Harlow Brides: Customized Wedding Gowns for Every Girl

At Harlow Brides, they’re trying to do things a little bit differently.
Owner Emma Riley came back to Utah from California to open her own shop, looking to bring unique styles and looks to Utah brides. She’s tried really hard to find gowns and designers that nobody else in the Salt Lake area carries, to make her shop a place where brides can get a gown that is a perfect fit – both for her body and her personality.
“We choose every design very carefully, and try not to be too trendy. We don’t want any bride to look back on photos from the biggest day of her life and wonder, ‘What was I thinking?!,” says Riley of the shop’s “classic but modern” approach to stocking the racks.
Whether a bride finds “the one” as designed and has it tailored to her unique dimensions, or completely makes a gown her own, Harlow Brides is ready, with a range of style and, of course, their seamstress, who has 30+ years of experience under her belt.

1. Real Bride: Rachel

One of the first brides served at Harlow Brides, Rachel, chose a gorgeous Elizabeth Dye gown, but needed the design to be a bit more modest for her LDS temple wedding. Harlow Brides worked with the designer and the seamstress to create Rachel’s dream dress.

Before:

“Mojave” by Elizabeth Dye

After:

Photo by Jaron Horrocks – Saans Photography

2. Real Bride: Jamie

Bride Jamie fell in love with the sleeves on a Kite and Butterfly gown, but was having difficulty finding a gown that was modest enough for her personal style. That is, until she went to Harlow. The ladies at Harlow Brides contacted the designer, and worked with Jamie’s vision to get her favorite sleeves placed on a dress with a bit more coverage. Harlow Brides works very closely with designers, so they can give every bride the gown to make them feel the most beautiful on their big day!

Before:

“Page” by Kite and Butterfly

After:

3. Real Bride: Zoe

Emma’s own daughter, Zoe, chose her gown from Harlow Brides’ collections, and customized it with slight but dramatic adjustments. The team removed the sleeves and adjusted the neckline on the gown, giving Zoe’s final look major art-deco vibes.

Before:

“Cassie” by Karen Willis Holmes

After:

Harlow Brides is a small shop, with a boutique feel rather than a department store experience. No matter the vision, they will follow each bride from finding a gown all the way to when they pick it up for their big day!

Wish You Were Here: Banff Destination Wedding

With an obvious flair for the dramatic, Emily + Dillan packed up their vows, gown and tux for a breathtaking elopement at one of the prettiest ‘destination wedding’ places on earth: Lake Louise, Banff in Alberta, Canada.

Bride Emily’s father is from Canada, and she is obsessed with hiking and Banff National park, so Lake Louise made the perfect location for their intimate destination wedding ceremony. Photographer Janna Trovato really hit home on the idea of a romantic getaway, capturing the couple escaping straight into the Canadian Rockies in a canoe just for two. Trovato believes that a couple starting their journey together is just as monumental, if not more in the long run, than the wedding ceremony itself.

“I have always wanted to photograph an intimate elopement and be on the water for a shoot, and here I was lucky to get both,” Trovato says. “Afterwards, we found out from the workers on site that it is very rare to be allowed to photograph on the boats like this. We were thrilled to get those last images unobscured by life jackets, tourists or bad weather.”

We love that the bride kept it classy and old-school with her gown choices: delicate ivory flutters on her getaway gown from Bohme Boutique, and arresting emerald wedding gown in 60’s style, handmade by her grandmother.

Big, loud and beautiful blooms by Chickweed Cottage somehow are able to compete with the incredible views of those iconic peaks, and boy do they both have us star-struck. The taffeta ribbons tie the florals into the vintage vibes of the entire ensemble. We’re suckers for big personality, and in this shoot, it shines like the sun.

 

Vendors:
Photographer- Janna Trovato Photography

Florist- Chickweed Cottage
Hair and Makeup- Lesley Vickers with Shag Salon
Emerald Green Gown- Handmade from 1960’s pattern by bride’s grandmother.
Ivory Dress- Bohme Boutique
Brides Shoes- Steve Madden 
Groom’s Attire- Dillard’s

 

Planner Pulse: Wedding Planner Tips from Karley Parker

A seasoned wedding planner has seen it all: The good, the bad and the ugly. While it may be tempting to trust your BFF to design your wedding, buyer beware. It takes more than a good eye to orchestrate a grand party, and you only get one chance at having a dream wedding.

True pros—including these Utah-based experts—execute ranch weddings without the hillbilly, city weddings without the traffic and winter weddings without the frostbite. What makes a wedding work and what doesn’t?  Wedding planners Chris Lavoie, Amanda Hansen and Karley Parker reveal their secrets for wedding-day success. 

Planner: Karley Parker

Photo by Heather Nan

Company: 

Scenemakers

Bio: Karley Parker is the Account Executive of Social Events at Scenemakers, a branch of Modern Expo & Events. She has a background in floral design, creates art on the side and loves to bring her client’s vision to life.

