Strut Bridal

How to Be a Good Photography Client

There are so many etiquette rules when it comes to weddings--who to invite, how to word the invite and addresses, who sits where and gets escorted... It can make your head spin. Did you know there are guidelines for working with vendors, too?! Ack!  So we'll let you in on a little secret--photographers are a pretty easy group of folks to work with, if you just follow these simple tips:

• Tell them what you want. If you want artistic, editorial shots (like in magazines), say so. If you want your shoes, rings, special headpiece, etc. featured, just mention it. If you spend hours pouring your heart into special DIY things such as centerpieces or awesome display cards, just ask to get photos of that. If the location, or a particular thing about the location, is important to you, just point it out.
• What's more, tell them what you DON'T want. If formal portraits aren't your thing, just speak up. If you dislike shots of people huddling in small groups chatting, then say so! Not into dancing photos? Not a problem! Special mention: if you are self conscious about anything (upper arms, back fat, double chin, the groom being the same height as the bride, etc.) in particular, tell your photographer!!
• Make a time line. Surely you've made one for yourself, right? Hand it out to your wedding party and all your vendors. They'll have a better idea of your thoughts for the flow of the night, and it's easier to find you in case they need you.
• Trust your photographer.They may recommend you hold your head, shoulders, even your flowers a certain way. They may position you behind a flowy sheer curtain or snap pics while you're getting dressed. It might seem or feel odd, but trust your photographer. The end result could be magical.
• Have a portrait gatherer.Yah, your photographer doesn't know your Aunt Edna from your Aunt Jean, so when it comes time for group photos, appoint a family member to do the wrangling. This way, your photographer can keep on snapping away while someone else does the rounding up.
• Feed them. They're working hard and won't typically have a sit down meal, but do ask the kitchen staff to have something for your vendors (band, DJ, etc.) to eat.

Got any other tips to share? Leave a comment below!

 

4 Steps to Finding a Great Wedding Photographer

Finding a wedding photographer in the Phoenix area is hard--there are just so many options! While it helps to set your budget before you start your search, we've found that brides are often surprised at the package cost for wedding photography. Therefore, keep in mind that you may need to increase that budget once you've started shopping around.

Now, where do you start?

1. Get referrals. Ask your married friends who they used, if they liked their photos, and if they'd actually recommend the photographer. Ask your wedding planning or coordinator, as they've worked with a lot of different people in the area. Talk to your venue, too, as they often have a list of preferred vendors. Photographers often know each other's work, so if one is out of your budget, ask who they might recommend within your price range. This also works if your photographer is already booked on your wedding day.
2. Check out their website. Comb through their website, galleries, and especially their blog, where they are most likely to post their more recent weddings. You'll get a good idea for their style of photography (and it's essential to know what style you're looking for).
3. View complete weddings. Often you'll see the best photos on their website or in their albums. But what you want to do is ask to see all (not the rejects, just all that they present to the bride and groom) the photos from two or three weddings. Why? Because you want to love a hundred photos, not just ten. You'll get a better feel for their quality and style when you see everything they shoot.
4. Meet in person. This may be the most important part--your wedding photographer will be around you for much of your day. You want to be sure your personalities mesh. If you're an outgoing, jokey couple, a quiet or shy type of person might not be the best fit, for example.

Any other tips? Feel free to leave us a comment!

Stay tuned--in support of all of our Phoenix area wedding photographer friends, our next post will give you some tips on how to be a good client.

3 Easy Ways to Personalize Your Wedding

Every month we scour the newest bridal magazines for trends, DIY tips and great things to show our brides. Bridal magazines are great inspiration and have the best photography--we recommend that brides tear out photos of everything from gowns to flowers and cakes to help them plan their wedding.

Last month's Bride magazine had some super cute ideas that we pulled together to show you easy ways to personalize your wedding. First up, personalized coasters! These are great to use as save the date announcements or as wedding favors. They can be printed using your font, colors, graphics and more.

 
In blog posts past we've shown you fabric flowers that feature a poem or lyrics. Take that up a notch with edible paper that can be used on cakes. Here are some ways to use it:

• Feature a reading from your ceremony,
• Incorporate your vows,
• Use the lyrics from "your song" or your first dance song,
• Ask your friends and family for their favorite quotes about love,
• Think of a poem that has special meaning for you both.

