Elizabeth + Cody

October 7, 2023 in Colbert, WA

Welcome back to the Ivory Bride Blog, where we share stories about our real brides and their gorgeous weddings! In today's post, hear from our real bride Elizabeth who planned her whole wedding! Elizabeth and Cody’s wedding journey was a beautiful fusion of minimalist and maximalist dreams. With Elizabeth’s love for white and Cody’s for bold colors, they finally found their perfect venue in a greenhouse with an open field, balancing each of their tastes. From a boho garden theme with personal touches to meaningful choices like a coffee cart symbolizing their early days together, every detail felt just right. Even with unexpected twists—like an officiant switch the day before—Elizabeth’s meticulous planning and her day-of coordinator helped keep the wedding on track. Through it all, they created a day filled with laughter, emotion, and unforgettable moments, proving that true beauty lies in embracing whatever the day brings.

By our real bride, Elizabeth:

What was the vision for your wedding?

We went into wedding planning as a minimalist who loves white (me) and a maximalist who loves color (Cody). After countless hours searching for venues within our budget, we gave up on finding our dream spot. My now husband said no barns, I said not entirely indoor spaces, and that didn't leave us with a ton of options. One day, while scrolling Pinterest, I saw a photo from a wedding that was so unique! The venue was a greenhouse, glasshouse, and garden! And it had an open field, which I loved! It was the perfect mix of both of us, but also, it was in Colbert, WA! What were the chances?! We toured it in the middle of January with snow on the ground, but even then, we could see it! After we found our venue, everything else just kind of fit into place. We agreed on a garden, boho theme, with accents of yellow, tan, and burnt orange. We picked vendors that matched our personalities, like a coffee cart (I love coffee and my husband used to work in coffee shops when we met), and added personal touches like tossing dried flowers from all the bouquets my husband has ever given me, and a Crossword puzzle about us and our wedding party for our guests to fill out. Planning was so so fun!

How did it go the day-of?

To understand how our day-of went, you have to know the backstory. We planned our wedding entirely ourselves. Luckily we hired a day-of coordinator, I'll get to why in a bit, but it was super stressful the week before and the day before especially! There was so much to do, no time, lots of last-minute things I didn't think of, and A TON of plans, enough to fill a giant binder. Luckily we had great vendors who met with us and helped us fill in missing pieces, like who would cut the cake, and how we would pack up. On the day of our rehearsal, I'm running late. I'm taking a bunch of our decor to the venue. Halfway to the venue, I get a call from my fiance, he said, "Um, so the officiant is here but he has Covid." What?! There? With Covid? Everything stops. What do we do? Who's come in contact with him? Why didn't he tell us this during all the times we've chatted this week? Our wedding party and wedding coordinators went into action! One of my bridesmaids was immune compromised, and we had babies and older relatives coming from out of town. No way was it safe for him to be there. Our day of coordinators, absolute angels, reached out to officiants they knew and were able to find us a couple of options. At one point my younger brother was even going to do it. We ended up finding an amazing officiant, Michael Kelly, who wrote up a last-minute ceremony that turned out to be absolutely perfect.

I was SO nervous for the next day. For some reason, I was so worried about messing up my vows. I stayed up until 1 am that night finishing our seating chart, but surprisingly the next morning I woke up so so excited, calm, and ready! It was the big day we had been waiting so long for! How did it go from 450 days to 0?! We got ready at Elevar in Spokane, with all my bridesmaids, my baby, and my mom. It was really important for me that they all felt beautiful and pampered, so I got them all hair and makeup! Elevar set up a custom door message and a mimosa bar! It was so much fun and the best experience! Then, we got in an Uber and headed to the venue! I even got a peek at my husband driving up, that made it all feel so real. It was my husband's idea to not see each other before I walked down the aisle, so we compromised and did a first touch. We got to hold hands and tell each other how excited we were, it was so much fun. I was trying so hard not to cry! Standing at the closed doors that led to the Glasshouse where we decided to get married, I was so nervous! I couldn't believe the day was here!

But once the doors opened, I didn't notice anyone else but my husband. It felt like it was just us two up there, and I didn't even mess up my vows. After, our guests went to cocktail hour, where we had a popcorn station set up for them (our favorite snack), a Crossword puzzle unique to us for them to solve, our time capsule guest book, and signature cat-fees for them to drink highlighting our cats. We took all our bridal party and couples photos then! We also told our bridal party that for entrances into the reception, done to "The Nights" by Avicci, the pair that had the best one got $50 and they went all out, it was hilarious! Then, we enjoyed dinner from Greenhouse Fresh, they were so amazing, and the cowboy corn was to die for! Our first dance song was "Welcome to Wonderland", a song we have danced to ever since we started dating! It was so bittersweet, and such a special moment for us. Our venue let doves fly around us during our first dance too, and that was everyone's favorite moment from the night! We also asked not just our wedding party to give speeches, I asked my grandma and grandpa to, and it was the best moment. My grandpa even started crying saying his portion, it is the best memory I have. For the rest of the reception, our guests enjoyed birdies bite-sized pies from our pie wall, and danced with glow sticks (highly recommended those!) At the very end, was just me and two of my bridesmaids dancing, and I will never forget how much fun we had, it was so much fun. While so, so, so many things went wrong and got left out, so many things went right, and we had a ton of fun and also got married (ahhh)!!! It wasn't perfect at all, it wasn't all Pinterest-worthy, and it wasn't all exactly how I imagined or dreamed. But it was so much better, and it was real.