(Our Shop Owner) Cassie + Thomas
(September 21, 2019 in Spokane, WA)
Planning a wedding can be stressful, but owning a bridal shop made it a bit easier for one bride. Cassies wedding vision was to have a classic and romantic wedding in September, with indoor and outdoor options. She chose a unique venue, the Felt's Field Hangar and invested in flowers to decorate the huge empty airplane hangar. The week before the wedding, both Cassie and her then-fiancé came down with the stomach flu, which forced them to let go of some tasks and to spend time alone to recover. On the wedding day, Cassie tried to slow down and be present with her loved ones. The day was beautiful, with a blue sky and soft clouds, and the florals were out of this world. One big tip from their wedding planner was to plan a few minutes alone with the new spouse after the ceremony to soak it in. Get ready to be inspired by this in-depth blog post written by Cassie herself!
By our real bride (and Shop Owner), Cassie:
What was the vision for your wedding?
Lets be real here, I already had a lot of things about my wedding already planned out when my then boyfriend, Thomas, proposed. You can read all about the proposal here in a blog post we did last year! We met as camp counselors at Camp Reed and had been together for 6 years. We had talked about wanting to wait to get engaged until after my store had opened in August of 2018, because that was really the peak of craziness in our lives. When he proposed in April 2019, I knew I really didnt want to wait a whole year to finally get married. We both had healthy grandparents that lived on the east side of country that we knew for sure we wanted to be there, and who knows what another year might bring?! We had a very specific idea of what we wanted our wedding to be like because my life had been consumed with all things wedding because of the shop. We decided to only have a 4 month engagement and jumped right into wedding planning.
I also think September is the prettiest month to get married. The mildly warm weather, leaves changingI pictured it to be beyond romantic. Since I began my business in the wedding industry, I had the extreme fortune of already knowing so many wedding vendors. I was able to reach out to them immediately to book. I didnt have to spend lots of time researching them for the first time, so I could skip ahead a few steps from the average bride in Spokane. With fingers crossed, when I called them, every single one of my first choice vendors had our date available. I felt so lucky, which made planning in such a short amount of time that much less stressful.
Also, before even getting engaged I knew EXACTLY what dresses I wanted to wear. I had picked them out a few months prior at Bridal Market, and I purposefully did not buy those samples for my store because I wanted to keep them for myself. Is this selfish?! Maybe?! At the time, I just knew that I wanted to be the first to wear the dress in Spokane and it would kill me to see anyone in my store try them on. When picking out dresses at bridal markets it is already so hard not to just choose dresses that are your personal style. Needless to say, I had thought about what I would wear quite a bit.
With the dresses, I was going for classic and romantic. Owning a bridal shop and seeing SO MANY dresses every single day, I knew that I wanted something timeless that I would not look back and think, wow, that was so the fall 2019 style. I also really wanted to prioritize comfort, so I chose gowns from my designers that I knew were excellent quality. With 3 dresses that of course all need to be altered, I had 9 fittings with Nina the month before my wedding. I did not mind at all because it meant I got to hang out with Nina, but it was a lot to schedule. That was something I had not even thought about with multiple dresses. Oops.
We chose the Felts Field Hangar because it was so different. I knew for September I wanted something with indoor and outdoor options. I had heard about this new venue through the grapevine and I knew it would be perfect. Also, my husband loved the planes. It was a win-win.
How did it go the day of your wedding?
Well, back up because the entire week leading up to the wedding, Thomas and I both had the stomach flu. We are talking horrible, cant leave the house, painful, stomach flu. But, it did mean that the week before the wedding I had to let a lot of things go. I couldnt run around crazy doing wedding things up until the last minute. If I hadnt got that task done before the wedding, maybe it wasnt that big of a priority and I could just let it go? We spent time alone, just us, trying to feel better and anxiously awaiting that coming Saturday. We both finally felt better just in time for our rehearsal dinner at the gorgeous McGinnity Room. It was a big relief to know that all my family and friends who had traveled in were there, safe and sound, and I could actually spend a little time with them.
The morning of, all my bridesmaids and I got ready at my parents house. The day was BEAUTIFUL, sunny and 76. If you guys remember back to last September, it was the last wonderful weekend before it snowed! That could have been my wedding! That morning, I really just tried to slow down. I did not have my phone on me the whole day. I wanted to remember each and every conversation with those I love the most. Of course, we were about an hour late getting to pictures at the venue. I did a first look with my bridesmaids, my parents and brother, and with Thomas. I had only shown my mom any of the dresses and I thought it was just so fun to surprise everyone.
I truly felt myself relax after my first interaction with Thomas. Getting married to him was the whole point. The day was beautiful, the biggest blue sky with soft sporadic clouds, and you guys my florals were out of this world. With the venue being just a huge empty airplane hanger, we didnt spend any other money on decor. I invested in flowers because that was something I really loved. That is not for everyone, but it blew me away.
One big tip our wedding planner, Hayley, told us to do was plan about 10 minutes right after the ceremony to be alone with your new husband and just soak it in. After the ceremony, which honestly felt like a blur because I was an incredible mixture of nerves and happiness, we sat in a spare room and just talked about how crazy this all was. Yes, I cried a bit. WE WERE NOW FREAKING MARRIED! Looking back on it now, that is one of the happiest moments of my life. As I am writing this, I am 7 months pregnant so seeing baby girl on the ultrasound for the first time is now tied for that moment.
What about the dresses?
Dress changes were actually programmed into the schedule for the evening. I would run out and change into my next dress really quickly throughout the night. My second dress was a customization from our go-to alterations specialist for the shop, Nina Cherie, and it was perfect for the waltz I did with my dad for our first dance. It was comfy to eat in and sit and listen to our funny and sweet speeches in. When the party really began and our band started playing, I changed into my final dress, the gold stars dress, Orion, by our designer Willowby. When the heck else can you wear a dress like that?! Again, the rest of the night is a champagne and happiness filled blur. All our favorite people in one place. It was spectacular. The next day we were off to Maui for our honeymoon! This was the first real vacation (99% phone free) I had taken since opening the store and it was paradise.
What is your best advice to future brides?
I have several thoughts on this so I will make them into a list. I love lists.
Invest in a wedding planner, if you can. Having a wedding planner meant that everyone I loved, my mom, my aunt, my friends, could just enjoy the evening. None of them had any responsibilities other than just to celebrate the day with me. And, I was blissfully unaware of any stress the entire day.
Choose a dress (or dresses, why not!) that feels like younot what anyone else picks for you. Be confident to tell the group youre shopping with exactly the vision you have for yourself. Believe them when they tell you you look beautiful.
Really talk with your spouse about the things you care about and ditch the rest. There were tons of traditional wedding things we didnt include in our day. We made it exactly what was perfect for us.
Choose and invest in vendors that youve done your homework on. Make sure youve looked at reviews. Prioritize what vendors you truly care about and invest in them. For example, we really wanted a live band, which yes, is more expensive than a DJ. Then, I didnt care as much about having a big expensive cake, so, I asked my dad who is a fabulous baker if he would like to do it. He was thrilled! Splurge and save on vendors that make the most sense for you.
Ultimately, all the material things about a wedding should not consume the real reason for the whole sha-bang. You are getting married to the love of your life. Let that sink in and make all decisions remembering that first.