 
It makes quite an impression and can be done in your colors!

Our favorite idea, though, might be these personalized place mats. They took the letters of the alphabet and then associated it with a word that meant something to the couple. This is a great way to give your guests a little insight into your relationship, but it's also fun (and will give them something to do if your photos take a little time)! Think of your favorite foods, activities, trips and more for inspiration.

 
Maybe it's just us, but it makes us a little nostalgic for our childhood "letter books". What a sweet way to start your wedding reception!

Plus Size Bridesmaids and Social Occasion Dresses Are In!

 
We're so excited to announce that we now have three collections of plus size bridesmaids and social occasion gowns in our store to better serve our beautiful plus size brides and their wedding parties. It took some convincing (ok--your dozens of phone calls asking for larger sizes so that your bridesmaids could actually try them on), but we agree that it's important that shopping for a bridesmaid gown not be embarrassing, uncomfortable, or mortifying in any way. Ladies, a better shopping experience awaits you!

We're sticking to what you love: a range of styles, colors, sizes and prices. Here are the details:

LINES

We've brought in two bridesmaid lines by Eden bridals and one by Andrew Adela. We picked these two brands because they offer flexibility in fabric (you can change fabric on a lot of their gowns!), length (short, tea, long), tons of colors, and, most importantly, fast delivery. Andrew Adela offers standard 5 week shipping, while Eden is normally 12 with 10, 8, 6 and sometimes 4 week rush options.

While you can go on-line to check out the Eden gowns, Andrew Adela can't be found on-line. They're exclusive to our store in the Phoenix area. We know you like to be different from everyone else, so we brought in a line that no one else has!

COSTS

Our bridesmaids gowns start at just $99. The most expensive is $208. The average bridesmaid dress price is $159. Strut Brides, of course, get a discount on their bridesmaid dress purchases.

SIZES

While we love supporting our curvy girl community with our bridesmaid dress samples in larger sizes, we know that not all members of your wedding party are curvaceous. Our sample sizes start at 12 and go up to 32, but we can order them for your girls starting at size 2 (you know we can work magic with our red clips!).

STYLES

We know not all plus size bridesmaids are comfortable in strapless gowns, so we've brought in a lot with straps, v-necks and halters. We have knee length and long gowns. We have them in chiffon, satin, taffeta and a silky dupione. Give us a call if you want to stop in and look at color swatches!

 

SOCIAL OCCASION DRESSES

We call these gowns both bridesmaid dresses and social occasion gowns. Why? Well, we think they're so dang cute you just might want one for your wedding shower, bachelorette party, office holiday party, and more. Can you picture yourself sipping a cocktail in this super cute dress with ruffle on the back? Can you picture yourself in the colors of your choice? That's the best part! These dresses are totally customizable!

 
When you're ready to shop for bridesmaid or social occasion gowns, give us a call because you'll want the same great one-on-one help from a consultant. We look forward to helping you soon!

Melissa's Aldea Wedding with a Very Special Cake

Melissa and Jerry married at the beautiful Aldea at Tlaquepaque in Phoenix earlier this spring. It's a stunning location, just perfect for outdoor ceremonies (think Spanish-looking arches, fountains and dramatic stairs) and indoor receptions (with lots of rooms and even a patio with fireplace). Melissa sent us photos with some stories from their special and uniquely memorable day.

(Editor's note: these are scans of hard copy photos.)

Melissa's hair and makeup was done by Heather Peterson. You can see her stunning eye makeup. Although false eyelashes may feel strange on and look unnatural to you, we always recommend them because they really help your eyes pop in photos.

Because Melissa had a big staircase to navigate, she decided to be escorted by her best friend. He carried her shoes down the stairs, helped her into them, and then handed her off. What a clever way to get around the quandary of "how do I get down stairs in a wedding dress with train and heels?!"

 
Melissa chose a satin wedding gown. It featured a highly beaded bodice with ruching through the waist and hips, and pickups on the skirt. The pickups were beaded, and her wedding dress had a bubble hem. Melissa customized her gown by adding a large satin flower to her hip (she loved it on another dress, and we were able to order it as a separate piece for her). She also made the neckline more sweetheart. Melissa's flowers were by Petals By Lucy.

