Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. That’s the tradition, but most brides are looking for something more for their big day. By choosing a distinctive venue in the Sonoran Desert, brides can have a wedding with a retro twist, at a Western town or in the middle of the world’s finest collection of desert flora.
Brides at The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa can throw a Retro Chic Wedding with a touch of trendy purple and green in the décor, a laid-back buffet of comfort foods in lieu of a traditional sit-down dinner and a bar stocked with retro cocktails. During the Retro Chic cocktail hour, bartenders pour specialty drinks such as strawberry daiquiris, piña coladas, lava flows and Litchi martinis as well as strawberry, chocolate and vanilla milkshakes.
Butler-passed hors d’oeuvres may include mini grilled cheese sandwiches and pigs in a blanket. Food stations are a welcomed alternative to traditional sit-down dining and may feature a Waldorf salad, fried chicken, prime rib, macaroni and cheese (served in multi-colored espresso cups), creamed spinach, biscuits, and corn muffins with whipped honey butter. The finishing retro touch is of course cupcakes in lieu of the traditional wedding cake. For more information, visit www.theboulders.com or call (800) 553-1717.

With its historic charm and southwest elegance, Camelback Inn, A JW Marriott Resort & Spa offers couples an exquisite blend of something old and something new for the perfect wedding experience. Built in 1936, this
Arizona landmark offers brides distinctive Southwestern architecture and panoramic mountain views. Camelback Inn has an intimate chapel that was built in 1938 and seats about 10 people.

For guests that want a Southwest-inspired wedding, the resort’s Mummy Mountain Western town is ideal for an old-fashioned outdoor cookout or rehearsal dinner. Overlooking a lake and a series of cascading waterfalls, Lakeview Inn at Camelback Golf Club features a dramatic outdoor deck complete with a lodge-pole awning and offers the option of an indoor/outdoor wedding. For large groups, the exquisitely grand 16,000-square-foot
Arizona ballroom can accommodate up to 1,200 guests.

For more information, visit www.camelbackinn.com or call (480) 948-1700.
Nestled amid the red buttes of Papago Park, the Desert Botanical Garden hosts one of the world’s finest collections of desert plants and offers the perfect desert backdrop with open-air pavilions and scenic courtyards. Dorrance Hall is surrounded by glass doors that open to a patio and accommodates 300 people for a sit-down dinner. Boppart Courtyard is perfect for a cocktail party between the ceremony and reception as it features a scenic dry wash to the north and a running water feature to the south. The backdrop for the Ullman Terrace is the Garden Butte, which can be lighted to exhibit the beautiful plants even after dark. Trees on the Terrace are sprinkled with white lights, adding to the enchanting setting of this space, which is the most requested Garden site for weddings or meetings with fewer than 125 guests. For more information, visit www.dbg.org or call (480) 941-1225.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West, considered one of Wright’s greatest masterpieces, was designed to serve as his personal home, studio and architectural laboratory.

Today, visitors can choose from a broad range of tours that showcase Wright’s brilliant ability to integrate indoor and outdoor space. During the summer, Taliesin West offers a variety of tours to meet individual interests including Night Lights on the Desert Tour, a two-hour twilight tour offering visitors the rare opportunity to view Wright’s masterpiece in a dramatic nighttime setting. The effect delivered is the transformation of the building into oversized sculptures framed by stunning views of the city shimmering below. This tour is offered Thursday and Friday evenings at 6:30, 7:00 and 7:30 p.m., June through September. The price is $25 per person.Children can explore the world of architecture at Taliesin West’s Summer Architecture Camp for Kids. Campers will learn about Wright’s ideas as they collaborate to plan future cities, investigate new architectural forms, and build models of ideal personal living spaces, including furnishings, art, and landscaping. Morning and afternoon sessions are offered and will run July 26 through Aug. 4. Fees range from $135 to $295 per person depending on the session (some sessions include lunch).

During the summer months and beyond, people across the country will be able to enjoy Wright’s work. In February 2006, the traveling exhibit Frank Lloyd Wright and the House Beautiful debuted inNaples, Fla. The exhibit is organized by International Arts and Artists in conjunction with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, and it presents approximately 100 original objects including drawings, furniture, metal work, textiles, and accessories from the collection of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and other public and private collections. Before coming to an end in January 2008, this exhibit will be showcased at six venues throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.franklloydwright.org or call (480) 860-2700.

