This Swiftwater Cellars wedding was one that I counted down the days for! It was the perfect one to wrap up my 2015 wedding season!!!  Amy and Mike are two amazing people and I’m so grateful that we, for one reason or another, crossed paths. I don’t believe in fate, but I definitely think that these two found me for a reason. They are amazing people and I couldn’t be more honored that I was able to document their wedding day for them. We met up at Suncadia months before their wedding, and then got to take some amazing engagement photos in Wenatchee…You can check those out here.

Swiftwater Cellars

Swiftwater cellars is a gorgeous wedding venue at Suncadia in Roslyn, Washington. There’s so many different things you can do for your wedding to personalize it and Mike and Amy really took advantage of that. They had their intimate ceremony outside, had their cocktail hour inside and outside, and had their reception downstairs in the cellar. It was pretty amazing.

The Engagement

If you have yet to check out their awesome Wenatchee engagement session, you can do that HERE. Read a little more about how they met (i’ll give you a hint, MATCH.COM- so 21st century), how Mike proposed, and some amazing photos from their engagement session. But enough about that. Let’s talk their wedding day.

The Wedding

Amy and Mike really thought of EVERYTHING when it came to their wedding. It was so well thought out, and executed, I don’t think they would have done it any other way with hind sight. As planning began, Amy had an idea in mind, and they knew their venue by the time I met up with them. I was super excited when I found out they were wanting to have a wedding up in Suncadia, and I was even more elated when I found out it was at Swiftwater Cellars specifically. Swiftwater Cellars is a beautiful winery set amidst the heart of the Cascades in western Washington. What once was a coal mine outside of Roslyn is now a beautiful location that people come to wind down after a round of golf, or better yet, to get married! But the more I found out about the wedding, the more excited I became.

As I was writing up the vendors for the blog post, Amy had told me how her gown was from Bellevue Bridal Boutique, BUT that she was going to alter it! She told me how when she went to the tailor, she wanted them to CUT THE DRESS! Literally. Take scissors and cut the thing. The lady was surprised at the dress choice because more “mature” women usually pick that gown, but after the alterations, it was no longer a “mature” dress. I had to pull my jaw back up off the floor when I saw the dress and starting shooting it for detail shots. It was gorgeous, and I couldn’t wait to see Mike’s face when he saw Amy for the first time in it!

As it got closer to their special day, I began to find out more and more special surprises that the couple had planned for their guests. It was like torture knowing what was to come and having to wait patiently for it, but I’m grateful that I did know. It’s always fun knowing secrets! 🙂

Being that they met at Match.com, they thought it would be fitting to have candles with match boxes as their wedding favors. Little did they know that it would be such a daunting task. They were able to get some empty wine bottles from Swiftwater Cellars before the wedding and had a great idea to cut them into the glasses for the candles. With no help from Pinterest (turns out the string with acetone and a lighter doesn’t work too well), they ended up having to use a saw to cut each bottle, then sand it, then wash it, THEN they could add the wax, but it was well worth it. I thought it was a great idea!

There were seriously so many fun details of the day! In addition to the candles, they had coaster trivia questions during their cocktail hour! On the cocktail tables there were true/false trivia questions, and depending on the time of the night, one could be true or it could be false….the one in particular was “Amy has performed at a live event .”

The Reception

One of the surprises that I knew when NO ONE ELSE DID was that there was going to be a dueling piano show. Growing up on the eastern side of the state, and smaller towns, I had NO idea what Amy was even talking about when she first told me about it. The more information I got, the more excitement started to build. I knew that was going to be epic, BUT THEN, Amy told me that SHE was going to be singing the opening song (hence the trivia question!). Me, being the one that LOVES to sing, was so excited for her, and then she told me that wasn’t something she would EVER be comfortable doing, that her friends and family would NEVER believe that she did it, and that she would be starting voice lessons to help. Talk about brave!!! I let her know that regardless of how it went, I’m sure her family would still love her and they would be married by then so Mike couldn’t turn back (HA!!!), but I can happily say that she knocked it out of the park! The two pianos were down in the area of the reception and their great DJ/host/officiant, Matthew Love, starting asking why there would be pianos sitting down there. He asked if anyone knew how to play something and called up his friend Kevin Guitron – one if the dueling piano men. He started playing a little, but then asked Amy if she could come help him out. Then Kevin started playing the intro to Elton John’s “Benny and the Jets.” Amy started her duo with Kevin and everyone starting singing along. It was some of THE BEST wedding entertainment I’ve ever seen. The guests loved it, and it was a lot of fun! My personal favorite, was at the end of my night, i got to walk out of the reception to their rendition of Coolio’s ‘Gangsters Paradise.’ Talk about EPIC! 🙂

While the pianists played their music, Swiftwater Cellars was getting to the dessert. Mike and Amy aren’t big cake fans, and they didn’t want to have to feed each other something they didn’t like just because of a ‘tradition’ so they mixed it up a little bit. Instead of cake, they had donuts and ice cream! Something they both love, and enjoy! I thought it was a great idea! I mean, ICE CREAM!!!!

They partied away into the night as husband and wife, and it really couldn’t have gone any better. They were surrounded by the friends and families, and at the end of the day, were finally married.

Shout out to all the amazing vendors that made their day as amazing as it was!!!

The Vendors

Venue, Caterer, Wine & Desert Caterer: Swiftwater Cellars

Coordinator: Bride, Groom, and Leena Haija of Swiftwater Cellars

DJ: Mathew Love

Dueling Pianos: Kevin Guitron

Flowers: Safeway

Transportation: Rainier Limo

Hair: Talerico’s Hair Design

Bride’s Dress: Allure from Bellevue Bridal

Bridesmaids Dresses: David’s Bridal

Groom & Groomsmen’s Attire: Jos A. Banks

Congrats you two! I’m SO happy I was able to be a part of your special, amazingly awesome, surprise-filled day! Enjoy married life and your ice cream date nights! 🙂