 
One of the coolest things Melissa designed was her cake--it is a replica of her dress. Check out the "beaded" top layer, the "ruched" middle layer, and the pickups on the bottom cake tier. Her cake even has the big flower. We love it! Her cake was by Tiffany's Cakes.

 
Melissa spent hours making programs and such for her outdoor wedding. And remember the day it hailed in the valley? Yep. That was Melissa's wedding day. There's a video of her wedding and, when we saw it, we were surprised that she was laughing through most of the ceremony. "I had to laugh," she said, "because if I didn't, I would have cried." In the end, though, the skies cleared and Melissa's and Jerry's marriage was blessed with this beautiful double rainbow:

 
Congrats to you both. We hope Jerry's newly broken leg heals quickly!

Designer Day Recap and Spring 2012 Wedding Dress Trends (Sneak Preview!)

Ann recently traveled to LA to meet with the designer of Eden Bridals wedding gowns. She was thrilled to spend a day with Jason and learn about his design process. He said that he typically starts with just one hot wedding gown idea, and then he builds the rest of the line around that. He sketches out his ideas and sends them to the factory. The factory works on samples for a couple of weeks before Jason flies out and spends two and a half MONTHS tweaking the designs.

 
Ann with the designer, Jason (yes, he's totally adorable).

We were excited to learn about upgrades to the line, including a better chiffon (this offers more coverage and drapes better), a built in bra (Jason swears even plus size brides won't need to wear a bra with their top line's built in system, but we remain skeptical) and more customization options.

We also got a chance to preview the spring 2012 wedding gown collection in detail. Here are some of the trends we noticed from this line:

• New fabrics!  Designers are discovering fabrics beyond satin, silk and taffeta. We've seen (and felt) some great new fabrics.
• Colors! Take a look in the photo behind Ann's head. You'll see light pink, blue (looks almost silver in some lights), even a champagne colored wedding dress. Jason also did a couple of silver wedding gowns. We'll surely pick up at least a couple of these colored wedding dresses for our store, but do know that they are always available in the more traditional white and ivory.
• Funky skirts! While designers will always create traditional gowns, they're really embracing funky, textured skirts again for spring 2012. We saw torn tulle, petals, big swirls and even squares of fabric on the skirt. Do these textured skirts scare you a bit? Keep reading the blog because we'll show you that this trend is here to stay and how to modify this trend to fit your "funky comfort level".

 Of course Ann couldn't resist picking up a few pieces from the line. They should be shipping to us in November. In the meantime, we're headed to Dallas in September to take a look at our other lines (and potential new ones, of course!), and we'll provide a full recap when we return!

Super Cute Wedding Dresses with Pockets

We love wedding gowns with pockets--they can be fun, sassy and casual or elegant and classic. Here are our favorite wedding dresses with pockets; all are in our bridal store now for you to try on.

This is a silky taffeta natural waist ballgown. It features a lace bodice with straps. We know that ball gown wedding dresses with straps are hard to find, and we just got this one in!

 

This is another more formal ball gown with pockets. It has a satin skirt with modern lace and ribbon flower design on the bodice and on the skirt. This dress has one of the prettiest trains we have in the store.

 

For a less formal look, we love this satin ballgown with pockets. It features ruching on the bodice and at the waist.  For brides that are looking for a plus size wedding dress with a more modest top, this high neckline offers great coverage.

 

Finally, for our brides that don't want a long train, this ball gown features just a short sweep train. We love the ruched bodice with deep sweetheart neckline. It has small straps to be worn as a halter gown.

 

Jami's 1920s Gangster-Themed Wedding

We love how bride Jami had a very specific vision for her wedding and went for it. We mean REALLY went for it! And even more, we love how she sent us so many photos that she got her own album on our Facebook page. Check it out for all the details!

Wrote Jami,

Here are my wedding pictures from our June 3rd wedding in Laughlin, NV at the Golden Nugget. We had the 1920's Mafia/Ganster Theme...Hope you enjoy! Everything turned out perfectly!! The dress WAS STUNNING! Thank you for all your time and patience!

