Cody and Becca first met as 13 year old junior high students. Having mutual friends, their paths crossed many times over the years, with them finally getting to know each other and then eventually beginning a romantic relationship. After many false hopes, the night Cody actually proposed came as a complete surprise to Becca. They were enjoying their last evening on a vacay in Cancun, when Cody asked Becca to go for a walk along a pier. Suddenly a local fisherman demanded payment to continue walking along the pier, undeterred Cody paid. After an awkward walk on the half-broken pier in the pitch dark through the other fisherman processing their catch of the day, they reached the end of the pier and Cody asked, “Do you know how much I love you?” and Becca knew that the moment she had been waiting for was unfolding!
As it so happens, Cody’s family owns The Ashley Castle wedding venue in Chandler, Arizona. As the Castle was being built little Cody ran around the building and made friends with the construction crew. Cody even helped paint the walls and stain the doors to get ready for the grand opening. Over the years Cody has continued to help out around the Castle, including giving tours to planning weddings there, all the while knowing that someday he would bring his own bride there.
Flash forward to October 1, 2022, Cody and Becca’s wedding date. Cody took a backseat to the planning and let Becca plan her dream wedding. Becca chose to add a modern twist to the ceremony and their sweetheart table backdrops with the bold shapes of a hexagon and a 12ft multidimensional structure softened with candlelight and eucalyptus. The breathtaking ceremony area was dramatically draped with black fabric and accentuated with a crystal chandelier embellished with eucalyptus. The elegance of white and green hydrangea mixed with white roses and eucalyptus were a statement throughout the wedding and reception. The florals were all designed by the Castle's in-house floral department.
Becca wore a strapless wedding gown from the Alli private collection from Brilliant Bridal Boutique with shoes by Steve Madden. While Cody’s stylish black tux came from Celebrity Tux and Tails and was accented with a black and gold bow tie from the At21 Boutique on Etsy. Becca stated that her favorite moment from the wedding was, “walking down the aisle and seeing the love in Cody's eyes that he had for me. Getting to share our love with all of our friends and family was truly something special.” As they exchanged vows in the romantic scene, Cody placed the wedding ring that he had custom designed just for Becca, onto her ring finger. After the ceremony, the Father of the Groom surprised the couple by loaning them his Mercedes GTR for a cameo appearance in their photos. As the reception got underway the newlyweds were toasted by friends, and Cody and Becca danced to You Make It Easy By Jason Aldean.
The Castle's in-house Chefs prepared the delicious menu for the evening. For starters, bacon wrapped scallops and apple and brie crostini’s were butler passed during cocktail hour along with a “dip” bar with an assortment of dips, breads and chips. A flavorful buffet followed, with manchego cheese stuffed chicken, New York strip steak with a jalapeño bacon jam and bacon wrapped pork loin. The main dishes were accompanied with dauphinoise potatoes and fire roasted vegetables. Though Becca enjoyed planning the majority of the wedding, Cody did have one request - a “milkshake” cart, which served creamy chocolate malt milk shakes, his own tried and true recipe! The milkshakes were served along with their elegant and classic four tiered cake with white buttercream frosting with the third tier frosted in gold and featuring the baker’s signature
Q: Tell us about your wedding! What was the inspiration behind your day? Did you have a specific theme, style or color palette? Did you incorporate any cultural or religious traditions in any part of your day?
A: Before getting engaged I always wanted a spring wedding and had the color palette picked out. Once we finally got engaged and saw how busy the schedule already was for spring we decided to have it in the fall and just keep the color palette. After a few months into planning, I was continuously seeing more weddings that had black as the main color. Something in my heart just knew I needed to change it. The black, white, and gold was just so timeless and made our wedding feel elegant.
Q: Let's talk wedding decor. How did you decorate your space for the ceremony and the reception? Was any part of the decor DIY?
A: I had a lot of help from my mother-in-law when it came to decorating. I would give her an idea and she was able to make it so much more and so beautiful. I wanted it to be romantic. We had hundreds of candles and flowers everywhere to achieve that look. I love the idea of DIY'ing so I took on what I knew I could handle. I designed all of the signage; table numbers, welcome sign, memorial, bar, milkshake bar, and the unplugged ceremony sign.
Q: What were the florals like in your wedding? Did you use flowers in any of your design elements like the bridal bouquets, centerpieces or ceremony backdrop? Did they play an important part in the overall style of your wedding?
A: Florals were a huge part of our design! I had specific flowers and greens I wanted to be used for everything. The floral department at The Ashley Castle achieved my vision and made the entire ceremony and reception decor come to life.
Q: Did you personalize the day in any way (food trucks, guest entertainment etc.)? What were some of your favorite parts of your wedding?
A: We had a made-to-order milkshake bar for our guests. The milkshake bar was custom made and my husband wrote down his secret recipe for the staff to use. For any family dinner we have, someone is always asking my husband to make his famous milkshakes so we knew we had to share the special treat with our guests!
Q: Let's talk fashion. How did you both choose your wedding day look? Describe the looks in detail.
A: Going into wedding dress shopping I was incredibly nervous. I had a specific look and feel in mind. Certain body parts I wanted to extenuate and certain ones I wanted to hide. Being comfortable and confident was my most important part and I definitely achieved that! For my husband's look, we knew we wanted him to stand out from his groomsmen. We chose to be a little non-traditional in him wearing all black with the little pop of gold in his bowtie.
Q: How did you meet? Tell us about the proposal.
A: Cody and I went to school together all the way back from when we were 13 years old. We knew who each other was throughout high school, but didn't officially meet until after we graduated. We dated for 4 and a half years before the proposal in Cancun. After getting dressed up every night we were in Cancun in hopes that he was going to propose it never happened. So, on our last night, I didn't wear anything special or put on makeup. We went to eat dinner and he said that he wanted to walk onto this long pier that goes out into the ocean. We walk over and come to find out it is privately owned and the owner wanted us to pay to get on it. I told Cody it wasn't worth it, but he was determined. He paid the owner and started to walk on this half-broken pier in the pitch dark. There are probably a dozen local fishermen and Cody tried talking to each one. He seemed kinda nervous and I started to feel butterflies in my stomach. He asked me "do you know how much I love you?" and once he said that I knew the moment I was waiting for was happening!
Q: What was the most anticipated or special moment of your wedding day?
A: The most anticipated moment was seeing Cody's face as I was walking down the aisle. We opted out for a first look because I wanted to share that emotional moment with everyone that we loved. I had the officiant turn Cody around just before I was about to make my way to the aisle so I could see him the first time he was seeing me.
Q: Do you have any wedding planning or marriage advice that you'd like to share with other couples planning their day?
A: Coming from me, who is not a very go-with-the-flow person, I would tell every couple to try and be as easygoing as possible. At the end of the day, you're going to be married to your person and that is all that matters. Your guest will never know the difference if a piece of decor is missing, they are there to witness the incredible love story you and your partner have.
