arizona wedding photography ~ tracey and ben, part I

Tracey and Ben got married at Desert Springs Community Church and had their reception at Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Arizona.

Other than the church, the reception and the whole wedding was held outside. I have to admit, with temps predicted to be 106 degrees, I was a little curious and concerned how this was going to fair. But to tell you the truth, it was gorgeous out and even Ben, who was in a full tux, was fine.

Hey, a guys gotta do, what a guys gotta do….he can’t go all day with his energy depleted, he needs his burger and fries! This guy has to do a very important job, carrying those rings all morning!

Like every wedding, theirs was no exception, and they had a few glitches that reared their ugly head as soon as we arrived. The biggie was the girl’s bouquets. It was kind of like the March of the Wooden Soldiers, you know the classic Thanksgiving movie with Laurel and Hardy playing the part of Santa’s elves. When an order comes in for 600 soldiers, 1′ tall and Stannie Dum and partner, Ollie Dee, screw it up and they make 100 soldiers at 6′ tall, well that was like Tracey’s floral bouquets from her florist! We could tell from her face the moment we arrived, that something was not making our little bride very happy. Seems she had ordered hot pink daisies for the girls to match their beautiful dresses and her bouquet, was to be daisies with hot pink roses in them the same color as their flowers. But, in fact, what she got, was a bouquet for her with white daisies and very light, pink roses. Her girls didn’t fair as well, there in a bucket were bunches of white daisies with no pink whatsoever, and they were tied with what she called “hay”, LOL, which was raffia. Not a stitch of pretty ribbon in sight. And not only that, instead of them being regular bouquet length, say 8-10″ in length from flower to stem so the girls can carry them nicely, they were like 20″ long, ready to be placed in vases!!!! But have no fear, 17 years in the biz and luckily for Tracey, BenMin Floral, [hint, hint, LOL] came to the rescue, hahahah, sorry I had to poke alittle fun…. Things in the end worked out, and nobody was any worse for wear.

Why, oh why, can we send men to the moon but can’t come up with a beautiful high-heeled shoe that’s comfortable, Dr. Scholls????

Tracey’s “MINT TO BE” mints, LOL, in what else, heart shapes!

Tracey is a school teacher and was just fine letting Ben take control of the reins. Ben’s dad was the officiant at the ceremony and made the whole ceremony so warm and loving and personal. I just love it when a couple knows the person who is going to be doing their ceremony. Tracey was beaming. Both of them are from real big families, as they both have six siblings each. Their whole wedding party was made up of all their brothers and sisters and nephews. Before Tracey and her dad entered the ceremony for their walk down the aisle, the guests were greeted by a slide show of the two of them growing up. There was a part in the ceremony especially touching when both their families came up to the alter to lay their hands upon them and say a prayer.

Ben teared up as he said his vows to Tracey which in turn got the audience as well….

While some of the wedding party, LOL, were not impressed with what was going on…..

That was followed by an equally poignant moment when one of the ushers, who had a beautiful voice by the way, sang a song to them right prior to their kiss and ceremony ending.

Then it was time to get the show on the road as they say, and with one big kiss and the playing of “I’m Walking on Sunshine”, they bounded from the alter and flew to the foyer where Ben kissed and danced with Tracey in a fit of happiness. Stupid me, I never let Rich know it was going to happen as Tracey had confided in me while I was doing her photographs about it, and, poor Rich, almost got mowed over, LOL!

The guests were troopers and went right outside as prompted for the bubble ceremony and the drive away in Ben’s shiny, red Wrangler Jeep convertible and boy was Rich ever jealous, thanks Ben, now he wants one of them! LOL…..

We grabbed the wedding party and headed out to the grassy area of the golf course, with pristine mountain views in the background, lakes abounding, and got started with our couple’s portraits and group shots.

Tracey and her sister were craaazzzeeee…the girls got this idea that we should take photos of Tracey and then at the end they threw their bouquets right at her, it was too funny!

Tracey and Ben were so much in love, I had to kid with them, that I felt like I was intruding on their privacy. I mean seriously, they couldn’t stop kissing, laughing, and just all around playing with each other. They were such a cute couple. When we were taking her portraits, Ben was like “OMG, you are so beautiful, I love that shot, do this, do that…” and she just laughed and laughed. Simply adorable. I love working with a couple like that, cause there is very little prompting as to what to do, they just “play” and that makes for super great photos.

You work it, girlfriend! AND, Ben, you are not so bad yourself there, with your little strut…..hahahah

At the end of the night, from all the dancing, Tracey and Ben were a tad bit hot and the sprinklers had just gone on, on the golf course. The next thing I knew, they asked if we could run outside and take a few shots with the sunset that was fast upon us. We obliged, naturally, and within seconds……

these two were at it again, playing in the sprinklers.

Check out Tracey’s arms, dripping with water! They were so nuts, and I mean that in a good way. I mean how many couples will go run in a strong, forceful sprinkler all decked out in their full wedding attire???? Just too cool, literally and figuratively, LOL.