Ellie Wren

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. [gallery columns="4" ids="81,80,79,78"] 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 is supposed to be in her career. Ellie lives in the beautiful state of Colorado, where she enjoys the outdoors and the 300 days of sunshine with her husband and two children. 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.  Brides are welcome to send pictures of their dress, their flowers, their bridesmaids dress and share stories about their dream wedding day, how they met their fiance or just what makes the betrothed couple special to inspire Ellie Wren’s team of artists in the design of the bride’s wedding shoes.  To learn more about designing your own wedding shoes, visit the Ellie Wren Custom Wedding Shoes website.  

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. [caption id="attachment_56" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Choosing Your Base Shoe Style[/caption] [caption id="attachment_53" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Choosing Your Colors[/caption] [caption id="attachment_57" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Selecting Adornment Options[/caption] [caption id="attachment_58" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Tell Us About Your Wedding[/caption]   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 of our design team will reach out to you via email to sort through your selections and help you start to put together the design for your shoes.  If you're trying to incorporate a special theme, let us know!  Want your shoes to tie in with your dress?  We can do that too! [caption id="attachment_52" align="aligncenter" width="432"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Matching the Dress[/caption] [caption id="attachment_59" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Incorporating Your Wedding Theme[/caption] [caption id="attachment_60" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Incorporating a Special Element[/caption] As you're discussing your design ideas with your designer, they'll be able to send you photos of ideas and options.  For brides that really want to be able to visualize their final design, we can send you sample swatches of the materials that we will use and even create a sketch of the final design.   Step 3:  Ensuring the Perfect Fit (Optional) Custom wedding shoes are a bit of a splurge for sure!  When you're putting that much time, energy and money into your wedding attire, you want to make sure that the shoe fits!  To accommodate this need, we do offer a "Try Before You Buy" program.  You can read more about how that works in our recent blog post here.   Step 4:  Putting It All Together!  Once you have a finalized design with your custom wedding shoe designer, you'll receive an invoice with all of the specifications via Paypal.  Because of the custom nature of your wedding shoes, we do request payment upfront.  Generally, the process will take anywhere from 4-8 weeks.  Your custom wedding shoe designer will be able to give you an accurate timeline when you order your shoes.  And, of course, if you have a fast-approaching fitting or (yikes!) wedding date, we can work with you on those as well. Each of our designs are handmade by our designers here in the studio.  While we start with a pre-made base shoe, every crystal, pearl and sequin is hand placed with care.  We make every flower and paint every sole.  It's this degree of artistry that enables us to make the perfect custom wedding shoe for your wedding day. [caption id="attachment_50" align="aligncenter" width="432"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Placing Pearl Buttons on a Wedding Shoe[/caption] [caption id="attachment_49" align="aligncenter" width="432"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Lacing a Shoe[/caption]   Step 5:  Reviewing Your Shoes Before your shoes ship, we'll take pictures of them from a couple of angles so that can see what they look like before they ship.  While we're not able to make major changes at this point, we can make minor ones (you'd like a few more Swarovski crystals scattered in the lace or your changed your mind about adding a message to the soles -- all doable)! [caption id="attachment_61" align="aligncenter" width="440"] The Final Approval: Reviewing Your Wedding Shoes Before Shipping[/caption] [caption id="attachment_63" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Save the Date with a Special Message on the Soles[/caption]   Step 6:  Accessories!   While you don't have to, wouldn't it be grand to have your shoes, your sash and maybe a few little accent pieces for your updo to match your shoes?  We can do all of that as well!! [caption id="attachment_64" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Custom Wedding Shoes: Pull It All Together With Complementing Accessories![/caption]   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.  Brides are welcome to send pictures of their dress, their flowers, their bridesmaids dress and share stories about their dream wedding day, how they met their fiance or just what makes the betrothed couple special to inspire Ellie Wren’s team of artists in the design of the bride’s wedding shoes.  To learn more about designing your own wedding shoes, visit the Ellie Wren Custom Wedding Shoes website.          

