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!

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!

Sarah + Zach = Married!

Over the past 7 months we have had the pleasure to get to know a very special couple.  High School sweethearts Sarah & Zach tied the knot on Saturday, June 4th, and Bridalize was delighted to be a part of their emotional Colorado wedding at the lovely Spruce Mountain Ranch! 

Enjoy a few of our favorite photos taken by Brian Walski with Colorado Visions:

The beautiful bride adding the finishing touches- thanks to Carissa Passarella for her stunning makeup.

Sarah's gorgeous garter, purchased at Bridalize!

Zach looking sharp as ever!

Loved the long, dramatic aisle...

One of our favorites!

A red rose to honor Sarah's mother. 

Sealed with a kiss!

The bridal party boogied down the aisle!

Beautiful ivory and purple flowers provided by Events N Bloom- Thanks Erin!  

Such great moments captured with the perfect Colorado backdrop!

 A few of the gorgeous bridesmaids!

The perfect night for dancing under the stars!  Thanks to DJ Tony London with DJ Maestro who kept the party going all night long!

CONGRATULATIONS Mr. & Mrs. Herscovici!  We were thrilled to share in the love and joy of your special day and we wish you a lifetime of love and happiness together!  

Cheers!

Designing Your Perfect Wedsite

Wed· sites ( a combination of "wedding" and "websites.")

A standout wedding website is on every modern bride’s must-have list. Follow these simple tips to create an elegant and helpful site that characterizes your relationship and outlines the itinerary for your special day!

1. Choose a platform that works for you. When deciding where to host your wedsite, choose one that will host your site for free and is easy to use. We at Bridalize are very fond of Wedding Wire for it's usability and beautiful templates.

2. Use plenty of images! It’s important to have a variety of charismatic, internet-quality images of you and your fiancé. Images improve your site’s readability and helps tell the story of your relationship. If you take engagement photos before you post your site, ask your photographer to give you appropriately-sized image files.

Share your love story with the perfect custom wedding site

3. Keep the design clean. Your wedding site needs to balance your story as well as important details about your special day. Consider the functionality of your site as well as your older relative’s navigation skills while designing your .com love tale.


4. Research local activities. If you don’t have activities planned for an entire wedding weekend, make sure out of town guests have something to do! Consider fun, season-appropriate, low cost activities for all of your guests to enjoy.

5. Keep it tactful. Don’t put your wedding site URL on your wedding invitations. Order an insert to go along with your invitation suite for your guests to refer to.

Bridalize bride and groom, Jessica and Ben's splash page on Weddingwire.com

Share your wedsite links with us! We'd love to read about your special day!

Denver's Mile High Photographer of the Month!

Bridalize could not be more proud to recognize of one of our wonderfully talented photographers, Danica Larsen, as she was just voted Denver's Mile High Photographer of the Month!  

Check out some of her amazing pics and the full interview:

Who are you?

I am Danica Larsen and I love being a photographer. Five years ago I discovered my passion to have people see their beauty and found that I was already doing that through photography recreationally.  Each person has a unique beauty about them and what better way to capture that than through a photograph.

Did you go to school to study photography?

Since graduating in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management I have have taken photography classes and workshops to obtain a good technical foundation to develop my style and general photography knowledge.

How long have you been a wedding photographer?

This is my 4th wedding season.

How would you describe your style?

My style develops and evolves every day according to my surroundings, capturing my clients, and observing life’s ever-changing beauty.  I am drawn to emotion.  I am drawn to contrast and color. I am drawn to simplicity. While I love being able to pose people for an editorial shot, my favorite is to capture couples or families interacting with each other.

How many weddings do you average per year?

Since I enjoy shooting families, newborns, and kids, I allow myself to book up to 25 weddings per year.   This allows me give my brides and grooms my undivided attention while maintaining a boutique photography experience for each client.  Every wedding we custom design client websites, announcements, and albums and allow time to give our clients the best of each of these.

Where is your favorite Colorado location to take pictures?

Colorado is a photographer’s dream! From the Rocky Mountains and the evergreens that you can find in the Betasso Preserve, to snowy landscapes, to Red Rocks and the sports stadiums, to the copper walls and iron work of Lodo, train tracks near REI, and bright colored walls by Invesco field there is a plethora of amazing places to shoot.

