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In my years of planning beautiful weddings and events, I have learned so much from some very creative brides and vendors and I would like to pass some of this on to you. If you are thinking about getting married in this beautiful and magical place called Sedona, I think you will enjoy some of my couples’ stories and beautiful photos. I am also excited to share wedding trends, new finds, and fabulous vendors. I hope some of these posts will inspire your creativity for your wedding celebration.I believe that beautiful weddings are about the details and these can be obtained with an eye for beauty and a style that says, “This is me.” We at Van Damme Weddings would love to hear from you. What has inspired you. Send us your favorite wedding; fabulous décor; shopping find, ideas for the unusual, large and small.
Email: margaret@vandammeweddings.com -

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Tag Archives: vandammeweddings
Sedona Wedding Featured
We are very excited to see our Sedona Wedding of Julie and Patrick featured on Project Wedding Blog. See all the beautiful photos by Sedona Bride, fun travel theme created by Margaret Van Damme of Van Damme Weddings, lovely floral by Bliss Extraordinary Floral on Project Wedding or on our own post.
L’Auberge de Sedona Wedding
This is one wedding that was perfection in its beauty, ease, and super fun loving couple.
Julie and Patrick were married at the beautiful L’Auberge de Sedona Resort last October. While attending the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona the couple had made several trips to Sedona to hike and fell in love with the beauty of Sedona. Julie and Patrick wanted their travel themed wedding to be unique, comfortable and fun, which it was. It would be the first time Patrick’s friends and family from Germany would be meeting Julie’s friends and family from the States. They also wanted to include their beloved miniature schnauzer, Winston in the ceremony. Winston dressed in a tux acted as ring bearer.
The bride wore a stunning Monique Lhuillier gown and her bridal party beautiful rich cranberry gowns. Guests enjoyed fabulous food and wine and danced the night away.
Vendors:
Wedding Planner: Van Damme Weddings
Photographers: Sedona Bride
Venue: L’Auberge de Sedona
Florist: Bliss Floral
Cake: Sedona Cake Couture
Minister: Intimate Sedona Weddings
Hair and Make-Up: Le Petit Spa
Sedona Golf Resort Wedding
Heather and David, San Francisco Bay area residents celebrated their wedding at Sedona Golf Resort this fall. After nine years together, David proposed to Heather at the top of Bear Mountain last year.
Although rain threatened the day, the weather held with enough cloud cover for a beautiful day and lovely images captured by Katrina Wallace and Andrew Mejia of Sedona Bride. Family and friends gathered for a ceremony on the green with Bell Rock as their backdrop. Guests enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres on the patio followed by dinner and dancing.
Heather worked with Margaret of Van Damme Weddings on a classic, elegant décor with Sedona Red Rock feeling. The bride and groom, avid hikers used Sedona trail hikes as their table names. Showstoppers created table floral arrangements in rich fall colors. The beautiful dessert bar co-designed by Van Damme Weddings and Sedona Cake Contour was a taste treat guests enjoyed during the evening. Congratulations Heather and David!
Venue: Katie Draxler-Special Events Coordinator-Sedona Golf Resort
Event Design and Coordination: Margaret Van Damme-Van Damme Weddings
Photography: Katrina Wallace and Andrew Mejia-Sedona Bride
Floral Design: Ken Heflin-Events by Showstoppers
Desserts: Andrea Carusetta-Sedona Cake Couture
Hair and Make-Up-Patricia L. Vega
Ceremony Music-Brian David
Invitation Suite-The Aerialist Press
Sedona Vineyard Wedding
Valerie and Ryan were married at the beautiful Page Springs Cellars Vineyard in October. The couple, wine club members and lovers of great food were excited to have their wedding at the vineyard. The planning process was interrupted when Ryan’s work took him across the country. Valerie then had to concentrate on wrapping up her job in Arizona, pack up and move to North Carolina pick up the planning again in order to get back to Arizona for the wedding. The wedding day was perfect. Guests were transported to the vineyard for the ceremony by the creek. Family and close friends enjoyed a sunny afternoon with great food catered by the Heartline Café and carefully paired wines from the winery. Courtney Yeates and Lindsay Katz -Cellist/vocalist and guitarist provided music. Bliss Floral created beautiful arrangements in brilliant fall colors. Iffy Yossifor captured the day and event planner Margaret Van Damme coordinated the day.
Sedona September
Justine Miller captured the beautiful September wedding of Teaunee and Fran. The couple was married in the courtyard of the Heartline Café with Margaret Van Damme officiating. It was a small intimate wedding with close friends and family. The couple’s dog Savannah acted as ring bearer. The couple released butterflies in memory of Teaunee’s mother. It was a heartfelt moment. Love was in the air.
Sedona Elopement
It’s the end of August. Still hot here but the sense of fall is present in all the upcoming arrangements and details for our fall brides. Here is a summer wedding elopement shot captured by Pamela Duffy Photography. Kevin and Toni drove up to Sedona in their beautifully restored Rolls Royce to say their vows at the elegant L’Auberge de Sedona resort.
Some Like It Vintage
Van Damme Weddings recently designed the ballroom at event venue, Inspirador in historic downtown Chandler, Arizona. The occasion was for their open house and bridal show to benefit My Sisters’ Place, a local nonprofit safe house for women and children.
