Arizona offers such a wide variety of landscapes, but one of the most popular is that classic desert background featuring Arizona’s own saguaro cacti. The desert botanical gardens wedding venue is one of the best places to get married, because it gives you that stunning view while making it easy for guests to get to and linger afterward.

About the Desert Botanical Gardens

The Desert Botanical gardens is 140-acre botanical garden located in Papago Park near Tempe, Arizona. It is lush with desert plants, red Sonoran rocks and lots of wildlife that will make any Arizona native or out-of-towner stare in awe. It can be a very popular Arizona wedding venue for that reason, and I’ve seen a lot of couples planning their wedding there! I was so excited when Melissa and Matthew reached out to me and told me they were planning a November wedding at the venue.

About the Couple

Melissa and Matthew fell in love over drinks and laughter at a whiskey and go-go bar in Philadelphia. Since then they have been totally head over heels for each other. They even had their wedding day planned before the engagement even happened; having envisioned that life and future for themselves long before it even happened. They love hiking, boating, traveling, drinking wine, and cuddling their maltese, Lacey. Being a huge dog lover myself, I was totally thrilled when they included Lacey in their wedding day and she got to be in the pictures with them.

The Wedding Day

I was completely in love with the color scheme that Melissa and Matt chose for their wedding at the desert botanical gardens. The colors were soft and romantic: sage green and navy with touches of golds. These colors paired like a fine wine with the desert background and made for a completely elegant vibe. Like I mentioned earlier, these two LOVE their dog Lacey, so they added her as the ring bearer. Their siblings were in the bridal party with them, and Matt’s parents (from portugal) even brought along Portuguese wine to make it super special.

The Desert Botanical Gardens has a ton of backdrop options for photos, but the most popular is definitely in front of Arizona’s stunning saguaro cactus. After the two were wed we took some photos in front of several of them as the sun set. It was the perfect desert backdrop! Just wait until you see them below.

All this wouldn’t have been possible without an incredible vendor team, so I have to thank them here:

Planner/Florist/Rentals: Laki Events & Design
Wedding Attire: Lovely Bride
Hair & Makeup: JayneeBell Salon
DJ: DJ Munition/Dillon DJ Company
Caterer: Atlasta
Cake: Dessert First

Want to plan your own wedding here? I am SO there for photos. You can get in touch with me here. Need some more inspiration? Follow me on Pinterest here!