What sort of equipment and software do you use?

The Nikon D700 is my front runner and my second camera body is a Nikon D300.  My bag includes the following lenses:  f2.8 17-55mm, f2.8 70-200mm, a fisheye,  100mm Micro and my favorite lens: f1.8 50mm.  I use Radio Popper wireless flash system with my SB900 and use the SB600 as a slave flash.

What lighting equipment do you take on a shoot?

A 5-way reflector seems to be all that I need to bring with me, however, I keep my Thinktank bag handy with 3 flashes, Radio Popper’s and other lenses.

What is your most used Photoshop tool, plug-in, action set etc.?

While I do most of my editing in Lightroom, when I pull images into Photoshop I use Totally Rad Actions. Specifically, I find myself using Claire-ify and Oh-Snap more often than the others.

What gives you ideas and inspires you to create such amazing imagery?

My clients are definitely my inspiration. The flirty way she stands when she looks at him. The sparkle in her eye. The protective hug he gives her. The way her nose wrinkles when she laughs hard. The way only mom can make the baby smile. The baby laughing a deep belly laugh when Dad throws them in the air. Every couple and family is unique and capturing that uniqueness is inspiring.

If you could shoot a wedding with someone who would it be and why?

Greg Gibson.  His three day class at WPPI was amazing and am so inspired from his photojournalistic style and his pulitzer prize winning photo coverage.  Being able to see him in action and work with him would be invaluable.  If I could somehow have some of his amazing photojournalist talent rub off on me, I would be a grateful photographer!

How many images do you average per wedding and how many do you usually present to your clients?

Generally I take about 2200 per wedding; however, I have even reached up to 4000.  What is consistent across weddings is the client sees about 150 in a highlight slideshow on their custom website and while more images are posted to the ordering site and burned to their CD if one is purchased.

Have you ever had anything go wrong at a wedding and if so, how did you handle it?

Oh man! First of all, with weddings there is always potential for things to not go exactly how I envision before wedding.  The thought of my most horrible moment still makes my stomach turn.  I was shooting my first wedding in the The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver. It is a gorgeous church, was one of my early weddings, and the reason I purchased the +$2,000 f2.8 70-200mm.  Right before the ceremony, I opened the lens cap and glass begun falling to the floor. GLASS!! I was horrified, and almost cried, but alas, the bride was about to walk down the isle, so, I slapped on my f1.8 50mm on the D700 and was shooting the wedding with that and my f2.8 17-22mm.  Needless to say, my lens breaking seemed to throw me off mentally, but I had to try and shake it off and not let it affect me as much as possible.  Thankfully after the wedding I found that it was just the filter that broke.

What do you feel is the most challenging thing about photographing weddings?

A lot of my brides don’t have wedding planners and that makes things more challenging for me where there is not someone keeping everyone on schedule.  The wedding party seems to run late so there have been times where I have had to change where we shoot the formal portraits because there wasn’t time to do them where we first arranged.  Improvising and having the ability to making any lighting situation work are the keys to wedding photography.

Do you advertise? If so where?

I belong to Bridalize – a wedding vendor conglomerate in the Denver Tech Center at Shops at Landmark.  This weekend will be my second in-store photography promotion with The Gap for a complimentary photo session with purchase.  This is a great way for me to meet new clients and display my work in exchange for taking photos at the event.  These have been a really great ways to reach target clients outside my current referral base in addition to achieving some great brand recognition.

What advice do you have for somebody who wants to pursue wedding photography?

Shoot as much as you can and find someone you like to work with.  Even if you shoot with them for free, it allows you to learn as much as you can from them.  The “in field” experience shooting along side someone more experienced is invaluable.

Which five words would your friends use to describe you?

Encouraging, happy, thoughtful, creative and hard-working.

And the last question, if you had one wish…

My wish is that I could affect everyone I come into contact with in a positive way having them feel beautiful about themselves.  Ideally, it would be nice not to worry about finances and to be able to donate time to taking photos of women and families who have been touched by cancer and give them beautiful collection of images of their loved ones.

CONGRATULATIONS, Danica!  You deserve it :)

More, More, More!  

http://danicalarsen.com/

http://www.danicalarsenblog.com/