The Utah Princess Bride

This pageant queen embraced her princess bride moment, from the most romantic proposal to every detail of her Utah castle wedding day that has us looking for the next excuse to wear a tiara. Paris and Austin’s day is the ultimate royalty-inspired romance movie happily ever after, and we’re obsessed.

“When I was a little girl, I would watch Cinderella all the time, and after watching it so many times, I always knew I wanted to get married in a castle. Our story and dating life is truly a dream come true, and we wanted to have a wedding that shows our type of relationship. My husband is my Prince Charming. We also love going to wineries, and having our rehearsal dinner in the winery area at Wadley Farms was so romantic and everything we could dream of.”

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; every happy ending always has a beginning.

Once Upon A Time

Paris and Austin’s first date was a blind date, set up by a friend Paris knew from pageantry, and who Austin knew from being in the military. A beautiful Sunday morning coffee shop date in Las Vegas that lasted three hours led to more beautiful dates in places like Zion, Maui, Disneyland, Route 66, Lubbock, Tuscaloosa, Lake Tahoe, and more. But that’s just the beginning.

Austin pulled off the ultimate surprise proposal by convincing Paris that the military gave him a great discount on rooms at a local resort, booking a romantic stay-cation to pop the question. He even tried to recruit Paris’s bestie to convince her to get her nails done, but Paris didn’t fall for it. But it didn’t matter; their engagement was so special they didn’t even notice.

“As we entered the room, I ushered Paris into the entrance bathroom before she could notice the rose petals on the floor leading to the balcony. Inside the bathroom was an outfit she had wanted to be proposed to in, and at that point in time, she knew what was about to happen. The engagement playlist I had worked all month to put together started playing as she slipped on her engagement dress, and I waited patiently for the rose petals to lead her to where I would ask her to marry me. Her parents hid and watched in the background; the photographer captured every sweet moment, and I asked my best friend to take my hand in marriage. It was the sweetest “yes” I had ever heard.”

Who doesn’t love hearing about a magical engagement from the groom’s perspective? It’s like watching the glass slipper slide on perfectly.

Planning the Royal Wedding

For Paris, the wedding planning process was a lot of work, but well worth it. It started with the next “yes” after their engagement: their castle venue. “We fell in love with the Wadley Farms castle and the entire setup there. Our favorite part of wedding planning was going to the wedding venue periodically as we got closer and closer to the big day! We loved seeing Susie because she was beyond helpful and cared to make our day so special.”

But like every wedding, there were moments when it became challenging. “The hardest part of wedding planning was having confidence in knowing that everything was going to work out perfectly.”

And we can say with confidence that it absolutely did turn out perfectly, thanks to Paris’s attention to detail.

Their first priority was decor; to match the stunning vibes of the Wadley Farms castle, Paris knew exactly what kind of wedding she was going for. “We had a vision of what we really wanted, and once we had the pictures and ideas, it all worked out perfectly.”

Prioritizing the Special Moments of a Utah Castle Wedding Day

Paris and Austin also knew that they wanted to really lean into the moments that make a wedding day so special.

“The events of the wedding and the order in which they occurred were also a huge priority. There were very traditional parts we wanted to emphasize: the first look, the reading of the vows, the ceremony, the father-daughter dance, the toasts, the dinner, the reception, etc., which the photographers captured perfectly.”

And when it came to photography, Paris knew she and her groom wanted to focus on spending time with their guests while still getting those once-in-a-lifetime photos.

“On the note of photography, we made spending time with our guests a huge priority, so pictures had to be taken at very specific times and in between major events. We were able to accomplish this and spend time with our guests, who made our special day exquisite.”

It’s true, you can enjoy every moment on your Utah castle wedding day while also capturing your most important photo must-haves!

Finding the Royal Bridal Ball Gown

While she was planning, the most memorable moment for Paris was getting to design her wedding dress. As a frequent gown-wearer, she knew this one would have to be the best one yet!

“The biggest and most special moment from wedding planning was when we all flew down to Nashville to design my wedding dress with Johnathan Kayne! It was the best weekend that was full of fun and a very special time.”

They also both loved getting to choose Austin’s tux. “It was a blast because we love going shopping together.”