NPRA, the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association, will host its 108th Annual Meeting in Phoenix in March, 2010. This marks the first time the convention will be held in Greater Phoenix.NPRA’s Annual Meeting is one of the world’s largest meetings of its kind. More than 1,600 attendees are expected to attend the informative, three-day annual meeting at the new Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, which is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2008. NPRA members will also be utilizing the facilities at the downtown Wyndham Phoenix.The NPRA is a national trade association based in Washington, D.C. It has 450 members, including virtually all
U.S. refiners and petrochemical manufacturers. NPRA speaks for the petrochemical and refining industries on issues important to their business. It seeks to inform policy makers and the public how the industry helps to improve lives, strengthen the economy, protect the environment and promote national security.Smaller NPRA meetings have been held in Greater Phoenix, and an event is scheduled for this October at the Arizona Biltmore  

Resort & Spa.

For more information, please visit www.npra.org For information on Greater Phoenix, check out www.visitphoenix.com.

Business travelers and leisure guests refusing to be unplugged on vacation can get connected in downtown Scottsdale. The area now boasts a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network. The Scottsdale Wireless Network gives computer users and people with hand-held devices access to the Internet in their hotels, visiting businesses, <!–[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]–>
<!–[endif]–>   Scottsdale Fashion Square, and along the streets of downtown in the shops and restaurants within the service area. Users wanting quick and handy travel tips, event information, dining suggestions, nightlife listings, information on “must-see” attractions and more have free access to the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau Web site (www.ScottsdaleCVB.com) and the Scottsdale Downtown Web site (www.scottsdaledowntown.com), as well as all other sites operated by the city. Charges to log into the service while downtown range from $3.75 per hour to $29 per month for additional standard service. Fees for enhanced service with greater speed are slightly higher. For more information, visit www.scottsdalewirelessnetwork.com.

Scottsdale is always surprising meeting planners with new and innovative restaurants that leave a group’s mouths watering, but why should the culinary experience end with a great meal? Instead, groups are taking advantage of all the great culinary kudos Scottsdale has been earning and giving their attendees a chance to learn from the pros receiving first-hand instruction at several of Scottsdale’s renowned cooking schools and programs. Below are just some of the establishments that offer demonstration classes, hands-on cooking classes and team building exercises, all perfect for small groups. Diners at Westin Kierland Resort & Spa’s Deseo restaurant can opt to sit at “The Rail” and watch chefs as they perform feats of culinary artistry. Offered for groups of up to 15 guests, this birds-eye view will make mouths water as chefs grill, sauté, chop, dice and prepare signature dishes from Deseo’s Latin-inspired menu. Deseo, which means “desire” in Spanish, brings an eclectic, fervent approach to Cuban and South American-inspired cuisine. Cuban-born Chef Douglas Rodriguez, together with Chef de Cuisine Mark Dow, share their unique flavor combinations using a variety of spices, peppers, sauces and marinades. At “The Rail”, group attendees will watch unique ceviche combinations get prepared while custom-formulated appetizers and entrees are created. Interaction with the culinary team is encouraged. For more information and reservations, visit www.kierlandresort.com or call 800-WESTIN1.At Sweet Basil Gourmet Cooking School team members work alongside professionally trained chefs to problem solve and experience meaningful communication to achieve their culinary objectives. Classes are three hours in length and available for up to 16 attendees for hand-on instruction and up to 26 guests for demonstration classes. Team-building menus and programs are tailored to the group’s desires. For group rates and reservations, call (480) 596-5628 or visit www.sweetbasilgourmet.com.Want to spice up your next group program? Doing a salsa challenge might add just the right kick. This unique team-building event allows groups to vie to create the tastiest salsa, with advice and materials supplied by Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale’s talented culinary team.

 The perfect complement to this activity is a Tequila tasting, where groups learn the nuances of the three types of tequila - Añejo, Reposado and Blanco. Savor the individual flavor of tequila on its own, and also blended into specialty margaritas guaranteed to offset the spicy salsa. For more information and rates, visit www.fourseasons.com or call (888) 207-9696.. For a complete culinary immersion, meeting planners can bring their group to the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, where students cook and present scrumptious lunch and dinner service under the guidance of executive chef Jon-Paul Hutchins as part of their Le Cordon Bleu culinary program. The school can arrange small, medium and large group cooking classes on site with top-notch instructors. Everything goes, from hosting corporate parties and wine tasting events, to culinary competitions and dinner parties, planners can choose to get attendees dirty or just expose them to the dynamics of this award-winning culinary school. For more information call (480) 990-3773 or visit www.chefs.edu.