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I had known for some time that Anna-Be was one of the hippest bridal boutiques in Denver but not until recently did I discover that they provide full service wedding design and coordination. Not only can they help you find the perfect dress but they know how to design and coordinate the wedding of your dreams. Let me tell you, when it comes to weddings, Anna & Breanna have got it going on. The best part is working with them and their entire staff is like having your best friends plan your wedding.
(Be sure to read more about the Anna-Be dress boutique posted earlier this week directly below this post.)
What is your name and what is the name of your business? Anna Walsh & Breanna Doll, Anna Bé
Where are you located and what areas do you serve? Anna Bé is in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver at 3215 Zuni Street. We work with brides who are having weddings all over the state of Colorado and we’d be happy to work with destination brides as well.
What inspired you to become a wedding coordinator? The decision to become a wedding coordinator was really a piece of the greater mission of Anna Bé, which is to bring great design to brides. Coming from the background of working in an ad agency, the owners of Anna Bé, Anna and Breanna are passionate about bringing creativity and flawless service to brides. To do this, they created the Anna Bé design studio. The design studio is a new approach to planning and coordination that is rooted in great design. We have an in-house graphic design team so every aspect is truly custom. Brides who work with us receive top-flight planning and design services. From the event design, vendor recommendations, budget management, designing and producing custom stationery and paper details, to the day-of coordination, Anna Bé will help manage the entire day. And we want to make it fun! We make sure that every bride gets a dose of our philosophy: Less Stress…More Play!
What is your favorite part about what you do? We love it when you get to the wedding and the bride, groom, and entire family can just really kick back and have a good time. We want everyone to be wowed by the event without having a clue as to how much effort goes into making it happen.
What kind of services and/or products do you offer? Anna Bé provides a comprehensive approach to designing and planning the wedding. It’s all about great design and creativity when working with Anna Bé. From start to finish, Anna Bé provides event design, vendor recommendations, budget management, custom stationery and paper details, and day-of coordination.
What advice would you give a bride currently looking for a coordinator? Style and relationship. You’re gong to spend a lot of time with your coordinator, so you should pick someone that you enjoy spending time with. And it’s also important to pick a coordinator who can create the style of wedding that you want.
How far in advance should a couple book your services? The sooner the better! We can be most helpful if we can get involved before too many decisions are made so time and productivity is maximized.
On average, what does a couple spend for your services? What do your rates start at? Each package is customized to meet the needs of the couple. During our initial consultation we work together to get an understanding of how Anna Bé can best help. Our packages start at $5,000
What question are you most asked by brides and what’s your response? We get asked a lot of etiquette questions by brides and their parents. Depending on the situation and the style of the family, we can always provide the “correct” or historical etiquette and traditions. However, a lot of that has been thrown out of the window and we can always provide different options about how to best handle various situations.
Are there any common misconceptions in your industry? If so, what would you like the brides out there to know? Many brides get caught up in thinking that every detail needs to be perfect! It doesn’t. While we strive for perfection, invariably something unpredictable happens. Maybe it’s a weather change or a last minute guest that arrives. A good planner and a great attitude make all of the difference in ensuring each of these unexpected events a positive outcome.
Do you have any tips for couples that are planning their weddings from out of state? If you’re coming in for a mountain wedding, we love to prepare brides and guests about altitude and weather. Colorado weather can be finicky varying 50+ degrees in a single day. And it’s super important to stay hydrated to avoid altitude sickness.
Who are some of your favorite vendors to work with? Some of our favorite photographers include Jim Christianson Photography and Jenna Walker Photography. We’re constantly meeting new people and looking for new talent that will be a good fit for our brides.
What is the best way to reach you? Do you have a website? Whatever works best for brides! Call us, email us, or feel free to stop by and browse the collection. We’re a small shop so we do request that appointments are made if you would like to try on dresses, but we’re always happy to have you stop by. We have a website at www.anna-be.com and a blog at www.anna-be.blogspot.com.
I have been so excited to introduce you to the girls over at Anna-Be! Anna & Breanna are fabulous and make finding your wedding dress the fun experience that it should be! Finding my dress was definitely the most difficult part of my entire wedding process and I know now that it shouldn’t have been. Anna & Breanna and their staff provide the personal service that you deserve when searching for the most important dress of your life. If you have not yet found your dress, be sure to stop by. For now, read our interview with Anna-Be, they have some great advice to share!
What is your name and what is the name of your business? Anna Walsh & Breanna Doll, Anna Bé
Where is your store located? The Highlands neighborhood of Denver, we’re at 3215 Zuni Street
What is your favorite part about what you do? We love it all! It’s so much fun getting to work with brides as they are going through the entire shopping experience – trying on dresses with friends and family, coming back for that second look, deciding that she’s found the dress that she just cannot bear to take off, and then working with her until the wedding day to make sure that the entire look from the veil to the jewelry is simply fabulous! It’s a long process and everyone who works at Anna Bé makes it a goal to ensure that it’s less stress and more play!
What kind of services and/or products do you offer? Anna Bé has a collection of simple, elegant gowns. Most of the designers we carry are exclusive to our store and include: Nicole Miller, Junko Yoshioka, Lela Rose, Vera Wang, Lusan Mandongus, Essense of Australia, Augusta Jones, Stephanie James, Caroline DeVillo, and more. Our signature is to bring together a collection of well-edited stylish pieces that focus on construction, cut, fabric, and design. We’re a little bit more fashion-forward and definitely shy away from the pouf! Beyond the gown, we have some of the most fun frocks for your maids. Chic looks from Jenny Yoo, Nicole Miller, Bari Jay, Vera Wang, After Six, and Watters are dresses that fit a variety of budgets and styles. Anna Bé also carries an extensive collection of veils and headpieces from Sara Gabriel and fabulous accessories from MEG Jewelry, Haute Bride, Bloom Jewelry, and Nicole Miller.
What advice would you give a bride currently looking for her dress? Have fun with the process! Not every bride steps into a gown and has this moment where she knows that’s her dress. Also, it’s a good thing to come into the store with an open mind. Sometimes what you fall in love with in a magazine looks completely different in person and other times the dress that you never thought you would wear ends up being your dress. And lastly, when comparing dresses, keep in mind that the dress purchase is not over when you order the dress. You want to work with a shop that is going to be there for you through the entire process – it’s a long one, and it should be fun the entire way!
How far in advance should a bride start looking for her dress? We suggest that brides order a minimum of 6-8 months before their wedding day, so I would suggest to start shopping at least 7-10 months out.
On average, what does a bride spend on alterations? We’re so lucky to have a team of amazingly talented seamstresses who work with Anna Bé. Our seamstresses are independent contractors, so they are able to keep their costs low. Alterations costs for brides depends on the extent of tailoring required and the type of the dress. More couture gowns that have extensive handwork and detail will often be closer to the top end of the range compared to a single layer dress with simple hem that may fall closer to the bottom end of the range.
What question are you most asked by brides and what’s your response? Our most common question from brides is when do I need to order my dress? For most dresses, we do recommend ordering at a minimum of 6-8 months before the wedding day. However, if you’ve found your dress and your wedding is still a year out, why wait? We think that finding the dress and getting it checked off that list is often a huge relief for many girls, so once you’ve found your dress there is no reason to delay in ordering. We do also always have some sample dresses that are sold off the floor, so they are great for last minute dress needs (plus, they are discounted and can be a great bargain!) and we also have a few designers that can accommodate rush requests as short of turnaround time as 1 month.
Are there any common misconceptions in your industry? If so, what would you like the brides out there to know? We find many girls are surprised to find out that their wedding dress won’t fit perfectly when it first arrives. All dresses require alterations to get that perfect fit and to create the bustle for the reception.
What is the best way to reach you? Do you have a website? Whatever works best for brides! Call us, email us, or feel free to stop by and browse the collection. We’re a small shop so we do request that appointments are made if you would like to try on dresses, but we’re always happy to have you stop by. We have a website at www.anna-be.com and a blog at www.anna-be.blogspot.com.
Did you know Anna-Be isn’t just a dress boutique? Check in on Friday to learn about what else the fabulous girls at Anna-Be have to offer!
Last week I promised I would share photos from our wedding. I did not forget, I’m just a little behind in my posting! Before I get to the photos I just want to say how important I think it is to have a professional photographer. I’m still coming to terms with just how fast our wedding day went by. Although I have the best memories of my life, without the photos to show for it, I would feel like I had nothing. The great thing about wedding photographers is, there are so many out there, each with their own unique style, that if you find the one that you really click with they will photograph your day exactly as you remember it. That’s exactly what we got from Jenna & Matt. Their images are exactly the same as the mental images I have in my head. They captured all the intimate moments and little details that perfectly represent our day. Now I can look back at our images and relive our wedding any day I want. That, to me, is priceless.
Liz, of Fleur de Liz, made my amazing bouquet.
I loved my shoes that I found at Dilliard’s. They were cute and comfortable!
Our ceremony was at Dedisse Park here in Evergreen. It was exactly what we wanted, casual, secluded and in the middle of un-touched nature.
This image will be huge in my album! There will never be another moment in my life that will compare to my dad walking me down the aisle to my future husband. I just love this!
The great thing about having a standing ceremony was that everyone was ready for a group shot as soon as the ceremony ended!
Evergreen Lake House was perfect for our reception. Everyone loved it!
It was really important to us that our flowers did not get thrown away at the end of the night. I bought a ton of clay pots from Michael’s and Mark’s mom helped me plant flowers the day before the wedding. All our local guests got to take one home with them.
I really wanted to do something super cute for our place cards but something was bound to get cut with so much on my plate. I was running out of time and energy so instead I just created this seating assignment in photoshop.
Next to the seating assignment was this, a small tribute to all our family and friends. We were so thankful to all of them for traveling so far to celebrate with us.
Jenna & Matt captured so many awesome moments. I love this one of our nieces and nephews.
This is a view of Evergreen Lake House from a distance along with a shot of the view from the lake house deck.
The inside of Evergreen Lake House is just as gorgeous as the outside.
I decided a long time ago that I did not want a traditional guest book, instead I wanted a guest book filled with black and white portraits of all our guests. We created a little mini studio inside our reception and went home with over 600 fabulous photos of our guests.
One of my favorite shots from the mini photo studio.
Being that I’m a wedding photographer and have worked in the wedding industry for a few years now, I was completely stoked to assemble my very own team of wedding vendors. Mark & I had a pretty good idea of what we wanted the overall feel of our wedding to be so when we started looking for vendors we didn’t stop until we found just the right match. In the end, we couldn’t have put together a better team of people. We wanted people that were first and foremost fun to work with and people who we knew would be working in our best interest. When you have great vendors, you should have nothing to worry about on the day of your wedding and I had just that. Every aspect had been so well thought out ahead of time and everyone was so good at what they do that I was never bothered with a single thing. (It drives me crazy when I see vendor after vendor coming up to the bride with question after question. A great reason to have a coordinator but still these issues should have been settled prior to the day of!)
So here, they are, my awesome group of vendors, I’ll never be able to thank them all enough for everything they did!
Venue: Evergreen Lake House | Lorna Bleck | 303.674.0532 | www.evergreenrecreation.com
I feel completely silly admitting this but Mark and I weren’t even considering Evergreen Lake House when we first started planning. We live in Evergreen and just felt as though everyone gets married there so we wanted something “different.” I could not be more thankful that we reconsidered. It just goes to show when you’re trying too hard to find something, exactly what you’re looking for may be right in front of you.
When you rent the lake house, you are simply renting the space and need to hire out catering, linens, etc. Our caterer had done many previous events at the lake house so everything worked seamlessly. Evergreen Lake House has an extensive list of rules to follow but I believe this is why the place stays as gorgeous as it is. Our guests were completely blown away by the beauty of the space, the gorgeous deck and the views overlooking the lake.
The Octagan Room is a smaller room connected to the main room. We set this room up as our kid’s room complete with buffet, arts and crafts, dress up clothes and babysitter. This was a huge hit! All the parents at our wedding kept thanking us for being able to enjoy their meal and know that their kids were happy and entertained in the next room!
Caterer:Mary & Craig-Aspen Specialty Foods & Catering | 303.838.6388 | www.aspenspecialtyfoods.com
I’ve posted about Mary & Craig previously here on IN Weddings but I’ll say it again-these two are awesome people and so much fun to work with! During cocktail hour we had passed appetizers that consisted of goat cheese bruschetta, stuffed mushrooms and cocktail shrimp. For dinner we stuck with a simple menu of rosemary chicken, beef tenderloin, grilled vegetable medley, mixed green salad and rolls. Mary & Craig managed to take simple food and make it exquisite. Everything was delicious and the service was top notch! We got compliments from our guests all night long.
Coordinator: Keri Scott-Keri Scott Weddings | 970.393.0240 | www.keriscott.com
We met Keri last year and were so impressed by her. Not only is she extremely professional and organized but she is completely laid back and super fun to work with. I felt so lucky to have Keri at our wedding. I knew that everything would run smoothly with her around and it did. I love that I never once had to pay attention to what time it was. All I had to do was look at Keri and “ten minutes until toasts.” We followed our timeline perfectly and I never had to even think about it once.
Photographer: Jenna & Matt Walker-Jenna Walker Photography | www.jennawalkerphotography.com
Being a wedding photographer, I figured this would be our most difficult decision. After much research we decided to meet with Jenna. After chatting with her for a few hours we knew her and her husband Matt were a perfect fit for us. Jenna’s appreciation for all of the emotions, moments and relationships that take place at a wedding ensured me that our wedding would be documented just the way I wanted it to be. We just received our images and we could not have chosen a better photographer. (I’ll be sure to share some later this week!)
Florist: Liz Bayard-Fleur de Liz | 303.679.0458 | www.fleurdelizweddings.com
Just a few minutes on Liz’s site and I knew that I would fall in love with anything that she created. Since I hate throwing away flowers I decided to have potted plants for our centerpieces that our local guests could take home. I did the centerpieces myself but I had to have a fabulous bouquet. I gave Liz our color palette and told her to run with it and surprise me. When she showed up at my house with my bouquet I was completely blown away. It was stunning! She also put together one table arrangement with the leftover flowers from my bouquet. Let me just say, if I had any idea what an amazing centerpiece Liz could create I would have spent way more on flowers than I needed to and all my potted centerpiece ideas would have gone out the window. At least I was lucky enough to enjoy my bouquet in a vase for a week. Amazing considering how many bouquets I’ve seen wilting half way through the wedding.
Band: The Hazel Miller Band | 303.296.5559 | www.hazelmiller.com or www.blackswantalent.com
What can I say, it’s the Hazel Miller Band! We met Hazel last year at another wedding and after that there was no question as to who we wanted at our wedding. I’m just thankful she was available!
Okay, I think that’s enough writing for one day! I just have one piece of advice when it comes to finding the best wedding vendors. Word of mouth! Ask people that work in the industry who they like. If you’ve found your photographer but are having a hard time finding a florist, ask your photographer who they recommend. As a wedding vendor, I know that we love to spread the word about other great vendors because when we get paired up with other vendors that we love we work together that much better and provide that much better of a service to the couple.
Two weeks ago I became a wife, that term is still sinking in, and there are hardly words to describe what an amazing day it was. After months of planning and anticipating, it felt completely surreal when all our family and friends started to arrive in town. The feelings that I experienced the day of my wedding were unlike anything I will ever experience again. At the very beginning of our ceremony Mark & I decided to stand next to Carl (Mark’s dad who performed our ceremony) and face our guests while he did the introduction of our ceremony. As I stood there and looked around at everyone that had traveled so far to be with us I was completely overwhelmed and overcome with gratitude for all the people whose lives we are so lucky to be a part of. The introduction concluded and Mark and I faced each other to begin our vows. I will never forget the look on Mark’s face. My dad later told me that Mark did not need to say anything because it was written all over his face. There is something so intimate about vowing to love someone forever, out load, in front of all the people you are closest to. For months us girls worry about centerpieces, favors, invitations and while that is all part of having a wedding it has nothing to do with getting married. For me, that moment that we exchanged vows was all that really mattered. We were fortunate enough to have an amazing reception at a killer venue with incredible food and a kick-ass band, a night I will never forget. But, to be perfectly honest, had the ceremony been followed by a bbq and a family softball game it would have been just as special. Wedding are amazing, once-in-a-lifetime events but the best advice I can give is that when you’re getting stressed out about whether the linens should be white or ivory, remember that you’re getting married and that’s what matters the most.
Check in later this week, I have much more to share. Vendor reviews, dress dilemmas and more!
Lisa & Nick were married at the stunning Beano’s Cabin in Beaver Creek. How can you beat this location! Lehrer’s created some amazing floral designs. I love Lisa’s choice of bold colors and variety of different florals. Lisa & Nick’s Beaver Creek wedding has been added to our Real Colorado Weddings section. Be sure to check it out for more fabulous photos from their wedding. Here are just a few of the fun details. Thanks to L’amour de Vie for contributing such beautiful imagery!
Amy has stopped by to share with us her experience from her 2007 Breckenridge wedding. She has some great advice to share! Enjoy!
When and where did you get married?
We got married on August 4, 2007 at Ten Mile Station in Breckenridge, Colorado.
What was your favorite part about your location?
Everything! We obviusly loved the picturesque view of the mountains for our ceremony and reception. The staff was so professional and did a fantastic job. All of our guests were raving about the location and the service at Ten Mile Station!
How long did you take to plan your wedding?
We had one year to plan the wedding. The first couple months were busy trying to sign contracts for all the big things (location, muisc, photographer, etc) and the last few months were busy with all the little details. There were a few months in the middle that we didn’t have to do anything!
Would you liked to have had more time to plan?
No, we had plantly of time…some may think too much time. When we were 6 months out time was crawling by! However, one thing I learned about planning a wedding in the Rockies is, you need to book things FAR in advance! We booked our location one year out and they only had one saturday evening available in June through August!
Whether your budget was large or small, any tips on sticking to a budget?
Let be honest, wedding are expensive! Everything costs money and has the potential to cost a great amount of money! I think it’s important to make a list of the most important things to you. For us, location and music were two of the most important things. We spent a large part of our budget on that. We didn’t care about the other details! You can go crazy on flowers, wedding favors, and decorations. All are nice to have, but you can certainly cut back a little there. We had a florist and bought our flowers for our centerpieces from them, but put them together ourselves.
Is there any particular thing that made the planning process easier?
Trying to stay organized and on top of everything. Make lists and more lists. I didn’t have a planner, but I will be honest, my mom was essential in the wedding planning and execution! I couldn’t have done it without her help! Just know there is a lot to do, but at the end of the day, all that matters is that you’re getting married.
The question every girl wants to know, where did you find your dress?
I had found my dress in D’Anelli Bridals in Denver but ordered it from a boutique in Wisconsin for a few hundred dollars less. Danelli’s was okay, but more expensive and the customer service wasn’t the best. The process of finding “the dress” can be long and stressful, but there a so many bridal stores out there!
Did you plan any activities for your out of town guests?
We had a small wedding (about 80) and most (70) were from out of town. When they arrived we had welcome bags waiting for them with information about Breckenridge and a list of different activities and costs. Most of our guests had never even been to Colorado so having activities they could do made things easier for them. we included our favorite hiking trails, boating on Lake Dillon, white water rafting, horseback riding on Peak 9, and many more activites. Our guests really enjoyed sharing in some of our favorite things to do!
What was your favorite part about your wedding day?
To be cheesy, without a doubt my favorite part was walking down the isle to Mike. We’d been talking about it and waiting for it for a year. For it to finally happen, was so incredible. To be walking down the isle, with the mountains in the background, and all of our family and friends watching, was the most special moment of my life.
If you could do it all over again, would you do anything differently?
Perhaps I would have had a few less cocktails at the rehearsal dinner, but aside from that I wouldn’t change a thing! It even rained for a while during our recepetion and I loved it! Living in the mountains is amazing and unpredictable. You have to roll with what you’re given. On that note, if you are planning on getting married in Summit County, just know, it rains almost every day at about 4pm. Also, It snows through May and will start again in September. This makes having an outdoor wedding stressful, unless you can accept that these occurances will make it exciting and fun!
Who were some of your favorite vendors that were a part of your wedding day?
To be honest, we had great experiences with ALL of our vendors! We were very pleased with how everything turned out!
Photographers: IN Photography (Mark & Michele) We booked them probably 10 months before our wedding, but had contact with them the entire time. They were extrememly easy to get along with and professional. I trust their vision and work 100%.
Flowers: BLOOM (Cindy) Amazing, helpful, and professional.
Music: ALSTER ENTERTAINMENT (Band-Sudden Impact) Professional, reliable, and easy to work with.
Tent: TENTS AND EVENTS We tented half of the patio at Ten Mile Station. They were prfessional and easy to work with.
Officiant: (CHRISTINE SPERBER) Great, fun, nice, professional and easy to work with.
Any advice for brides planning their Colorado weddings this year?
The weather in Colorado is unpredicatable. If you want to have the beautiful landscape as a part of your day, then you need to accept the fact it might rain, snow, etc. The process is part of the entire experience! Soak up every minute because it goes by so fast!
What will you remember most about your wedding day?
One rare day, that all of our friends and families were able to come together to celebrate. I was all about “the feel” of our wedding. For me, it wasn’t about the colors, the cake, the food, or the invitations. It was all about having a day to be with our loved ones and having it feel intimate, romatic, and fun. Our wedding day was everything we wanted! Everyone is different, thus would want a different feel or look to their wedding. You and your fiance need to take time to envision what you want your wedding day to be like and you will make the decisions that are right for you! Families become a part of the wedding process which can make it more special, or more stressful! Roll with the punches.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m talking about myself but being one week out from my very own wedding I’m here to tell you, don’t put things off until the last minute! My own personal experience has been that I booked the caterer, photographer, venue & band far in advance and felt like that was the bulk of the work and most everything else was small details that could wait until the month of the wedding. I’ve since learned that all the little details add up and make for a lot of work to be done! Here are a few of the things I’ve learned in the last two weeks:
1. Seating Assignments: We’re planning on a very casual affair so we didn’t necessarily want to go through the formality of assigning seats. Luckily two weeks ago I attended a wedding (with open seating) and quickly discovered that it’s like going back to the cafeteria on the first day of high school. We all know, no one wants to relive that. Thanks to that experience I decided that, without a doubt, seating assignments are the way to go.
2. Hair & Makeup: This is an area where I felt like I’m really particular about my hair and makeup so I mind as well just do it all myself. Not to mention, it saves money. I did a test run on how I would want to do my makeup for our engagement portraits last week and quickly learned that with all the nerves and emotions I will be experiencing on the day of the wedding having someone else do my hair and makeup is one less thing I have to worry about. I can just sit back, relax and let a professional do what they do best. Just make sure that you do a trial run ahead of time so you know exactly what to expect.
3. Rings: This is probably a no brainer but I’ll share my experience with you anyway. We figured we could just go to a jewelry store, pick out a ring and walk out the door with it. We learned that often times men’s sizes aren’t carried in half sizes and they only carry a few popular sizes. Mark’s ring had to be special ordered and the pick up date was the day before our wedding. To our surprise, his ring got in a week early. As for my wedding band, my engagement ring is my grandmother’s wedding ring so a wedding band has to be custom made to match the style and this also will take several weeks.
4. Vows: Dare I admit, we still haven’t done this! Wish us luck!
I’m sure I’ll have more to share after all is said and done! I’ll admit it’s pretty easy to get wrapped up in all the wedding hoopla but luckily I have Mark to remind me that all that really matters is that we are getting married. As long as we can be married and our closest friend and family can be there to celebrate with us everything else is secondary.
Linnae & Josh were married at Chautaugua Park in Boulder with their reception following at the Rembrandt Yard. I love how Linnae & Josh used the gorgeous natural setting and infused it with simple bold accents of color. I’m also in love with this bouquet by Sweet Pea Flowers. Check out our Real Colorado Weddings section for more photos as well as Linnae & Josh’s team of wedding experts. Thanks to Teddi @ Picture the Day for contributing these lovely images!
