Jeff and Melissa's Wedding Trailer

Amazing job by Backyard Stories! Even the trailer captures the spirited wedding glow both Melissa and Jeff exuded during their day at The Four Seasons Hotel in Denver, CO. Bridalize was ecstatic about the way every last gorgeous detail turned out. Stay tuned for the still shots from this breathtaking wedding!

Click here to see Jeff and Melissa's wedding trailer.

Creating A Guest List

Creating a guest list is really a practice in managing expectations. Parents, soon to be mother-in-laws, coworkers and extended family members won’t feel slighted if you go about your guest list the right way.

Before you start writing names down, set aside some time with your fiancé to create a style sheet of rules; how many invites do each set of parents get? What is our coworker policy? Who will be allowed to bring guests? How will you divvy up invite rights to the partner with a significantly larger family? Address these rules before you make your list and there will be fewer hiccups during the list process.

Bridalize recommends creating a list of “must invite” and “like to invite” before you look for a venue. Once you get a grasp of the number of people you’d like to be present at your wedding, you’ll know which venues will fit your intended guest list.

Extra tips:

1. List each person’s invites in a separate column or sheet to help simplify your process!

2. Don’t assume a large percentage of your list will cancel. Before you send invites to your entire “must have” list, make sure you and your fiancé are comfortable with your number, and be certain your overall wedding budget can accommodate your guest count.

3. Remember your inviting people to take part in your special day. Try not to feel too pressured to invite people you’d rather not be there.

Good luck and happy planning! Bridalize is always here to help!

Jessica + Ben = Married!

The lovely and talented Jessica McCallister from Flourish Photography took these beautiful photos of our fun-loving couple, Jessica and Ben at Donovan Pavillion in Vail, Colorado. It was truly an honor to be a part of their special day! Their vows were so touching there wasn't a dry eye in the tent! The cowgirl and rustic design elements came together so wonderfully, our Bridalize team couldn't be more proud!

Beautiful dress from our friends at Little White Dress Shop

The girls' boots were such a cute touch!

This wedding party was such a blast!

A rainy day only made for an opportunity to use Donovan's pretty tent!

How adorable is this flower girl??

Jessica's father made all of the wood carved signs!

We adored the pie table!

Well done Plum Sage!

Amazing sparkler send off!

Too cute for us to handle!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Smith! All the best from Bridalize!

Coming Up With A Wedding Budget

Every newly-engaged couple needs to figure out their overall budget before anything else happens. Your budget inevitably sets a tone for your wedding style, guest count, venue and everything in between. No matter what number you land on you can still have an amazing and beautiful wedding! Your final figure just might determine how creative you and your wedding planner needs to be;) Sit down with your fiancé and decide who is willing to pay for what. Don’t be shy to have candid conversations with family; it’s far better to have a solid understanding of your wedding budget before you start planning then to hope for money after you’ve found an out of reach venue, dress or caterer down the road.

If you’re being gifted a specific amount from parents or relatives, hooray for you! If not, consider how much the two of you are willing to spend on a wedding. Be realistic keep in mind you don’t want to be starting your newly married lives off together with unnecessary debt. Create a figure, map out where it’s coming from and most importantly, stick to it!

Happy Planning!  

Bridalize Wedding Featured on Brides.com!

Bridalize had such a great time at our beautiful Donovan's Pavillion wedding this past September! The bride looked gorgeous and her bouquet was the perfect compliment to her Colorado Chic style and super cute cowboy boots. Check out Brides.com for more fresh fall flower ideas!

Flowers By Plum Sage
Photography by Flourish Photography

Engagement Party!

Yay! You’re engaged! After you call/text/facebook and tell everyone who’s important to you and your fiancé, nothing keeps your wedding excitement momentum going like a fiesta to celebrate your recent commitment. 

It has traditionally been the bride's parents role to host their daughter's engagement party, but there aren't set rules for today's couples. Involve whomever would like to be involved, or it is completely acceptable to host your own party at either your shared home or at one of your seperate places.

Engagement parties often take place too soon after the adornment of your new ring to consider paper invitations. If you are a graphic designer or can order paper invites within enough time, Bridalize has some great design options! If you're anything like me however, and decide to throw a party two weeks after your “I Do” moment, try pingg.com for elegant electronic invites. Keep in mind you have to save a wedding invitation for everyone you've invited to your engagement party!

If you’re having a party at home, simple but thoughtful decorations can help set the mood. Use this as an opportunity to tryout a possible wedding palette. I made a DIY sign with ribbon, and used those colors throughout other decorations in the house. Have your local florist make you a special arrangement(s) for your home. Nothing says love like the scent of fresh flowers! I went to Delilah’s of Denver to create a personalized and modern arrangement.

