Real Azazie Wedding | Whitney + Anthony

Whitney and Anthony were married at Edgewood Tahoe in South Lake Tahoe, California on December 22. Their dream was for a winter wedding with a heavy chance of snow. The couple actually first began dating because of a snowstorm. They worked the same shift at a local store and since Whitney had grown up on the coast where it didn’t snow much, she was afraid to drive in the snow. Anthony would pick her up and take her home whenever it snowed. Their love story started with snow and the pair wanted to start their marriage with snow too!

Whitney and Anthony both love Harry Potter, which they incorporated throughout on their special day. The bridal party walked out to music from the fourth movie, the cake topper featured a line from the last book and the bridal party wore golden snitch necklaces.

All photos credit goes to Deanna Leigh Photography.

Q: Why did you choose this place to tie the knot?

“When we got engaged we were living in Arizona, where most of our friends were, but our family was in Oregon. Lake Tahoe was within driving distance for most guests and was halfway in between Arizona and Oregon. We wanted to have a destination wedding because we knew it would be small and near the holidays because we could all get time off then.”

Q: Did you have a particular theme?

“We chose to stick with a holiday palette of shades of green and a rich wine red. We wanted our theme to complement the decorations at our venue without reading too ‘Christmasy.’”

Q: What was the most memorable part of the day?

“Dancing with my husband for the first time. He rarely dances so it was very special to see the ring on his finger and have that moment with him.”

Q: Why did you choose Azazie for your bridesmaids dresses?

“Our bridal party (our sisters, we each have two) were spread across three states and one of them lived on a very rural horse ranch so finding the most accommodating way for them to get dresses was my number one priority. Knowing samples could be sent to them was amazing! I also loved all the choices for long gowns because I wanted everyone in different dresses. It could not have been more convenient.”

Q: Any words of advice for soon-to-be brides?

“Don’t broadcast the things you didn’t like about your wedding. Any details that weren’t just what you wanted will go unnoticed by your guests unless you point them out. If you talk about the things that weren’t to your liking, they will also talk about them. Also, remind your groom to eat, even if it is just crackers! Mine forgot and begged for food right after the ceremony because he was feeling so light headed. I feel like articles reminding brides to eat are everywhere, but grooms need food too!”

Q: How was the wedding planning process for you?

“I have a tough time making decisions so I had to limit myself to looking in only two places for everything besides [picking a] venue and dress. It really streamlined everything for me and made it fun. Once I had a vision in mind it was wonderful to tie everything together and make it come to life.”

Q: Where did you find about Azazie?

“I found you on Pinterest!”

Q: Wedding in one word.

“Enchanting.”

Q: Last thoughts?

“We had an all female bridal party because we have two sisters each; we called my husband’s sisters groomsmaids (his idea).Our flower girl and ring bearer were my husband’s maternal grandparents who have been married for 57 (almost 58) years! The sweet girl who passed out our programs, which had a custom crossword and a Sudoku puzzle in them, was a former student of mine (I taught kindergarten) and her brothers were our ushers. My husband’s love for Game of Thrones was worked in with my gift to him, cuff links with a quote from the books on them. Our favors were ‘Make Your Own Root Beer Floats’ with A&W Root Beer because our initials are A for Anthony and W for Whitney. We used the initials on all of our stationery and throughout the decor too.”