Real Weddings in Tucson and Southern Arizona: A Venue-by-Venue Tour

Eighteen real weddings, bridal showers, and bridal expos we worked across Tucson and Southern Arizona — Hacienda del Sol, the Stillwell House, Wild Horse Ranch, Saguaro Buttes, the resorts, and the expo floors — with the couples, planners, and venues behind them.

Between the fall of 2016 and the spring of 2018, we hauled a photo booth into just about every kind of wedding venue Southern Arizona has: historic gardens in downtown Tucson, a guest ranch older than the state itself, resorts tucked up in the foothills, hotel ballrooms, country clubs, and one convention center in Phoenix that mostly smelled like cake.

Every one of those nights used to live on this site as its own little recap. Eighteen of them. They read a lot better together, so here they all are in one place — venue by venue, couple by couple.

Fair warning: we get sentimental about this stuff.

The Stillwell House and Garden: Downtown Tucson's Historic Favorite

October 8, 2016 was one of those Saturdays. A beautiful fall wedding at the Stillwell House in lovely downtown Tucson — guests dancing, music groovin', drinks on point (or so we heard) — and two more weddings in one night over at the Radisson Suites, where we stayed up past midnight and the line never stopped.

We were back at the Stillwell House and Garden on February 18, 2017, and this time sunny Tucson handed the couple some small, early February showers instead. Rain is never good news for a photo booth. The venue had us covered, and everybody agreed the couple had just been blessed with good luck for a lifetime of marriage.

Hacienda del Sol: The Foothills Wedding We Still Talk About

"It's Fall in Tucson, so you know what that means …Wedding Season!"

That is how we opened the recap of Tracy and Jake's wedding on October 7, 2017, and it still holds up. It all came together at the Hacienda del Sol Resort, where families from all around the country showed up to celebrate the new Mr. and Mrs. — and celebrate they did.

The venue was beautifully decorated and everything one would imagine from a dream wedding. Thanks to wedding planner extraordinaire Rackel Gehlsen, the best vendors from all over Tucson had the joy of making that night something special. It was clear this group knew how to have a good time the second the booth opened, and what came out of it were some of the best pictures we have ever seen come out of a photo booth (ok, we may be biased).

Wild Horse Ranch: Twenty Acres and the Oldest Guest Ranch in the State

The Oasis at Wild Horse Ranch is a twenty-acre, exclusive-use event center sitting high above the city and surrounded by lush desert. Built in the 1890s, it is the oldest guest ranch in Arizona — two outdoor gardens, a large patio, a dining hall, a dance floor, a full bar, and a honeymoon suite, with all-inclusive packages that can be tailored to just about any size group or budget.

We got one of the first beautiful evenings of fall out there on October 29, 2017 for David and Abigail's wedding. Great music, lively dancing, amazing food, and a wonderful staff the whole night, while guests from all over the country came together to wish the two of them a wonderful new life.

The Buttes, Saguaro Buttes, and Stardance: The Desert Venues

Reflections at the Buttes gave us the wonderful bride Morgan and her new hubby Cory in October 2016. We wished them a lifetime of happiness then, and we still do.

A few weeks later, on November 11, 2016, Ashley and Mike got married at Saguaro Buttes in Tucson with what we can only describe as one awesome wedding party. The highlight of the night was not even in the photo booth — it was the moment the whole room started singing out loud with Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

And on November 17, 2017, we were out at Stardance for Jessie and James' wedding.

Resort and Hotel Weddings: The Omni and Hotel Tucson City Center

Christina and Matthew got married at the Omni on April 8, 2017, and we welcomed guests for over four hours straight. Live-slideshow images, Boomerang GIFs, social media sharing, and an array of props kept the fun going, but the piece we loved most was the memory book that every guest helped assemble for the newlyweds. There was plenty of laughter, plenty of excitement, and even a few tears of joy. We also bumped into one of our favorite photographers, Melissa Holland, capturing a whole different side of the night.

A month later, on May 13, 2017, we helped Maria and Stanley celebrate at Hotel Tucson City Center. The hotel had just come through some serious renovations and, we must say, it looked pretty sexy. If you are hunting for a good place to throw a party or get hitched (then throw a party), put it on the list.

Bridal Expos: Where a Lot of These Couples Met Us First

Plenty of the weddings above started with a handshake on an expo floor.

In January 2017 our Sunday Fun Day consisted of hauling loads of equipment across town to booth 49 in the Turquoise Ballroom for the Tucson Bridal Expo at the Hilton El Conquistador Resort. Maybe it was the Lindt Lindor chocolate truffles we were giving out, but the booth had a line all day and people could not get enough of our Boomerang GIF. We also gave away a week-at-the-movies basket with champagne, chocolate, and other goodies.

On March 5, 2017 we ran the booth at the Bridal Fair hosted by Skyline Country Club. The Boomerang GIFs were a huge hit again, and the vendor room was stacked: husband-and-wife team Steven Palm Photography capturing the day, Jaynie Rossi Signature Cakes serving red velvet wedding cupcakes, and Fernando with Raza Entertainment dropping great beats behind a lighting and sound setup perfect for any wedding. A huge shout-out to Michelle at Skyline Country Club for making it all happen.

Then on June 11, 2017 we ventured out from our home town to exhibit at the Arizona Bridal Show at the Phoenix Convention Center, where thousands of brides and their entourages came together under one roof. It got a bit claustrophobic at the beginning, and the cake and cookies made it totally worth it — but we were not there for cake and cookies. We were there with a brand-new feature and the first of its kind in Arizona: our Glam Booth, which touched up every photo within seconds before printing. Goodbye fine lines, hello fabulous.

The Glam Booth Years: Paradise Valley, Phoenix, and the Suite Soiree

By 2018, the Glam Booth was the thing people asked for by name.

Dessert, wine, champagne, food, good music, great friends, fun photos, and more wine — that was Tucson Wedding Suite's Suite Soiree in February 2018. Notice something missing in those photos? Wrinkles, blemishes, scars, or maybe five years. That was the booth.

In March we were out in Paradise Valley for a beautiful outdoor wedding, where the newly married Lauren and Hartley Roadie clearly knew a thing or two about how to have a good time. Flawless skin, beautiful smiles, perfect lighting, and pictures everyone actually took home.

Later that month, after more than a year of hardcore planning, the Orozco wedding finally arrived at Villa Tuscana in Phoenix, where we helped Lidia and Arcel capture some fun, glamorous pictures. And on April 7, 2018 we closed out this stretch back in Paradise Valley for Xochitl's bridal shower — a last call for Miss Martinez, with great food, awesome drinks, fun games, and even better company. It was a bit warm for spring. The heat did not damper the party one bit.

Eighteen Nights, One Page

Every one of these venues is a place we would happily work again. Every one of these nights had a planner, a photographer, or a DJ who made our job easier than it had any right to be. And every one of them had a couple who let a crew of photo booth people into the best day of their lives.

That is still the deal. We are still in Tucson, we are still in Phoenix, and Southern Arizona wedding season is still our favorite thing on the calendar — you can read what those couples had to say about us over on our reviews page.