 

 

 

Okay I thought my bouquet was different and super neat...so here are some pics of it too...I just really loved my wedding and thought it turned out a lot nicer than I thought it would have! :-)

 

 

Here are a few more...sorry just really excited about how great everything turned out. I will send some of the cake which was literally a topper and cupcakes and It looked amazing. It was a very inexpensive way to go and it came from SAMS club! Who knew?

Jami's wedding colors were black and red and ivory. We love all the ways she incorporated color into her wedding party and accessories.

 

Jami wore a fitted taffeta trumpet wedding gown. It featured asymmetrical layers and a modified sweetheart neckline.

 

 

Check out the entire album on our Facebook page!

 

See How Your Local Visitor's Center Can Help with Your Wedding!

The Glendale Convention & Visitors Bureau (home of the Glendale Visitor Center) is the first place to start your Arizona journey. Boasting a countless supply of maps, destination guides and travel brochures, the Glendale Visitor Center is an official local visitor information center featuring information on the state of Arizona. Their helpful and knowledgeable travel counselors can provide assistance with Glendale and statewide travel information. Call them toll-free at 877-800-2601 Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time or visit them online 24 hours a day at www.VisitGlendale.com.

 
Lorraine Pino, manager of the Glendale Convention & Visitors Bureau and member of the West Valley Wedding Association said, “We have more than 500 brochures on display showcasing statewide attractions and destinations. The majority of our volunteer travel counselors have been at the Visitor Center since it opened in October 2000. Most are long-time Glendale residents who can give that ‘local’ flavor and advice.”

 For brides and grooms getting married in fall 2011 and spring 2012, Lorraine said that one major trend she sees is value travel. “With gas prices and the economy, people are looking for value packages, staycations and travel deals. You can utilize the Glendale Visitor Center and the Arizona Office of Tourism for the latest stay and play ideas, resources and travel bargains.”  

Lorraine added, “When having out-of-state family and friends who will be visiting and turning your wedding into a mini-vacation, plan ahead at the Glendale Visitor Center. Stop in for the Glendale Visitor Guide, Arizona State Visitors Guide and valley and state maps. Having these resources for your guests will give them plenty of itinerary ideas for their free time, everything from a half-day tour to multiple nights.” In fact, many brides and grooms add maps and brochures to their guests’ welcome bags to help them get acquainted with the area and provide them with ideas of fun things to do.

 

Founded in 2000, The Glendale Visitor Center recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary. They have assisted more than 126,000 visitors from all states and 46 countries. The saying at the Glendale Visitor Center is, “We Love To Tell People Where To Go!”…..and they do it with a smile! Be sure to stop by for help planning Arizona travel for yourself or your out of town visitors.

 Contact information:

Phone: 623.930.4500

Address: 5800 W. Glenn Drive, #140, Glendale, AZ 85301

Website: www.VisitGlendale.com

Email: lpino@glendaleaz.com

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/GlendaleCVB

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/GlendaleCVB

Flickr: www.Flickr.com/VisitGlendale 

YouTube: www.YouTube.com/MyGlendale11

Rebecca's Family-Oriented Memorial Weekend Wedding (with Strut Girls in Attendance!)

 Rebecca's vision for her wedding was simple: it would be fun and include her family. Indeed, we loved the four-way sand ceremony that united her two kids with her new husband, Jim, and her brother was the officiant. Rebecca and Jim were married on Sunday, May 30th at the Lost Dutchman State Park. Ann and Pam were honored to be guests on a slightly windy summer day.

Rebecca and her family like to camp, so they reserved some spots at the park and had their ceremony under a pavilion. Who could turn down a ceremony location with this as your backdrop?!

 
 

 

Rebecca was escorted down the aisle. She wore a slim fit taffeta a line wedding dress. We chose taffeta because it's so lightweight--perfect for a warm day. It had an optional halter strap, a ruched bodice with beading, and a small train.

 
After the ceremony, Rebecca and the wedding party took photos at the Ghostfield Gold Mines. Here you can see more of her purple and orange wedding colors.

 
 
 
 
 
Finally, we want to tell Jim and Rebecca thank you for letting us witness your vows and be a part of your family and friends that weekend. It really was an honor! Here's a photo of Pam and Ann with the bride: