explored the desert.

I’m seriously almost done, promise.

Saturday was the big day. I got to Saguaro Buttes around 1, and after checking in with Aundria, I started on the details. Her ring is absolutely gorgeous, and her reception area was decorated beautifully! I really wanted to get a ring shot on a cactus, but I didn’t get to *que small violins*. Their ceremony was beautiful & their reception was so. much. FUN! Dinner was delicious and the shoe game had me laughing so hard. I am so excited to finally share these with you! If you made it this far and read everything, I am seriously IMPRESSED. Thank you!

XOXO,

Alissa