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?). [caption id="attachment_27" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Love Flies - Custom Wedding Shoes Designed for an Airline Industry Couple[/caption] 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 you'd like a different size, we can send you another size, but the credit will be 50% of the $45 (which can only be applied toward the cost of the completed shoes). Please note that the try on option will add approximately 2 weeks to the production time of your shoes. The Try Before You Buy program is offered to U.S. based customers. We can, upon request, arrange to have “try on” shoes sent to brides located outside of the U.S. Pricing will depend upon the destination (due to costs of shipping). Since it's inception, about 25% of our clients opt for this program (a small portion of them are international brides) and we've found that it works beautifully.  In the end, you're really paying for the shipping to get the shoes to you, as you do get a credit toward the purchase of the custom wedding shoes when you commission the final design. 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.  Brides are welcome to send pictures of their dress, their flowers, their bridesmaids dress and share stories about their dream wedding day, how they met their fiance or just what makes the betrothed couple special to inspire Ellie Wren’s team of artists in the design of the bride’s wedding shoes.  To learn more about designing your own wedding shoes, visit the Ellie Wren Custom Wedding Shoes website.

Check out Ellie Wren's custom wedding shoe design of the week -- blush peep toe bridal shoes with a handmade chiffon flower on the toe.

The world of bridal fashion is buzzing -- talented designers abound and, let's face it, really. pretty. stuff. is. everywhere.  Sometimes it's hard to find your perfect something in the vastness of it all.  But, fear not, bride to be, if you can't find it, rest assured that you can have it made for you. Yes, yes.  This blog in general is most definitely a plug for custom wedding shoes, as Ellie Wren has carved a niche in the bridal market by creating one of kind, custom wedding shoes.  And we will get to that, but today we'd like to explore other opportunities to bring your own personal style to your wedding day through custom wedding dress sashes. The ever-popular Etsy is a great source for finding truly talented individuals capable of creating something totally original for your wedding day and as (most) designers are small business owners or sole proprietors, you can often find gems without paying hefty mark ups. If you're looking for traditional, yet original, designs with lots of sparkle, we love EnrichbyMillie.  You can tell just by looking at these pieces that a lot of time, energy and care goes into them.  And, while each piece showcased in Millie's shop is classically beautiful, she also customizes pieces for color and size.  EnrichbyMillie is also rocking a 5-star review on Etsy, which we can tell you from experience really means something.   It is a ton of hard work and dedication to customer service, month after month. [caption id="attachment_11" align="aligncenter" width="570"] The Isla Beaded Bridal Sash by Enrich by Millie, featuring silver, off white and clear Swarovksi crystals[/caption] For brides who aren't as into bling for their wedding sash, we also love what A Goddess Divine creates.  Lynn, the shop owner, does beautiful work incorporating colors into her sashes with fabric flowers and creates a soft, vintage appeal by accenting the sash with lace.  Everything about these pieces says romance! [caption id="attachment_12" align="aligncenter" width="570"] Fabric Flower and Lace Wedding Dress Sash by A Goddess Divine[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_13" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Aqua Blue Chiffon and Lace Bridal Sash by A Goddess Divine[/caption] And, finally, our favorite!  We did some hunting and found this incredible hand dyed piece by Autumn and Grace Bridal.  Mostly known for creating fabric floral bouquets (which are most definitely worth a look), Autumn and Grace Bridal is an Etsy mainstay, having operated a shop since 2007 and maintaining that ever-impressive 5-star review. [caption id="attachment_15" align="aligncenter" width="440"] Hand Dyed Fabric Flower Bouquet by Autumn and Grace Bridal[/caption]   While it may take some time and effort, scouring Etsy for a bridal sash is definitely worth it.  If ever there was a time to be authentic, your wedding day is that time.  Working directly with the designer allows you to incorporate your personal style into the piece, as well as your wedding colors and other elements that make you and your intended special.  We often, in our creation of custom wedding shoes, find ourselves sewing in charms that mean something to the couple or adding a special saying to the sole of the shoe to mark the occasion.  Custom wedding shoe requests are the norm and not the exception and we welcome them.  It's far more fun to get creative and make a bride's dream shoe come alive than it is to manage the production of a mass produced product! About Ellie Wren: Ellie Wren offers brides a unique selection of high-end, custom wedding shoes.  Each Ellie Wren wedding shoe is hand-decorated in the United States by Ellie's carefully selected team of artisans.  Satins, laces and adornments (including Swarovski crystals and pearls) are specifically chosen for quality, color and style and every design can be further customized to suit the bride's style--platform peep toes can be redesigned as flats and a traditional white wedding shoe can be transformed into rich rouges and brilliant blues. In addition, Ellie Wren also offers custom wedding shoe options through which brides work one on one with our in-house designers to create truly special and unique wedding shoes--whether they be special color choices not offered through The Collection or the bride's way of giving a special nod to those characteristics that make her and her fiance unique.