The Chavez Crossing Group Campsite
Campsites at Chavez
Crossing are located in a grove of Arizona sycamores
and Arizona cypress. Access roads are paved, and there are three
separate sites, or you can reserve the whole campground (strongly
recommended). 110 person capacity. Rates are from $65-$85 per campground
per night. Using a campground for a wedding venue is savvy but can also be tricky. See the pros and cons below.
Cody took a day trip with me to go
exploring. The creek he's standing next to is the back drop for the
campground.
Pros:
- Sedona is the ultimate wedding location.
- It's right next to what I believe is Poco Diablo Resort (great place for the bride and wedding party to get ready or for guests).
- No drinking and driving (guests can camp directly on site or stay at one of Sedona's many fabulous nearby hotels, many within walking distance).
- Beautiful red rock back drop and creek running directly through the property really set the scene and make for a great photo opportunity.
- Price, you cannot beat the cost of using this as a wedding venue. Trust me I've looked.A campsite is about as inexpensive as you can get without using a public park (also an idea but has its limitations) or someone's back yard.
- Lots of picnic tables
on site and bunched together (this could help you save on rentals).
They could be decorated with table linens and centerpieces to add
elegance used for the reception.
- You CAN supply your
own alcohol or even hire your own bar tender. Most wedding venues
require you to use their alcohol, servers, and require security when
serving alcohol which can really be a budget buster usually adding at least a thousand or more in additional costs.
Cons:
- Vault toilets. These
were a deal breaker for me (maybe if they were flush toilets?). If I had used this venue I would have had to
do some sort of set up in the restrooms (my mom made fun of me but
seriously). I would have had probably added baskets filled with the essentials; tp, fa-breeze, hand
sanitizer etc. Also some sort of set and refresh deodorizers couldn't hurt. I
apologize, I took pictures of the facilities but it was a year ago and I'm afraid I may have deleted them after ruling out the venue. Who saves pictures of toilets right?. The restrooms were overall clean but still... keep in mind VAULT toilets.
- Parking. I considered
dedicating one of the campsites to use for parking however I don't
think it would be enough room and it would probably ruin the rustic
ambiance I was going for. However, people could probably park at the
resort next door, along side the road, carpool from a set location, taxi it, or even walk if their hotel is close enough which is very possible in Sedona.
The Windmill Winery
This venue is very unique and extremely popular among many of today's brides. It's not hard to see why with its inclusive packages, private winery, beautiful brick archway, and rustic barn.
I had to see for myself! So we ventured off to an open house. The drive to Florence to get to the venue wasn't the prettiest of drives, we actually took a wrong turn and got a tour of the state penitentiary. HOWEVER, we were pleasantly surprised when we drove through the artistic rod iron gates. The venue itself provides a sense of seclusion and made us instantly forget about the drive. I could easily envision a pretty country style wedding gown and bride in cowboy boots here.
The open house was fabulous. Full of multiple vendors with food, flowers, djs, and photographers. Their packages start around $6,000 however by the time we added in the cost of their alcohol, bartender, security, and lighting we came out to closer to $10,000. Plus my dress, flowers, hair stylist, photographer... I knew it was more than I wanted to spend. Overall, their packages are reasonably priced and for the most part inclusive. The people are friendly and easy to talk to they really give you the sense that they will go out of their way to make your day perfect and hassle free.
My best friend's sister has recently chose this as her wedding venue and I can't wait to attend!
Choosing the perfect venue is about discovering your wedding style and staying true to it. Some couples decide it's their special day and are willing to splurge. There's nothing wrong with that, IF you can afford it. Maybe you can't afford it or like me, simply cant justify spending that much money on one day. There's nothing wrong with that either. Just make a realistic budget you are happy with and stick to it. My goal for instance was $5000. And yes you can still have a beautiful wedding for under $5000 and love it. But more about that later. Let's focus on budget friendly venues for now.
- Lakes
- Cabins
- Meadows
- Hill tops
- Forests
- Campgrounds
- Parks
- Gardens
- Barns (if you can find one not already commercialized for weddings)
I looked at a lot of rental properties on vrbo.com. I just narrowed the search down with specifics, tried to get a feel for the property through photos, then emailed the owners asking if they allow weddings. And if they don't, no matter how much you may love the property, don't think you can get away with it by not telling them. It's not fair to the property owner and do you really want to risk them finding out and ruining your wedding day? More specifics to follow.
So you're engaged... It's an amazing and somewhat overwhelming feeling right? For me the hardest part about the beginning stages of planning my wedding was coming to the realization that I couldn't have everything that I wanted. I don't mean financially. I am not one for frivolous spending. We work hard for our money and I would never want a huge elaborate event even if we had the extra money. I knew from the start I wanted what some would refer to as a: budget (hate that word), diy, country, rustic wedding. But for me I had always pictured myself getting married barefoot on the beach. And after our last vacation in Big Sur, I had the picture perfect place in mind! We had hiked up our pants, crossed through a river, and hiked a mile or so through some trees and a field of wild flowers to a secluded beach called Andrew Molera where I fell in love. However, my future mother in law is battling 4th stage breast cancer and I knew, along with my own mom, there was no one we wanted with us more on our special day than her. We also knew that there was no physical way possible to make it happen, and even if there was, I could never ask to put her through that. And so the reality of wedding planning sank in and I suddenly had no idea what I wanted... Well that's not entirely true. This realization brought to light that the most important thing to us was to have our loved ones with us on our special day. But no more Big Sur beach wedding so now what?
For me this process started with a trip we took last year for my birthday. We spent the first half of our trip camping in Big Sur California. I cannot even begin to tell you how beautiful Big Sur was. Tall trees, secret beaches, waterfalls, fields of wild flowers! After a long drive from Arizona, we pitched a tent by a river at the Fernwood Resort where my fiance later proposed down stream. And so it began...
We spent the second half of our trip in Monterrey at the Monterrey Plaza Hotel. And then without even realizing we discovered our wedding style. There we knew we would not be having our wedding at a resort. The hotel, while beautiful, was simply not our style. We had more fun camping, sleeping in the dirt, and exploring the natural beauty in Big Sur than we did shopping, eating at fancy restaurants, and using the "mandatory" valet at our luxury beach front hotel.
And so the wedding planning began...
