Sarah Bentham Photography

Jenna Fogleman & Scott Saifi
October 3, 2020 / The Ballroom at I Street, Bentonville

JENNA MET SCOTT through mutual friends, and she was adamant that she did not want to date another attorney. A while later, she came across Scott’s social media and she decided that if she didn’t at least give it a shot, she would regret it. They decided to go on a date at the Venetian Inn. It would turn out to be their last first date.

For the proposal, Scott took Jenna to Lake Tahoe, and after a wine-tasting on a boat, he insisted that they take a gondola up the side of the mountain and climb to the highest point. They reached a beautiful lookout spot and Scott asked a passerby to take their photo. As the photo was being taken, Scott said he needed to ask her something, and got down on one knee. The guy he had asked to take their picture was there with his wife and they turned out to both be photographers.

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

PLANNING DURING A PANDEMIC

They held out hope that the pandemic was not going to affect their October wedding and refused to move their date. They were going to get married on Oct. 3. As far as other changes, they had to move to a seated dinner instead of a buffet, hire wait staff, move from one large grazing board during cocktail hour to charcuterie boards on each table, they made sanitizer with essential oils to set out for the guests and masks. Many guests that would have normally been there couldn’t make it due to COVID-19, including Jenna’s grandmothers. To make it up to them, Jenna hired a videographer close to the last minute.

“In a lot of ways, I feel like the pandemic brought us back to the true meaning of the day, and the marriage we were entering into,” Jenna says. “Instead of getting caught up in any planning stress, it changed my perspective and by the time the wedding came around, I was just grateful to be able to be married and be together with our loved ones. The big picture was all that mattered.”

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

INSPIRATION

Their love for the outdoors, gardens, trees, flowers and card games inspired their style. Jenna came up with the idea of having their tables marked by various playing cards instead of numbers and had them printed by an actual playing card manufacturer so they felt like the real thing. Scott gathered wood from his land and cut all the little wood place card holders himself.

“I’ve always enjoyed planning events and I’ve thought about my wedding for a long time,” Jenna says. “I also love do-it-yourself projects. I wanted the wedding to be uniquely us, so if making our own décor was the best option in some circumstances, I was going to do it to make it fit my vision. I just didn’t want things to appear diy. I had a lot of fun working on the graphics for the wedding and making the table numbers. I also loved finding out different things from Scott about his perspective on weddings. He’s been in many weddings as a groomsman or usher and hearing his feedback was interesting and helpful. Aside from the occasional stress of the pandemic, it was a very good experience and one I’ll remember forever.”

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

HOW THEY CUSTOMIZED

Flowers were the most important part of the decor for the couple. Scott didn’t care too much about the table settings, stationary and other things, but the one appointment that Scott wanted to be a part of was the floral appointment.

For the floral choices, they knew they wanted to use anemones, delphinium, ranunculus, dahlias and dark blue berries. “Flowers are something that Scott and I both love. We probably get that from our parents as they both love growing flowers as well. We have many large landscape beds at our home and pride ourselves on filling them with varied flowers, changing them up every year, and maintaining them. I think Pigmint did an amazing job with my vision. I loved their use of so many different flowers and how they designed them to look natural and wild, like we were in a garden.”

The inside of the ballroom was clean and classic with large drapes and tall crystal chandeliers, and Jenna fell in love with the courtyard’s “enchanted garden feel” with the lights hanging in the trees. For the ring, Jenna and Scott chose a canary diamond, and Scott was able to custom-design the ring with a French setting and sparkling diamond halo. For her dress, Jenna chose a strapless ballgown by Essense of Australia. The pearl and lace bodice extended slightly onto the full pearl Mikado satin skirt. It has the modern element of deep V neckline and sheer bodice, but is balanced by the traditional Mikado skirt and buttons that run the length of the skirt. She thought it was so elegant and fit the venue and her wedding style perfectly. Jenna’s second dress was one that she ordered as a “just in case” dress after taking her bridal portraits. Her bridal gown was so hot so she wanted an option to change into for part of the reception if needed. She loved that dress because it was so different from her wedding gown and had more of a modern, contemporary feel to it. She also had a cathedral veil bordered by delicate floral lace. Her shoes were Badgley Mischka and the perfect mix of fun and classy. The earrings she wore were her sister’s from her wedding over 10 years ago. She always loved those earrings and she is really close with her sister. Her bracelet belonged to her mom. “I am a sentimental person and I really liked the idea of wearing their jewelry since they are a huge part of my life.”

Jenna’s biggest piece of advice? “Enjoy your engagement and work together to plan whatever type of wedding feels most like you both as a couple. It helps you learn things about each other. Don’t try to please everyone, you can’t. Stay true to yourselves as a couple. Remember the true meaning of the day and at the end, you will be married, so all the little things that may go wrong don’t matter.”

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

Sarah Bentham Photography

VIDEO


THE DETAILS

WEDDING VENDORS WE LOVE
Florist PIGMINT Floral Studio, Fayetteville
Venue The Ballroom at I Street, Bentonville
Bridesmaid Dresses      Bella Bridesmaids, Little Rock
MORE VENDORS
Photographer Sarah Bentham Photography, Fayetteville
Videographer Nilo Productions
Wedding Planner/Event Designer Modern Bliss Weddings, Bentonville
Furniture rentals, lighting Eventures Party Rentals, Fayetteville
Caterer Porky Chicks BBQ & Catering, Farmington
Cake, groom's cake Cakes by Robbin, Bentonville
Macarons Alchemy Macarons, Fayetteville
Charcuterie boards The Blonde Kitchen, Fayetteville
Drink service Koon Saloon, Fayetteville
Wedding dress Ballew Bridal & Formal Salon, Collierville, Tennessee
Bridesmaid dresses BHLDN; Azazie
Tuxedoes The Black Tux
Jeweler Underwoods Fine Jewelers, Fayetteville
Musician DJ Groove Productions, Fayetteville
Invitations & stationery Minted
Beauty Ashley Gregory Beauty, Fayetteville; Beauty by Ballou, Rogers
Rehearsal dinner venue Crabby's Seafood Bar & Grill, Rogers

Sarah Bentham Photography


See this Real Wedding as it appeared in the Fall/Winter 2021-22 digital edition of Arkansas Bride. Discover more inspiration in Arkansas Bride's Real Weddings section.