This past weekend we had the first inaugural Southwest Wedding Bazaar at River Bend Ranch in Durango. The purpose of this event was to act similarly to a wedding expo in the sense of showing off different wedding vendors to engaged couples, however instead of a bunch of booths and vendors standing around with pamphlets it was a big fake wedding!
Caterers, cake designers, florists, wedding planners and designers, hair stylists, make up artists, wedding dresses, wonderful drink vendors, photographers, videographers, and more all getting together to put on three different ceremonies throughout the day and a cocktail hour feel throughout the grounds.
It was SO MUCH FUN! All the different ceremony sites were decorated and designed in different styles, all beautifully curated. Three different couples all dressed and styled to the nines. It was so fun to work with all the vendors, getting to know everyone a little better. It was amazing having such beautiful scenes and set ups to photograph and video. Best part was being able to really show these potential wedding couples what I can do and how hard I can work. I felt so much more of a connection with each couple that approached me than I do with couples that come by my booth at an expo.
(TL;DR Photos at the end)
The vendors were all so amazing, the collaboration between everyone came together so beautifully. Blue Leaf Design made wonderful signage, beautiful lettering on acrylic for table numbers, place settings, informational signs and more. Dirty Dishes provided beautiful vintage stemware, plates and cutlery, making the event not only much cuter and more detailed but also waste free! Violet Mae Vintage brought so many fun pieces to create super cool spaces with funky furniture and decor outside. Heirlooms Durango and Love Untamed Collective did some really amazing design work on each ceremony space as well as the event in general. Jaime Becktel with Southwest Ceremonies performed two wonderful ceremonies, she fit so well into the style and feel of each one! Scott Perez performed the third ceremony and he made it short and sweet.
Linnaea Design, April's Garden and Adela Floral put together some gorgeous floral arrangements, all so different but equally beautiful. Linnaea Design arranged beautiful white blossoms up the trunk of a willow tree, she also created some amazing earrings out of flowers! April's Garden used some fun tropical looking leaves and palms along with pampas grass to create some really unique pieces, including an awesome southwestern style lei! Adela Floral's bouquets and hair pieces were so rich and full of deep beautiful color, I know it sounds a little odd but the word juicy just comes to mind haha, they were so beautiful!
Stylists from The Chair and Reign Hair Salon did fantastic work on each of the bride's hair and makeup. Bree from The Chair did Erica's hair and makeup, the boho bride with the fun hat! I just have to tell a little story about Bree, I was doing a wedding last year where the bride's stylist never showed up. They didn't call, they were unreachable, and so Bree came up last second to do this bride's hair, never met before, and she absolutely saved the day! She is super great.
There was some amazing food and drink vendors as well. Thirsty Rooster teamed up with Dirty Dishes and Vanessa Sirois Aerial Bartender to kind of welcome you into the space. They are so awesome, not only did they have fantastic drinks but they have amazing personalities and just a really fun overall vibe. I highly recommend them for any event where you want some fun people and cocktails around.
On the other side of drinks there was Compact Coffee serving up personally crafted coffee and chai drinks. They are a great little pop up coffee stand, ready to set up wherever you need to add that extra flare and comfort to an event. And just like Thirsty Rooster, the people behind the business are half the reason you need to book them, because they are just such amazing people! (Plus they have the most adorable baby ever!)
There were just so many awesome vendors there, Wild Rose Cakes brought some gorgeous cake's that were almost too beautiful to eat, but I definitely still ate them. Confections & Curiosities had so many adorable little cakes, and you know I gotta try them all because they were sooo good... so because of her I am fat now haha. Cyprus Cafe, and CJ's Diner also contributed to my weight gain of the day, delicious. At least I got to dance some of the calories off with music by Liver Down the River (they are so fun!) and Stand Alone Entertainment DJing into the night (8:00 is night right?) I was a little disappointed that I was so busy taking my own photos I didn't get a chance to go into Snap Shack's awesome blow up photo booth. They brought soooo many fun hats and other accessories to dress up in!
A HUGE Thank you to River Bend Ranch, Meg Roberts (Love Untamed Collective and visionary of the SWWB) and Local First for putting together such an amazing event. I hope to see it again and again in the years to come!
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