Another fun detail was the florals. “All of our florals were done by my mom. She is very creative, and she took the time to get silk flowers that were all white roses, and all the decor and flowers were done by my parents. The colors were black and white, and we wanted to keep it classic and royal looking.”

Royal Dance Lessons

And to match their royally romantic Utah castle wedding vibes, they of course had to have a choreographed first dance.

“One of the most special moments we cherished about wedding planning was that we would do weekly dance lessons because we wanted to have a choreographed first dance that we could practice. Our lessons went so great that we decided to have not just one choreographed dance but two! The dance lessons ended up being the best dates that we would look forward to.”

A built-in dance partner for life and built-in date nights while wedding planning? Yes please!

A Dreamy Rehearsal Dinner

After all the planning for their Cinderella wedding day, the night of the rehearsal dinner finally came.

“Our rehearsal dinner was the start of the most amazing weekend ever! We really enjoyed dining with family and friends and going over all the wedding events. It truly built up so much excitement that was already mounting!”

Paris and Austin took the rehearsal dinner as an opportunity to give their bridal party gifts.

“We loved giving our special gifts to our entire wedding party at the dinner. The bridesmaids received robes, slippers, personalized YSL lipstick, small bottles of champagne, and a castle-shaped ring holder. The groomsmen received custom-made bobbleheads of themselves outfitted in tuxedos! They were so cute!”

Catch us pinning all of that under ‘bridal party gift inspo!’

“We didn’t want the night to end, so we went back inside the castle one more time to practice our dances before the big day. What made it even more exciting is, mostly our entire wedding party got to stay on Wadley Farms location because they have many AirBNBs on the property.”

There really isn’t anything more romantic than that; taking it all in with your future spouse the night before you say I do. Those dance lessons are the biggest MVP of wedding planning this year!

The Ultimate Princess Moment

Then came the big day. Starting with getting ready in the morning, all of the planning paid off as Paris enjoyed a peaceful and fun morning as she transformed into the princess in the glass slippers.

And here’s where more gift exchanges happened, this time between the bride and groom. “I got him a pair of shoes that he can cherish forever, and he had one of his groomsmen deliver flowers to my room.”

After Paris donned her ball gown and tiara, it came time for pictures, and this is where we start squealing in delight. “It was just us and the photographers in the castle, and it made it very memorable.”

Talk about a complete princess bride moment! We’ll never say no to going full fairytale. It’s like they waved a magic wand, and this Utah castle wedding is what followed.

Bringing Magic to Life

Every other moment that followed on their wedding day was exactly as Paris and Austin had hoped; perfect. From their ceremony straight out of a movie to the food, and a surprise performance to “Be Our Guest” from local dancers, these photos really make it feel like we caught a glimpse into a beautiful royal wedding.

“The music, the vows, and the guests made it the best time of our lives. Reading our own handwritten vows in front of family and friends was a culminating moment for us. To profess our love, make lifelong promises, and publicly commit in holy matrimony is a memory we will forever cherish.”

They even had a moment to sneak away just the two of them for a moment to soak in the fact that they were now officially married.

Paris and Austin’s reception had everything from a coffee bar to a photo booth, and dancing that had everyone on their feet (thanks to DJ Cam Reeve) until the clock struck twelve. And then it came time for their dance lessons to pay off again!

“Our last dance was extremely special. Before departing the venue, the great hall of the castle was cleared out. A song played from the same playlist my husband put together for our engagement, and we enjoyed a slow, intimate dance with each other before saying goodbye to the special day.”

Advice For Future Brides

If you’re looking for your own royal wedding right here in Utah, feel free to take all the inspo from Paris and Austin. Take it from her, the best way to bring your Cinderella wedding dreams to life is to hire a wedding planner. “We are so glad that we invested and picked the most amazing and professional wedding coordinator, Tonya at Hoopes Wedding Planning!”

She also says to invest in a great photographer and videographer. “We love going back and looking at our pictures and watching our wedding videos. The quality of those products was so spectacular that it made reminiscing on the moment absolutely seamless. The pictures reminded us of all the small details, and the videos brought back the butterflies. We cherish the way our special day was captured and intend to bring out those pictures and videos every anniversary to remind ourselves how blessed we were to have such a wonderful wedding day.”

When you have a fairytale Utah castle wedding as perfect as this one, you’ll want to look back at every moment in as much detail as possible. We know we are.