At a time when many brides are told to pare down their expectations, a new business partnership in downtown Leesburg is asking brides to dream big, without fear of straining their wedding budgets.

The Wedgewood Collective, above Madisonbelle in downtown Leesburg, is the joint effort of Rebekah J. Murray Photography and event designer Carrie Moe’s Fleurish Events.

“Brides are not very experienced with planning a wedding. It’s very overwhelming,” Murray said.

The Wedgewood Collective opened Jan. 21. The name was inspired by two colors: Wedgewood Gray, a Benjamin Moore paint color, and the trademark blue of Wedgwood china.

“It’s a little bit of European whimsy,” Murray said.

Murray and Moe, both of Leesburg, collaborated on several weddings before officially becoming partners. They like natural or offbeat settings and love Loudoun locations such as Hillsborough Vineyards and Rust Manor. Moe likes experimenting with props such as chandeliers in a tree, or styling a trash-the-dress photo shoot for Murray. Once they lugged a couch into a field for a photo shoot.

“We like making a big deal about weddings,” Moe said.

Moe has a special place in her heart for DIY brides. It’s easy for brides to see why they need a photographer, Moe said, but harder for them to see that hiring an event designer could actually help them save money.

“They think of me as a luxury,” Moe said.

“You’re not a luxury,” Murray told her. “You’re an unknown necessity.”

Moe can do everything from hiring florists to choosing the color of linens. Though she’s experienced as a florist, she works with many other elements of design. She can help a bride get her wedding budget lower than $30,000.

Though Murray’s father was a wedding photographer, she got her first artistic start in graphic design, before starting to work with well-known local portrait photographer Sarah Huntingdon.

“I really fell in love with it when I realized how much potential there can be to make it your own,” Murray said. “Getting to develop your own style means you can attract the kinds of people you can work with.”

Murray pointed to a bride wearing funky pastel sunglasses in her wedding portrait.

“The people who are booking me are adventurous, quirky, are often irreverent to the wedding industry, but care very much about relationships,” she said.

Both Moe and Murray enjoy watching a client relationship turn into a friendship.

“We like working with real people,” Moe said.

“I hate even using the word client because it’s so corporate,” Murray said.

Moe told the story of designing one woman’s wedding, and, some time afterward, organizing a baby shower and a family portrait for the same woman.

“We aren’t just one day,” Moe said.

Last year, Murray photographed 26 weddings, and Moe coordinated 15. They receive most of their work through word-of-mouth referrals.

The Wedgewood Collective is at 5 Loudoun St. SE in Leesburg. To contact Rebekah Murray, e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). To contact Carrie Moe, e-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).