by Kate Friedman | Aug 5, 2015 | Uncategorized
You say po-ta-to, I say po-tat-o. Very frequently we have brides that are seeking to have custom wedding shoes made in ivory-a color that we’ve come to think of as the word with a thousand definitions (ivory, dark ivory, light ivory, cream, pearl, oyster, bridal white)-and it’s always a tricky question. What ivory is the right ivory? Generally, we think of light ivory, off white, and bridal white as very light shades of ivory. So light, in fact, that you might think that they’re white. That is, until you hold them up against something that is white. We refer to ivory as a very classic shade that you would expect. Enough contrast to know that it’s not a white shoe, but very light on any yellow or gray undertones. Cream, by comparison, often carries a heavier yellow undertones; while pearl and oyster, often have slight gray undertones. Of course, you also have dark options — dark ivory and champagne — are lovely if you’re looking for a little contrast to your dress and don’t want the hassle of trying to get an exact match. And blush is a beautiful way to add just the slightest hint of pink to your wedding day attire. To help decipher this endless list of color tones and to assist our brides in selecting their shade, we’ve put together a collection of our shoes in the various colors below. In addition, don’t forget that we offer a custom color match service if you have a color you’d like us to match, or we can send you a sample of swatches that we have for...
by admin | Nov 18, 2014 | Uncategorized
Something old, something new, something borrowed and something GREEN! Yes, that’s right! Today, we’re talking about taking traditional wedding attire and turning it on its head. Custom wedding shoes are one of those great opportunities to add just a little bit of colorful personality to your wedding day without causing your traditional Catholic wedding wanting mother (well… mine, anyway) to shudder. In an effort to convince our ever adventurous clientele that green wedding shoes can save you from a clunky pair of white pumps, we combed through our gallery and pulled out some of the highlight custom wedding shoes–everything from a simple pair of d’orsay style kitten heel peep toes with a bit of sparkle, to a towering pair of platforms with emerald green Swarovksi covered heels, to a pair of hunter green peep toe wedding shoes with a specialty lace overlay to… wait for it… a pair of green pumps with crysal leaf accents designed for the union of two horticulturalists in love (and a lovely couple they were!). Are you convinced yet that green wedding shoes mean GO! Okay, okay… maybe green wedding shoes aren’t your thing, but you can’t dismiss the possibility of creating something truly special and unique for your wedding day… just like these green leaf accented custom wedding shoes for two horticulturalists in love! About Ellie Wren Custom Wedding Shoes… Ellie Wren’s unique wedding shoe styles have been walking down the aisles since 2011 as part of her other company, Design Your Pedestal. Ellie Wren Custom Wedding Shoes works one on one with each of its brides to create their dream wedding shoes. ...
by elliewren | Nov 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
Kate Friedman (better known in the bridal industry as Ellie Wren) is the principal designer and owner of Ellie Wren Custom Wedding Shoes. She has been designing women’s shoes since 2007. Ellie’s wedding shoe designs are uncommon in that her specialty is working one on one with her clients to understand what makes them, and their significant others, unique. A firm believer that custom wedding shoes are a opportunity to capture the essence of the couple, Ellie then incorporates what she learns into the bride’s wedding shoes. Ellie shoes have been walking down aisles the world over and, in addition to her collection of lovely lace-covered wedges and Swarovski-studded peep toes, Ellie has done some pretty amazing custom work, including the “Cloud Shoes” that she designed for Good Morning America’s anchor meteorologist, Ginger Zee’s 2014 wedding to Ben Aaron. Other unique wedding shoe designs include her trademark baseball wedding shoes, originally designed for Yankee Stadium nuptials that have since been recreated for the coupling of Colorado Rockies’, St. Louis Cardinals’, Detroit Tigers’, Boston Red Sox’ and Chicago Cubs’ fans. She even has a pair of “rock climbing” and “pilot meets flight attendant” wedding shoes under her belt. While a shoe lover and style devotee by birth, Ellie (then better known as Kate Friedman) didn’t have the guts to pursue her passion until after four years of a traditional college education, followed by three years of law school and eight years of law practice (good for business development, bad for creativity), but she maintains that everything happens for a reason and she is now (finally!) happily and exactly where she...