UB&G: What’s your favorite day-of wedding planner weapon?

PARKER: Binder, water, comfortable shoes and sunscreen.

UB&G: What’s a favorite wedding of yours from the last year?

PARKER: Savannah and Bridger are an artsy young couple that wanted to keep their wedding unconventional, so they chose a private residence in Alpine for their July 1st nuptials. This wedding was a favorite for its use of fruit mixed with floral. It was a hot day in July and having the fruit incorporated made it feel lush, unique and a perfect representation of summer.

UB&G: What local products did you use or could you use?

PARKER: We used everything in our inventory, which we do rent out.

Want to see more? Check out our magazine!

Happily Ever After

Whether you’re a Rapunzel lover or a classic Cinderella kind of gal, every princess at heart dreams of having her very own happily ever after, from the first Disney movie she finds to the moment she finds a Prince Charming of her own. Our team is all about fairytale weddings of every style, but we can’t help falling extra hard for shoots like this one by Jadie Jo Photography; the kind that looks like it came straight from the pages of a bedtime story.

Katie + Ramsey’s wedding brought two families together with a dreamy ceremony on a friends dream-come-true, fairytale forest property in Salt Lake City. Rich foliage framing the cottage-style home creates the perfect setting to prepare the happy couple for their ride off into the sunset, while the bride’s flowing gown from The Perfect Dress adds that magical sparkle fit for a [future] queen.

Vendors

Photography: Jadie Jo Photography
Gown: The Perfect Dress bridal
Florals: Julie Prince

 

Planner Pulse: Wedding Planner Tips from Chris Lavoie

A seasoned wedding planner has seen it all: The good, the bad and the ugly. While it may be tempting to trust your BFF to design your wedding, buyer beware. It takes more than a good eye to orchestrate a grand party, and you only get one chance at having a dream wedding.

True pros—including these Utah-based experts—execute ranch weddings without the hillbilly, city weddings without the traffic and winter weddings without the frostbite. What makes a wedding work and what doesn’t? Wedding planners Chris Lavoie, Amanda Hansen and Karley Parker reveal their secrets for wedding-day success. 

Planner: Chris Lavoie

Company: Silver Summit Event Design

Bio: Originally from upstate New York, Lavoie boasts more than15 years of experience in the meeting and event industry. He began his career at Robert Redford’s Sundance Resort, then helped open the St. Regis Deer Valley and finally moved into event production full-time in 2010.

UB&G: What’s your favorite day-of wedding planner weapon?

LAVOIE: Windex wipes are great for getting rid of any fingerprints on glassware, charger plates, picture frames. dirty windows at a venue and just general cleaning up.

Safety pins are key. Ninety-nine percent of brides have forgotten how to bustle their dresses by the time their wedding rolls around. Safety pins have saved us on numerous occasions when trying to get our brides to the dance floor on time for their first dance.

Canned air cans are a fantastic way to remove debris from the table linens without  rubbing it into the fabric. A quick blast of canned air and the debris is history.

UB&G: What is your favorite wedding from the past year?

LAVOIE: Abby and  Max married June 26th at Stein Eriksen Lodge. The bride and groom live in Connecticut and hosted family from around the world for their destination wedding. I loved the richness we achieved by stacking texture, color and light. I also loved all of the small details from custom table names, custom toile napkins, Wed Libs (A wedding version of “Mad Libs”). We had over a thousand candles and built custom marquee letters of the bride’s and groom’s initials and a cake table specifically for this wedding.

 Want to see more? Check out our magazine!

Just You + the Mountains: Get your Personalized Wedding at Snowbird Resort

Nobody wants a cookie-cutter wedding. It is the biggest day of your life, and above all else, you want your special day to reflect the star of the show: you. Embracing heritage, tradition, unique styles and colors, all are splendid ways to customize a wedding to your taste.
Regardless of heritage, color preference or personality, at Snowbird they believe that nature can be a great equalizer for any event. The striking summit views and backdrops of majestic trees around the mountain have a way of drawing everyone in, no matter the style of their wedding.

Snowbird specializes in mountain weddings, but particularly mountain weddings that are authentic to you, as a couple. Their neutral spaces don’t impose anything to compete with, but are ready for you, your big personality and your big ideas to fill them up.

No two Snowbird weddings are the same, because they believe every couple deserves the spotlight on their big day.

It’s just you and the mountains.

To book your dream wedding at Snowbird, contact them at weddings@snowbird.com.

Vendors:

 Ceremony & Reception – The Summit at Snowbird

Food and Beverage – Snowbird

Wedding Cake – Snowbird

Wedding Coordination & Event Design – Harvest Moon Events

Floral – Harvest Moon Events

Photographer – Melissa Kelsey Photography

Videographer – Rocco Joseph Films

DJ – Life of the Party

Planner Pulse: Wedding Planner Tips from Amanda Hansen

A seasoned wedding planner has seen it all: The good, the bad and the ugly. While it may be tempting to trust your BFF to design your wedding, buyer beware. It takes more than a good eye to orchestrate a grand party, and you only get one chance at having a dream wedding.

True pros—including these Utah-based experts—execute ranch weddings without the hillbilly, city weddings without the traffic and winter weddings without the frostbite. What makes a wedding work and what doesn’t?  Wedding planners Chris Lavoie, Amanda Hansen and Karley Parker reveal their secrets for wedding-day success. 

Planner: Amanda Hansen 

Photo by Erin Elizabeth

 

Company: Decoration Inc.

Bio: Nationally-recognized floral artist and owner of Decoration Inc., a Salt Lake floral boutique with a 25-year history of creating contemporary designs for clients in Park City, Sun Valley, Laguna Beach, Aspen, Sonoma and New York.

UB&G: Tell us about one of your favorite small parties.

HANSEN: I really loved this a co-ed shower inside Salt Lake’s Studio Eleven. Tom Call served the most amazing food. He comes out with each course to describes the dish, where ingredients were sourced and so on. It’s better than any restaurant, banquet or hotel.

UB&G: How did you transform this space?

HANSEN: My inspiration was a loose library theme. I love how textured old libraries are. I wanted to keep a really neutral palette with ivory, tan, grey, white and blush. By doing so, I was hoping the focus would be on all the textures: wood, glass, fur, lucite, linen, leather, bits of brass. I also used books from my personal collection for elevation and notebooks for menus. I styled a bookshelf at the end of the table to create a reading lounge.

UB&G: What were the key elements?

HANSEN: The grey faux-leather hide topper paired with lucite chairs topped with fur, the little notebooks used for hand-written menus, the limited edition Evian water bottles designed by Christian Lacroix and the green wall built to soften the white loft. 

Want to see more? Check out our magazine!

Natural Glam

Utah is best known for its one-of-a-kind landscapes, and when photographers draw inspiration from Utah’s majestic natural surroundings, the results are pure magic.

“My inspiration for the shoot started with the location and evolved from there,” says photographer Madison d’Huart. She’s always on the hunt for unique places to shoot, and this little alcove was the perfect hideaway for all of this beauty. Both d’Huart and her collaborators, Jessica of J. Noelle Design and Macie Redd of Salt and Flora floral design, took full advantage of the area’s botanical texture and neutral color palette, to create a look that is effortlessly “earthly glam.”

The florals in particular capture the rustic tones of fall, setting the mood. Macie Redd shared that for this look, she focused heavily on foraged materials in order to cultivate a “raw and natural” look. She picked up tumbleweed and grass from around the site to create her “arch,” an unexpected twist of  beauty that somehow perfectly matches the copper hues in the bouquet and ribbon.

 

If you’re searching for the perfect fall floral look, you’ve found it here: simple and elegant, with just a dash of “woodland fairy.”

 

Vendors:
Photography: Madison d’Huart Photography

Gown: J. Noelle Design 

Headpiece: Danani Bridal 

Florals and Arch: Salt and Flora

Model & MUA: Chloe Bennett

Get more floral inspo here! 

Candy Crush: Color Blocking Wedding Design Inspiration

We Utahns are famous for a sweet tooth. The state’s refined taste for sugar has made national celebrities of bakers—Sweet Tooth Fairy, One Sweet Slice and The Mighty Baker—all winners in various TV baking competitions, all from Utah. Utah’s party scene featured candy buffets before they were cool and is currently creating a soda fountain revolution.

Cavity jokes aside, wedding stylist Allison Baddley of Le Fete says candy is more than corn syrup and sugar. It’s a, dare we say, sweet inspiration for a wedding. “Wedding inspiration can come from anywhere. With
so much neutrality the past few years, wedding design is begging for color and pattern,” she says.

If you are ready to party with colors aplenty, Baddley and her photographer friend Heather Nan shed new light on wedding design with four sugary-sweet patterns—bold stripes, iridescent waves, geometric kaleidoscope and monochromatic color blocking.

COLOR BLOCKING

Let’s talk about thrilling wedding design. With a nod to mod fashion, color blocking gets a zesty redo. This bold pattern adorns cakes and paper suites with splashes of color perfect for any crowd that’s ready to party.

Surround pattern with solid, neutral color

Photo by Heather Nan

Pippa Cakery bakes a white chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, then decorates the pastry with a handful of candied brushstrokes. Tinge Floral presents their signature loose bouquets using marigolds and garden roses. Gold-and-white accessories plus chic yellow chairs from Glass House deliver grownup glamour to the scene.

Photo by Heather Nan

Ring in the sunshine

Photo by Heather Nan

Sunny golden hues are all the rage. A lemony radiant-cut diamond ring shines bright, plus its horizontal orientation makes this O.C. Tanner Jewelers’ ring a pure original. The addition of bourbon-cream soda lollipops and citrus fruit slices from Maison Confiserie et Boutique makes any wedding party sparkle and shine.

Photo by Heather Nan

Send fresh paper

Photo by Heather Nan

Invitations from The Write Image inspire fun in the sun by using bold splashes of zesty hues of oranges, lemons and grapefruit hues. Postage stamps of pink-hued fruits and a lively script font on the envelopes add punch.

Spoil tastebuds

Photo by Heather Nan

Proposing a bubbly finale, Cuisine Unlimited suggests lemon-curd meringue nests and grapefruit rosé spritzers for dessert. For the white chocolate cake topped with buttercream frosting, Pippa Cakery paints citrus-hued brushstrokes.

Photo by Heather Nan

Turn up the texture

Photo by Heather Nan

Nubby blooms and fine beading add texture and intrigue. Tinge Floral breaks up an all-rose bouquet using merry marigolds. Hindus believe the vibrant saffron-colored blooms foretell a favorable future. Complete the look with Bitsy Bridal’s modified-mermaid-cut gown ($2,970) with Marrakesh beading, spaghetti straps and notched neckline.

Utah Wedding Vendors

Photography: Heather Nan

Styling: La Fête

Paper: Ink & Press Co.

Flowers: Sage Floral

Gown: Bitsy Bridal

Hair and makeup: Janelle Ingram

Desserts and shakes: Cuisine Unlimited

Model: Abigail Johnsen

Linens: La Tavola

More Candy Crush inspiration right here

Subscribers can see more more in our 2018 issue. Sign up and you’ll be included in our membership program and get access to exclusive deals, premium content and more. Get the magazine, get the deals, get the best of life in Utah!

Candy Crush: Kaleidoscope Wedding Design Inspiration

We Utahns are famous for a sweet tooth. The state’s refined taste for sugar has made national celebrities of bakers—Sweet Tooth Fairy, One Sweet Slice and The Mighty Baker—all winners in various TV baking competitions, all from Utah. Utah’s party scene featured candy buffets before they were cool and is currently creating a soda fountain revolution.

Cavity jokes aside, wedding stylist Allison Baddley of Le Fete says candy is more than corn syrup and sugar. It’s a, dare we say, sweet inspiration for a wedding. “Wedding inspiration can come from anywhere. With
so much neutrality the past few years, wedding design is begging for color and pattern,” she says.

If you are ready to party with colors aplenty, Baddley and her photographer friend Heather Nan shed new light on wedding design with four sugary-sweet patterns—bold stripes, iridescent waves, geometric kaleidoscope and monochromatic color blocking.

Wedding design inspiration by a kaleidoscope’s magical visual display of light, color and reflections, your wedding theme can be equally enchanting. Pointed prismatic patterns are captivating when created with warm, feminine hues. La Fete’s Baddley creates visual delight using bold angles and brave colors.

Photo by Heather Nan

 

Swing from a chandelier

Orchid Dynasty reinvents the table centerpiece by constructing a sprawling, geometric pendant adorned with marigolds, dianthus and flowering smokebush. “Much like a couple becoming one, all points lead together,” florist Shelly Huynh says. “Inspired by a mandala, all points lead to a triangle. They all come together to a point.”

Photo by Heather Nan

Be honest

Honest John Bitters adds flavor to a Cuisine Unlimited tangerine basil cocktail. Lemon-, tangerine- and raspberry-curd tarts top geometric-pattern dessert dishes from Glass House.

Photo by Heather Nan

Go for the gold

“Hand-painted gold edging adds a sense of luxury to otherwise smooth paper selections,” says Ann Elizabeth of Ann Elizabeth Print Studio. “The unique geometric shape and fold of the RSVP card are unexpected and play off of—rather than repeat—the hexagon shape of the invitation.”

 

Photo by Heather Nan

Keep it polished

Busy patterns call for simple complements like O.C. Tanner Jewelers‘ Pomellato Tango diamond earrings in rose gold ($30,400) and Mattia Cielo bangle with pavé diamonds in 18k white gold ($33,800). The simple silhouette of a Bitsy Bridal ivory beaded and embroidered-net-over-cashmere-chiffon trumpet bridal gown ($6,570) completes the look.

Utah Wedding Vendors

Photography: Heather Nan

Styling: La Fête

Paper: Ink & Press Co.

Flowers: Sage Floral

Gown: Bitsy Bridal

Hair and makeup: Janelle Ingram

Desserts and shakes: Cuisine Unlimited

Model: Abigail Johnsen

Linens: La Tavola

Want to see more? Check out our magazine! 

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