A Día de los Muertos Wedding in Phoenix
Natalie (she/her) and Priscilla (she/her) wanted their wedding to hold onto the parts of their cultures and families that mattered to them. Their Día de los Muertos celebration at Rancho Jordan in Phoenix brought everyone together for a day shaped by their heritage, their people and the traditions they wanted to make their own.
Priscilla’s childhood friend Teehani Sesma photographed the day, while their wedding party, friends and family helped bring it all together. From planning across state lines to finally having everyone in one place, there’s a lot behind how this one came together.
How did your love story begin?
In true lesbian fashion, our love story started with long distance and some U Haul energy.
We first met briefly in November 2023, but after something Natalie said gave me the wrong impression, we lost touch for a few months. In March, I reached out while planning a trip to Texas. We started texting every day, then moved to phone calls and eventually FaceTime.
Natalie, being the Aries she is, did not want to wait and asked if she could fly out to see me. That visit felt instantly right. We had both spent the previous year focusing on self love, growth and what we wanted in a long term partner, so the timing felt right for both of us.
After that visit, we became unofficially exclusive. On our second date, I extended my trip to nine days, we got matching tattoos and officially became girlfriends.
Two months later, we got engaged, and two months after that, I moved to Texas. We started living together only five months after meeting, and from there, our love really blossomed.
What was it like planning the wedding from out of state?
There were definitely challenges. We organised everything from out of state, our wedding party was spread across three different states and almost every decision had to be made online.
We even shipped all of our decor to a relative’s house and did not see any of it until the week of the wedding. That was stressful, but luckily everything worked out.
Our wedding party was amazing. There was not an affordable suit and dress shop available across all three states, so everyone ordered their outfits online early to make sure everything fit properly.
They also arrived in town ahead of the wedding so everyone could meet, rehearse and help us pull everything together. That made the whole process so much smoother.
What helped you keep track of the wedding budget?
Excel, Excel, Excel!
If spreadsheets are not your thing, write everything down. Tracking every expense was the only way we really knew what we were spending along the way.
We definitely went over budget towards the end. At a certain point, we just laughed and said, “What’s another $1,000 when we’ve come this far?”
What led you to Rancho Jordan for your Phoenix wedding?
We knew from the beginning that we wanted an outdoor Western style venue. As Texas transplants, a ranch setting just felt right for us, and Rancho Jordan fit what we had in mind.
Natalie’s family comes from a Charro background. Her grandfather’s nickname is Charro, which means horseman in Spanish, and she was raised closely by her grandparents. Bringing that part of her family and culture into the wedding was really important to her.
I immediately embraced the idea. As a Latina myself, it felt natural and like a meaningful way to support my wife. From there, the charro inspired ranch setting became the foundation for the whole wedding.
How did your Mexican heritage inspire the style of the day?
Our cultures were at the centre of everything. Our wedding celebration took place on Día de los Muertos, so we wanted the day to celebrate both our relationship and our heritage.
We did a lot of research online and did not come across any weddings quite like ours. So we took elements from traditional weddings and added our own rainbow twists.
How did you choose your wedding outfits?
Natalie and I had very different experiences finding our outfits.
I knew I wanted a wedding dress and started out looking for something simple, but I quickly realised I wanted to feel like a princess. The gown I chose fit beautifully with the wedding theme.
Natalie wanted something that truly represented her. She knew she did not want a traditional suit, so her search eventually led her to a traditional charro outfit, which is often mistaken for a mariachi outfit. The outfit was traditional in both material and style, and it matched beautifully with the wedding theme.
We did not see each other in our outfits until our first look. Natalie had not even seen my dress beforehand, so it was a genuine surprise for both of us.
Did you add any DIY details to the wedding?
Rancho Jordan already provided the drapery, tables and rustic elements, so we did not want to overwhelm the space with extra decorations.
My aunt and cousin made the cake and cake stand, along with the floral centrepieces. The venue handled the bride table, while we focused on smaller personal touches around the snack table, gift table and bar.
We also made our invitations ourselves. We found an online template that matched our theme, worked on them together, had them printed and mailed them ourselves.
Keeping things minimal and rustic made it all feel easy and special.
What was the wedding day itself like?
We started the morning with breakfast at our Airbnb, prepared by one of my close friends. The space gave us enough room to both get ready without seeing each other, while our wedding party headed to the venue to help with a few small touches. MUA by Adam handled the makeup for the day.
After breakfast, a few mimosas and getting ready, we had our first look photos. Teehani Sesma, who is one of my childhood friends, photographed our wedding, while Natalie’s uncle captured the day on video through Beefy News. We figured, who better to capture our wedding than people who know us best?
From there, we headed to Rancho Jordan and started celebrating a little before our guests arrived. The whole day went really smoothly, with almost everything taken care of for us. That gave us plenty of downtime to enjoy being with our wedding party.
We also had live music from Shauna Violin and Los Elegidos De Phoenix, who also provided the DJ entertainment.
The ceremony and reception were incredible. We included a few traditional moments like the garter and bouquet toss and the cake cutting, but mostly we spent the night enjoying time with our guests.
Later, we hosted an after party for anyone who was ready to keep celebrating.
What were your favourite moments from the wedding?
We had so many favourite moments, but one of the biggest happened right at the end of the ceremony.
Our officiant, who is Natalie’s aunt, shared a secret that only she and a few friends in Texas knew. We had actually already been legally married for a year.
We chose not to wait because of the political climate in 2025. We did not want to risk losing the ability to legally marry in Texas. We kept it quiet until the wedding, so everyone was shocked to learn not only that we were already married, but that we had been married for an entire year.
Our entrances were another favourite. We took traditional elements and added our own twists so they represented us.
Then during dinner, we surprised our guests with a drag show. For many of them, it was their first time seeing one. It was unexpected, but everyone had a blast.
Overall, the night was full of joy, laughter and celebrating our love with our friends and family.
Captured by Teehani Sesma
Caterer & Venue Rancho Jordan
DJ & Live Music Los Elegidos De Phoenix
Entertainment: Drag Queens
Live Music: Shauna Violin
Makeup Artist: MUA by Adam
Videographer: Beefy News