by admin | Nov 14, 2014 | Uncategorized
Nary a day will pass when a bride doesn’t email us asking for more information about how the custom wedding shoe design process works. It’s a subject near and dear to our hearts, as we work every day to create truly original, stunning custom wedding shoes, designed to capture the essence of the bride, her partner and her wedding day in this truly fun accent piece. If ever someone paid us a compliment, it was that we are authentic in what we do. It’s a threshold that we strive to achieve with each pair… and here’s how it happens! Step 1: Telling Us A Little About Your Wedding Style Brides usually initiate the custom wedding shoe design process by sending us request through our Custom Wedding Shoe Design Tool. Brides are walked through a 4-step process during which they tell us what they like for a base shoe style, a color palette, a selection of adornment options and a quick questionnaire about their shoe size, wedding theme and any other details about their wedding day that they’d like to share. Often, brides like to also send us pictures of their dress, their bridesmaids’ dresses and their flowers to give us a sense of their wedding style. Step 2: Working With Your Personal Custom Wedding Shoe Designer We’re a small studio based in Denver, but among this group of artists is a huge resource for creative problem solving and an eye for design. That’s the long way of telling you that if you can imagine it, we can probably do it. After your initial request is received, a member...
by elliewren | Nov 13, 2014 | Uncategorized
It isn’t uncommon (or particularly surprising) that many of our brides seeking a pair of custom wedding shoes are concerned about the fit. As custom wedding products, often handmade exactly to the brides specifications, it remains a challenge for us as designers to create a pair of dream wedding shoes only to find that the bride’s heel slips in the back. Returns and exchanges are tricky for both parties–brides have fittings and drop-dead dates by which they need the shoes, and, for Ellie Wren, sometimes the designs are so unique, resale isn’t possible (as fun and creative as they are, how many brides are looking for custom airplane shoes?). To accommodate this problem, Ellie Wren has introduced the “Try Before You Buy” program. For a small fee (the majority of which can be credited toward the price of the bride’s custom wedding shoes), brides can order a pair of shoes for the purpose of trying them on before the custom work is completed. Here’s how it works… Shoes may be purchased in your size and shipped directly to you. They will arrive unadorned and in white. The cost of this service is $45.00 (per pair) fee and you will be responsible for the cost of shipping the shoes to Ellie Wren for completion of the custom order. If you complete the purchase of your shoes, 75% of the $45.00 per pair cost will be credited to your purchase. You will not be credited for the shipping costs to Ellie Wren. If you do not purchase the custom design for your shoes the $45.00 will be non-refundable. If you decide...
by elliewren | Nov 10, 2014 | Uncategorized
[A note from principal custom wedding shoe designer, Ellie Wren: As we get our blog off the ground, I’ve been thinking a lot about the tone that I’d like it to take and the kinds of things that I’d like to share visitors. Naturally, we’ll talk a lot about wedding shoes. It’s our passion and our pride and we’ve got a lot to share as new designs and ideas come into the studio all the time. To try and present that in the best manner possible, I’ve decided to do a “Shoe of the Week” post, where we’ll showcase on particular custom wedding shoe that we’ve been working on. In addition, I think it’s also important to put together thoughts on wedding style in general, probably with an emphasis on themed weddings, as well as some thoughts other wedding accessories as we start to explore expanding into those areas.] And, now, without further ado…the custom wedding shoe of the week! For this particular design, we were inspired by a collection of wedding dresses featuring soft, flowing layers of chiffon that cascaded to the floor. As so many brides request, we wanted to capture that same romantic theme into a pair of wedding shoes, but as the same time, keep the slim and elegant feel of a d’orsay style peep toe by not overwhelming the wedding shoes with too much chiffon. After some experimentation, we created this stunning, handmade chiffon flower–constructed of a dozen layers of blush chiffon. We placed the flower slightly off center to the outside of the shoe, just to add to it’s overall free-spirited, romantic nature....
