Lenora & Justin
Wedding Date & Location:
The Farmhouse on Greenbluff on October 12th, 2024
This couple described their wedding vision as “Lord of the Rings meets yeehaw backyard BBQ,” and honestly, it couldn’t be more fitting. They wanted a day that felt elegant but relaxed, with meaningful details and a laid-back energy that reflected them. Instead of getting caught up in endless inspiration photos, they focused on finding the right vendors and creating a celebration that felt personal from start to finish.
The bride had her heart set on The Farmhouse before they had even moved to Washington, and it ended up being the perfect setting for the vibe they were after. Their florals were one of the most creative parts of the day, featuring a mix of wood flowers, hand-dried lavender, silk florals, and baby’s breath, giving everything a unique, thoughtful feel. They also made a point to include locally sourced and small-business touches wherever they could, which made the day feel even more intentional.
Even with the bride being sick the week leading up to the wedding, the day itself went off beautifully. Family and friends helped bring everything together, making the morning feel calm and the celebration feel seamless. There were so many unforgettable moments woven throughout the day — a sweet first look with her dad, their two-year-old nephew dressed as a hobbit ring bearer, the groom tearing up as she walked down the aisle, and a meaningful quaich ceremony with a hand-carved cup made by the groom himself.
What stood out most was just how personal every part of the day felt. From a memorial table honoring loved ones, to custom crossword puzzles for guests, to a personalized love story intro before their first dance, every detail felt thoughtful and completely true to them. Their biggest advice to future brides is simple and so good: let the people who love you help you. Leaning on their friends and family made all the difference — and helped create a wedding day that felt joyful, memorable, and entirely their own.
What was the vision for your wedding?:
The way we discribed our theme was Lord of the Rings meets yeehaw backyard bbq. We wanted some elegance but with a laid back feel. We honestly didn't use that many inspiration photos and definitely made some decor decisions on the fly. We mostly wanted to focus on finding the right vendors for us. I knew I wanted to have our wedding at The Farmhouse after finding it via Google before we even moved to Washington. It was the perfect setting for the vibe we were going for and they had a ton of resources for helping us pick our other vendors. I knew from the beginning I didn't want to go the traditional florist route, so the bulk of our flowers were wood flowers. We bought all the lavender during the Lavender Festival at Evening Light Lavender Farm and dried it ourselves. The flowers on our alter were silk flowers from Amazon. The only live flowers we had was the babies breath we got from Trader Joe's. Vendor wise, other than the venue itself, our top priorities were food, music, and photography. I primarily went through the vendor suggestions provided by The Farmhouse as it helped me narrow it down and was reassuring to know our potential vendors were familiar with the space. The main selling points for our caterer, Greenbluff Fresh Catering Co. was the fact they source ingredients locally and were a great value. What sold us was our tasting as everything was delicious and we had a hard time choosing our entrees and sides. Our cake was from Sweet Frostings which was both recommended by our venue as well as my coworkers. We were surprised by their salted caramel frosting during our tasting as we were not expecting it to become our favorite thing. Choosing the right DJ was very important to us as we wanted someone who could keep the event flowing but also had great music taste. The review for David and Audio Affiliated that caught our eye was praise of how he dismissed tables for dinner and how he made sure everything went smoothly. After speaking to him on the phone and hearing him explain what he does and how he handles events, we knew he was the right choice for what we wanted. I choose our photographer, Alicia with Humble Honey Photography, primarily on her portfolio and photo packages. For the big day, she brings a second photographer for extra coverage. She was very communicative during the whole process and made sure to keep us updated. We also tried to get as many things as we could locally or from vendors on Etsy. Our drinking mugs are by local potter Goblin Pottery and our toasting goblets are from All Things Irish in Coeur d'Alene.
How did it go on the day-of?:
Aside from me being sick the entire week before and during the wedding, everything went off without a hitch. The combination of our friends, family, photographer, DJ and the staff at The Farmhouse really made sure everything went smoothly. Our wedding party and family decorated the inside of the barn the night before, so the morning of was fairly stress free, with Justin and the boys finishing up the decorations outside while the girls and I got ready. We did our own hair and makeup and were done with time to spare. One of the things Justin had been adamant about was not doing a first look. He wanted the first time he saw me in my dress be when I came down the aisle. Since I'm an only child, I did my first look with my dad instead, which I is a moment I'm very glad we captured. Our 2 year old nephew was our ringbearer and was dressed as a hobbit and had to be bribed with animal crackers to stay in his hobbit outfit. He was absolutely adorable. He was escorded down the aisle by his father and aunt. Justin cried when he turned around and saw me come down the aisle. The way he put it later was "he couldn't have imagined me wearing any other dress, it was perfect." For our unity ceremony we did a quaich ceremony, which comes from a Scottish tradition for joining clans through drinking from the same cup. Justin carved our quaich for the ceremony instead of buying one. One of the important pieces to us that our guests loved was our memorial table. It was important to us to remember our loved ones who couldn't be with us on our special day. Another big hit were the crossword puzzles we made using a template from Etsy. We made one that was about us and then another that was about Spokane since most of our guests came from out of town. While we were taking photos, our guests were huddled together working on the puzzles, everyone working together. Something special that our DJ did was create a love story intro to our first dance that was based off questionnaires he gave us to fill out. It was really a wonderful prelude to our first dance. One thing I'm very glad I was able to do was recreate a photo of my dad and I from when I was maybe, 1 and a half. In the original photo, we're sitting next to each other on the beach, I'm looking down at the sand and my dad's looking down at me. In the recreation, we sat on a beach and did our best to have the save pose as I'm a lot taller now. We had a great time and danced a lot. Our wedding party and family did the take down for us at the end of the night, which we were greatful for.
What is your #1 tip to future brides?:
Let the people who came to help you help you. We couldn't have had such a wonderful wedding without the help of our friends and family. You can't do it all on your own.
