For the last three years, I have struggled to find the best shoes to wear on 8-10 hour wedding days. Time and time again, I have bought a pair of shoes, tried them out going shopping or an engagement session, or any shorter session, and I ended up worse off than the last pair.  I tried a pair of Sketchers with memory foam for a shorter session, and they worked great. Then I wore them for a 8 hour wedding. I didn’t have any blisters, but I did end up losing two toenails! That’s not something I want to do every time I shoot a wedding, so I was back to the drawing board. Then I tried out a pair of more expense Clarks.  I figured they weren’t the most expensive shoes I could find, but just a cute pair of Mary-Jane’s that kind of reminded me of a pair of shoes my grandma would wear, but if she would wear them, they HAVE to be comfortable. Right!?! RIGHT!?!?!? Wrong. So, so wrong. I wore them for an engagement session and ended up not being able to walk right at the end because my blisters had blisters. On a positive note, I did still have all my toe nails, I just couldn’t walk with out being in pain because of the heels rubbing on the newly formed blisters. So there I was, having one heck of a time trying to find shoes that weren’t killing me by the end of the day, didn’t make me lose toenails, and that I was still able to walk by the end of the day. I was close to just wearing my Reef flip flops because I didn’t know what else to do. So I started asking around. I started following others asking the same question about what other female photographers were wearing during long wedding days and I found a ballet flat that I had never heard of. Tieks by Gavrieli. Part of the reason why I probably had never heard of them is because for any other reason, they would generally be WAY out of my price zone for a pair of shoes.  BUT MAN, are they worth it!!!! I’m a believer now. But the biggest problem I now have is trying not to go and buy all the colors and styles!!

I had always had issues with ballet flats in the past. They were either too small, because they would slip off my heal otherwise, or they were too big and fall off all the time, so I ended up walking like a spaz.  Then Tieks came into my life. On their website they say they’re “the most versatile designer flats in the world. Made of the finest Italian leathers and designed to fold and fit in a purse. Wearable all day, everyday,” and it really couldn’t be more true.  I bought a pair, got them in about 2 days, wore them around the house for about 2 hours, and then they were perfect. The Italian leather almost forms to your foot, and the best news, I shot an 8 hour wedding day with NO blisters, NO lost toenails, and by the time I got home, I left them on. Usually after a wedding day, I can’t wait to take off my shoes when I get home, but Tieks are so comfy that I don’t even think about it!

The leather for each pair of Tieks goes through treatment to be flexible but durable. Then it takes three days, and over 150 steps to create one single pair. There’s no mass production line here.

I seriously can’t even begin to describe how much I love my Tieks. They are so comfy, look super cute, and being one that could NEVER wear a pair of ballet flats, I really can’t believe how comfortable they are. So if you’re a photographer looking for a pair of awesome shoes for wedding days, you really won’t be disappointed if you buy a pair of Tieks! If your just a girl looking for a CUTE pair of ballet flats that you can throw on after a few hours of being in your heels, these would be perfect for you as well.

The only downside, trying to pick out just ONE color!!!! And then not wanting to buy even more after!

They have the cutest packaging! You can see that i’ve used mine pretty well in just the short 1 month i have had them. Just gives me another reason to buy more! 😀 They really are the best I have ever found!