The title theme was “Some Like It Vintage.” Inspiration was taken from 1930’s Old Hollywood Glam. The ballroom was elegant and sophisticated. The 30 ft banquet table was draped in champagne Lamour and set with white gold trimmed art deco edged china, Gold flat ware and gold-rimmed barware. Old hotel silver serving pieces were used. Small gold beaded lamps lined the table and gave a soft lighting. Black and white photographs of Hollywood stars of the era were set on small ornate gold easels. The color palette of champagne, apricot and sage was incorporated in tall elegant floral arrangements created by Bliss Extraordinary Floral. Beautiful invitation suite and paper goods created by the Event Essentials depicted various gold chandeliers and art deco design.
The escort cards were displayed in a vintage suitcase. On the table were vintage silver candelabra old love letters near a vintage typewriter, opera gloves added to the authenticity.
A gentleman’s cigar table was created with vintage cigar boxes, a 1930’s telephone, chocolate cigars and vintage chewing gum. A tall glass etched vase held the floral arrangement. This was a fun throwback to the era. Our cigarette girl was also a hit. She strolled the ballroom with her cigarette box that contained boxes of candy cigarettes. Pour Masters bartended and served up our signature drink, “Black Dahlia” martini. Named after notorious crime victim Elizabeth Short in the 30’s. Fresh From The Kitchen catered scrumptious food. 1930’s black and white movie “Top Hat” played on a large screen in the ballroom. Professional Argentine dancers Rommel and Daniela performed tango demonstrations on the black and white dance floor. DJ Music by Desert House Productions. Event rentals by the always helpful Classic Party Rentals. The very talented Brian Hinz captured the feeling of a glamorous affair in these beautiful images.
Destination Arizona
This beautiful photograph was featured in the latest issue of Arizona’s Finest Wedding magazine. Katrina Wallace of Sedona Bride captured the timeless image of Laura and Rob. Van Damme Weddings and Sedona Bride have partnered in some beautiful weddings over the years and this one is no exception. If you are looking for a fine art photographer and an event designer/planner for your Sedona Wedding call this great team.
Love and Dragonflies
I love a love story and this one is as good as it gets:
Donna and Dan met 20 years ago while working together. Although he lived in Arizona, Dan travelled to California frequently for business and over the next 12 years he became a great mentor and friend to Donna. They both made career changes, which took them to different parts of the country, but remained friends. Eventually they lost touch, only catching up through mutual friends.
From the bride: At a mutual friend’s urging, Dan and I reconnected via telephone in 2009. Dan had divorced and returned to Arizona; while I had never married and was living in Tennessee. We always adored one another for our paralleled values and after getting swept away on a 3-hour “catch-up” phone call, we agreed to never lose touch again and reach out to one another every month or so. Monthly phone calls turned into weekly phone calls that turned into daily phone calls. On one call, Dan said, “If you lived here, I would ask you to have dinner, have coffee, or play golf.” The air got slightly awkward for just a moment, and feeling like I needed to respond, I said, “And I would say YES, YES, and YES!”
And that was it!! The nature of our relationship shifted instantly with those four little words. About a month later I visited Dan in Arizona. We had dinner, had coffee and played golf. We knew, without reservation, that we would spend the rest of our lives together.
Four months later I moved to Arizona and we married nine months later. Engraved inside Dan’s wedding ring are the words that changed our lives…..”YES, YES & YES!!”
And the Dragonflies:
When Dan went to Tennessee to move Donna to Scottsdale their U-Haul had a big blue dragonfly painted on the side. When stopping for gas they noticed a blue dragonfly that kept buzzing around their heads. They commented that THAT blue dragonfly matched the dragonfly painted on the U-Haul truck. The second day of traveling they noticed a dragonfly that was attached to the antenna of their truck. Although the dragonfly was dead he appeared to be hanging on for dear life and stayed attached for two days. A couple of days later he was taken away with a rainstorm. After arriving in Scottsdale the couple were having coffee by the pool and looked down to see a beautiful dragonfly on the pool. That was it-Dragonflies were their talisman. Donna incorporated the dragonfly in her apple green and chocolate color palette, in the invitations and as die cut escort cards on her wine glasses. The wedding cake by Sedona Cake Couture followed the green and chocolate palette. Ken Heflin of Events by Showstoppers created Donnas’ exquisite bridal bouquet of cymbidium orchids. The bride and groom and family members enjoyed cocktails and Hors d’oeuvres on the L’Auberge de Sedona deck. Bill Barns provided guitar music. An intimate dinner in a private dining room of L’Auberge followed. Pamela Duffy photographed the event.
Event design, planning and coordination by Margaret Van Damme-Van Damme Weddings
And The Bride Wore Chanel
Nina and John decided that because they both come from such large families that they would prefer a small intimate destination wedding for the two of them and then have a large gathering back home to celebrate. The stylish couple chose Sedona’s L’Auberge de Sedona Resort. They were chauffeured to a Red Rock location in a 1949 Bentley for their intimate ceremony. The bride wore Chanel and carried a small bouquet of orange ranunculus. They celebrated back at the hotel with an intimate dinner creek side in the small gazebo.
Nina described their experience as being “absolutely flawless” You could not tell by their radiant faces that it was one of the windiest and coldest days we have seen this year.
Wedding Day Arrangements: Van Damme Weddings
Photography: Pamela Duffy Photography
Videography: Twin Peaks Digital
Venue: L’Auberge de Sedona
































































