Babydoll Weddings {Real Bride Series}: Meet Katie

We are so excited to introduce Katie and her real bride story. It’s been 3 years since Babydoll Weddings provided hair and makeup services for her back on October 19, 2013 – the day that Katie married her handsome prince. Katie and Chad have known each other since childhood and we still can’t get over the fact that they built their own venue for their big day! It was the perfect combination of romantic, country, and vintage styles. Just look how gorgeous this venue is! Read more below!Katie's Real Bride Series Altar Kiss the Bride

Katie's Real Bride Series Bride GroomHow did you and your groom meet? My husband and I met when I was about 8 years old. He was good friends with my sister and, as a result, he became a good family friend. Later in life, we reconnected at his parent’s New Years party, and that was the start of our dating relationship.Katie's Real Bride Series Bridal Portrait

The #babydoll tribe is dying to know, how did he propose?! We went camping, and right before we were getting ready to drive home he surprised me with a romantic picnic. Sitting, overlooking this beautiful valley as the sun was setting, he dropped to one knee and asked me to be his wife!

What were your wedding colors and why did you choose them? My colors were blush pink/gold/ivory. I wanted soft, romantic colors as I was going for a country vintage vibe.

Where did you find your dress? Would you say that finding your dress was relatively easy or difficult? I found my dress at Suzanne’s Bridal, and it was relatively easy… I narrowed it down to 2 dresses; one was this BEAUTIFUL lace gown that had a long train, and the other was a light organza gown, with subtle blush colored flowers. I ended up getting the organza dress because when I was in it I just kind of “glowed”.

Katie's Real Bride Series Photo BackdropWhere did your ceremony and reception take place? Was there any special meaning behind the choice of the venue(s)? When my husband and I went to look at venues, nothing really “spoke” to us – and everything cost SO much – so we decided to take the money we would have spent on a venue and built our own. 🙂  My husband bought property out in Maricopa years ago, and we designed and built exactly what we wanted, which means we planted over 300 trees, trenched and installed irrigation lines, planted grass,Katie's Real Bride Series Cake and erected a “pole-barn”. What a special day it was, when we were actually enjoying the fruits of our (and friends/families) labor!!:) As a result, we now have a place that will be in our family forever. 

What was the flavor of your wedding cake? We had  4 or 5 different flavors. Shoutout to Sugarlips Cakery!!

Katie's Real Bride Series CenterpieceWhat kind of flowers did you have in your bouquet and at the ceremony/reception?  Roses, Hydrangeas, Baby’s Breath

Did you provide favors to your guests? If so, what were they? Yes, my cousin made these BEAUTIFUL boxes, and we put little seed packets in them.

What details from your wedding that made it unique to you? Everything:) we built it from the ground up! One thing that we especially loved was that my dad built us a picture wall.  When we sent out our thank you cards, each family received their photo, too. 

Other than marrying your husband, what was one of your favorite moments from your wedding day?  Fireworks erupted during our first dance as husband and wife… it felt like a fairytale!Katie's Real Bride Story Girls

Did you take a honeymoon? If so, where did you go?    Hawaii (Big Island)

What is one piece of wisdom you learned from your planning experience that you would like to share with future brides? Don’t stress out too much… no one will remember those “little things” that didn’t get done. Have fun!!  Remember, you are throwing the biggest party of your life, and you are marrying your best friend, so all will be well!

Who were some of the other vendors that were a part of your dream team?  Jessica Q Photography!Katie's Real Bride Story Tractor

The Classic Look

Defining the bride classicSo now that you have the back story to the amazing photoshoot Babydoll Weddings did with Strut Bridal at Chateau Luxe I can now dive even deeper into the process, the looks and the creativity that we all put into this shoot. Since I feel that every look deserves their own this post will be all about one look and one stylist. And I don’t think everyone wants to read a 15 page post which is what would happen if all four looks were in one post.

7J5A4684We will start with the Classic look which was given to Micky. Of course as you all know before the shoot I created inspiration boards for the stylists to use to gain some idea what I wanted the outcome to be. Thanks to Pinterest and past brides I gathered pictures of what I felt looked like the classic bride. Of course when this was handed to Micky I made sure to tell her this is inspiration but please do what you feel will make your model, Megan, look like a classic bride.

With the help of Ashley from Strut Bridal we were able to pair the dresses to the looks prior to the shoot. Megan was wearing a stunning gown! A fitted champagne/ivory mermaid style gown with a ruffle bottom and lace details. It was so amazing and fit her perfectly! I have to say the ladies at Strut Bridal rock at fitting girls and dresses!

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And then comes Micky with all of her talents and experience and turned Megan into exactly what I expected a classic bride to look like! She used a dark red lipstick which made the ivory color of the dress pop! And then Micky pulled her hair back in a gorgeous bun and completed the look with the two details that screams classic bride to me; the veil and the pearls.  Absolutely in love! I am not talented in hair and makeup so being able to see an image you have created in your imagination come to life and be everything you wanted it to be a more; it’s a great feeling!

I’m sure I mentioned how excited I was to be able to book this shoot at Chateau Luxe and if not, I was very N44A8952-Editexcited to be able to have this shoot there. With the glamorous chandelier when you first walk in, the beautiful and unique rooms and all of that wonderful furniture and decor that fills the halls; it seemed like the perfect fit for this shoot! It was such a success and I’m so excited to continue sharing photos and experiences from the other stylists and models from this shoot!

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Babydoll Weddings featured on Style Me Pretty!

Recently one of our lead stylists’, Sabrina, did a beautiful Hindu wedding for bride Nirali and groom Robert and it is being featured on Arizona’s section of StyleMePretty! The wedding was full of love, happiness, laughter and color and Imagine Photo and Luminance Wedding Films did a fantastic job capturing all of that. Aside from the intricate and detailed henna design covering the bride’s hands and the family jewelry only used for the most special of occasions; Sabrina helped complete the bride’s look with stunning makeup! The Babydoll Weddings’ family is honored to be on StyleMePretty and honored to be a part of Nirali and Robert’s wedding! 


To see the blog post of Nirali and Robert’s wedding, head over to StyleMePretty’s website!