Meet McKenzie Bigliazzi | Colorado Elopement Photographer & Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with McKenzie Bigliazzi and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi McKenzie, looking back, what do you think was the most difficult decision you’ve had to make?
The most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make was deciding that some relationships don’t deserve my energy. I realized that some people in my life were not contributing to my success and deciding to create boundaries for myself is crucial to where I was headed. This is still a tough decision to make when I need to make it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a Colorado Elopement photographer specializing in helping out of state couples come to CO and get married! I help my couples plan by giving the totally customized planning guides that explain logistics of marriage license, tells them about their location they chose to get married, a list of additional vendors they may need to hire, as well as what to do while here in Colorado! I’m especially proud of this because I LOVE taking care of others. I also love Colorado, so the more people we can get out here to get married, the better. My journey has been a “long strange trip” as they would put it. I started photography when working for my high school year book. I loved it. Then I started to photograph my friends mostly for fun – I never saw this snowballing into a career. I shot my first wedding when I was 19 and I HATED IT. I didn’t shoot another wedding for at least 3 years after that! A friend in college pushed me to try again – I ended up loving it. Fast forward 8 years, and here I am! This was not easy and I always always remind photographers just starting out that this does not happen overnight. I’m always learning new things and perfecting what I do – it never ends. I started photography when education and community wasn’t a thing. It was hard to learn thing on my own, but I did it enough to get my biz going. I looked to Youtube and testing skills out myself. I was persistent, even on my worst days. There have been and continue to be tons of lessons being learned. I’ve learned not to take rejection personally, but embrace it. There are bullies in the industry, but never spend your energy on them. Be ready to fail, take time to be sad, but always try again. Mindset and mental health is EVERYTHING when it comes to having a successful business. Success doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time and consistency over everything else.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Eeeek! Here are some of my favorite things: – Spend a day in Rocky Mountain National Park seeing alllll the sites – Walk up the street from my apartment to get Frozen Matter and visit their mysterious Freezer… – Visit RiNo and explore all the art and great food – Head to a hot spring – Indian Hot Spring is my fave because it’s close to Denver – Explore downtown on Scooters (I know locals hate them but they’re so dang fun)

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Angie Lee has been a huge influence in my life with her education on business!

Website: www.mckenziebigliazzi.com
Instagram: instagram.com/mckenzie_bigliazzi
Facebook: facebook.com/mckenziebigliazziphotography
Other: https://www.pinterest.com/mckenziebigliazziphotography/

Image Credits
McKenzie Bigliazzi Photography