Don’t forget the hors d’oeuvres and beverages! If you're running short on time, bite-sized frozen appetizers from a natural grocer are a great option. Put the appetizers on nice platters and no one will know they are from the frozen food aisle;) We supplied ten different bottles of wine and asked our guests to bring their own bottles. Make sure you have enough wine glasses for everyone! It's nice to carry out your decor and theme with individual wine glass markers. We ended up having a tasting party to gauge the types of varietals and brands our guests would most enjoy at the wedding. It was an absolute blast!

Cheers and happy engagement! 

Happy Engagement Season!

Hi Bridalize Friends and Followers!

We apologize for our lengthy hiatus! It has been an extremely busy month for Bridalize and we can’t wait to receive and share the pictures from the talented photographers who have helped us on all of our beautiful weddings!

In addition to the gorgeous weddings and friendships that have come out of this wedding season, we have more great news! Andra, our associate event planner got engaged just last month! As a nod to the beginning of engagement season, Andra is going to blog about her experiences as a newly engaged Bridalize bride to share the tips, tricks and processes that go into planning a wedding from recently engaged to stylishly married!

Just after he asked her in Tahiti!
 The left/heartside flower signifies a "taken" relationship status;)

Sticking To Your Wedding Budget

While going through the wedding planning process, every bride’s biggest challenge is sticking to her wedding budget while staying true to her tastes and aesthetic desires. Below are some tips from Bridalize to help you stick to your initial figure.

1. Come up with a realistic number before you get started. Sit down with your hubby-to-be and decide on a figure you are both comfortable with. If you do this before you start looking at venues, dresses and photographers, you have a better chance of coming up with a number that better matches your bank allowance rather than a magazine spread. If you don’t know where to start, Bridalize would love to help you nail down a figure!

 2. List your wedding priorities. No matter where your wedding budget ends up being, it’s best to decide which wedding elements mean the most to you. Be it food, ambiance, or photography, it’s easier to decide where to splurge and where to cut back when your priorities are listed out beforehand.

 3. Chart your vendor percentages. Consider how big of a piece each vendor is allowed within your “wedding budget pie.” When buying a dress or selecting flowers, it's easier to stay on track when you know you have $3,000 to spend on that purchase rather than subract the amount you're confronted with from your entire sum.

Bridalize specializes in keeping each section of your budget in check so you don’t go over your initial figure! We’d love to schedule a consultation session with you! Call us anytime, 303.221.3049.

Selecting Your Wedding Colors

Today’s newly-engaged lady isn’t restricted to any color scheme rules when it comes to her wedding attire, flower arrangements, stationary, cake or décor. For some brides a lack of restriction is a blessing; but for others, limitless, bold color options makes for a palette-decision standstill.

If you don’t have a go-to color scheme, take these steps to get on your dream wedding path. 

1. Consider your venue

Once you reserve your venue and date, your color selection becomes a lot easier. Don’t pick a fushia and lime combo to go with a red and navy carpet.

2. Try a hardware store

Pairing paint swatches is a free and helpful method to match up your perfect color combination! As an added bonus, hardware stores are fiancé friendly ;)

3. Pick a piece that inspires you

If a flower girl dress, piece of furniture, blouse, etc. strikes your fancy… run with it! You can build an entire look from any look of loveliness.

Happy planning from Bridalize!

Melissa + Allan = Married!

Working with Melissa and Allan was equally fun and hilarious- they share a sharp sense of humor, and an admirable love for each other and Melissa's daughter, Emmy.  

Straight from their wedding website, the story of how they got together- Love it!

About the bride

Melissa: Born in NY but raised in Florida. Met Allan while working as a Perma-Temp @ National Jewish Health, and ended up staying... with Allan. :)

About the groom

Allan: One of the rare Colorado Natives, spent several months not repairing a breaker problem in the records dept of the hospital as an excuse to come and see Melissa.

How we met

We met thanks very much to the over-zealous matchmaking attempts of our friend, (and Melissa's former co-worker) Vanessa, and a burnt-out porch light.

Ok, so we all know slate is one of this season's "it" colors.  Add pops of yellow and a splash of green, and this summery, fresh color palate has quickly become one of our favorites!  

Check out some of the best shots from Melissa & Allan's June wedding (SO hard to choose, they were all fabulous!) from Krystal & Matt with Verve Studio:

Gorgeous!

Love the yellow shoes!

A touching Mother/Daughter moment.

LOVING the yellow socks!

This shot of the Evergreen Lake House is absolutely stunning!

Bridalize Vendor, Susan Chicovsky of Marriage Makers officiated a beautiful ceremony.  

The perfect backdrop for "I do".

Love the DIY details!

Great expressions!

DJ Jeff, from ROCKCANDY Professional Disc Jockeys, kept the crowd dancing all night long and even had time to get a little crazy in the photo booth!

Bridalize took a break and mugged for the camera too :)

So cute!

CONGRATULATIONS Mr. & Mrs. Colabello!  Thank you for letting us share in your day.  It was a beautiful wedding and the perfect start for your Happily Ever After.  We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness together!  Cheers!