Washington Bride: A mismatched bridal party

Interviewing Walla Walla Bride on her colorful summer wedding.

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BRIRO: Where did you start in the planning process?

The first thing we got nailed down was the venue, and it helped things fall into place quickly. I’d recommend getting the venue reserved first because many of those spots are booked out a year in advance and have limited seating. Once we had our venue we had our date and guest count figured out.

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BRIRO: What was the most difficult part of planning?

The feeling of having to limit how many guests to invite weighed on me more than I thought during the planning process. At the end of the day, you need to do what you two want, and invite the people that are going to be happy to be there. Some guests had tables right outside the reception space, but we just tried to remind ourselves that they were happy to be there and be able to experience the day.

BRIRO: How did you decide on your bridesmaid dress colors?

I was listening to Amy Winehouse, her song “Our Day will come” and it’s a very tangible song for me. The song is very textured, and I wanted to incorporate all that color and carefree nature that I could see in the dresses. The bridesmaids were able to get their dresses from a couple different sites, I just wanted them to be satin and each a different color. We used the Australian shop Billy J, Lulu’s and AZAZIE. The groomsmen and dad’s got all their stuff through MensWarehouse, it was easier for them to get it all from one spot.

BRIRO: Any advice for brides on hair and makeup?

When it comes to hair and makeup, if you want to feel like yourself and you don’t wear makeup everyday, don’t get your makeup done. I had fun investing in some new pieces of makeup and doing it myself. I love the look of glossier products, and very light application so I ended up doing it myself and loved it. I just went with a simple bun that kept the hair out of my face, and it was right for me. Also make sure you steam your dresses before hair and makeup or the night before because the steaming gets you frizzy.

BRIRO: Is there something you would do differently in the planning process?

Getting my dress was a bit of a rushed process. I initially went to a consignment shop and would have gone out with one that first day, but I decided to wait and look for more I liked. The dress I ended up with was perfect, but it had to be rushed from the designer and the alterations took much longer than I anticipated. I should have done these alterations earlier but I was worried I’d change between then and the wedding so I pushed it right until the very end. The dress took a few months to be ready for me to pick up and even begin alterations.

BRIRO: What were some things you did to help you remember the day better?

We didn’t want super posed photos, and loved being able to have a photographer that caught things as they happened instead of posing us a lot. We used an app called POV and got a lot of people’s point of view during the day that we would have never seen otherwise. It was like having disposable cameras but we were able everything at the end of the day immediately. We got such fun photos of the groomsmen pinning Drew down and writing all over him. I would definitely recommend it for bigger bridal parties or bigger weddings in general. We also did a big group photo with all the guests spilling out of the barn. Even though you couldn’t see everyone’s face, we loved getting a photo of everyone and we were able to put it on our thank you cards.

BRIRO: How did you decide on your floral arrangements?

Everything I thought I was going to do during the initial stages flew out the window. The venue had a big impact on the decision for florals. I loved the idea of wild flowers instead of very curated florals. I know our friends and family spent so much time putting the arrangements together but it ended up having such a carefree bouquet feeling that I loved. Drew (husband) is colorblind so he didn’t really care what colors we used. Every vase was different and I loved how unstructured and causal they looked. I felt like the decor felt like we went on a walk and picked something up. I wanted it to feel very laid back and relaxed, I felt like that fit us as a couple.

BRIRO: Did you do anything at the ceremony that you’d recommend?

We had a moment right after Drew and I got to the altar where we let everyone take out their phones and snap a picture of us. Both our families love taking photos, and we knew the moment wasn’t just big for us but for them as well. Drew and I also took out our phones and were able to get funny POV pictures of us there at the altar. I would recommend people do that especially if they’re having an unplugged wedding because it helps keep phones away.

BRIRO: What was it like planning the reception?

We had two friends that knew us well plan the reception and keep it a secret from us. We LOVED doing that, and we had everything from the two of them singing us a mashed up version of a Taylor Swift song to a modified shoe game where guests held up paddles with matcha representing me or a redbull for my husband. We loved getting to experience the reception along with the guests and also having two people that knew us so well plan it perfectly.

BRIRO: What personal touches in the menu were there?

We decided to offer popcorn at the wedding because Drew’s family LOVE’S it, and we wanted to make sure we had options for people that didn’t want something super sweet or were unable to have the other deserts because of allergies. We had lemon cake cupcakes for guests with lavender sprigs on them which reminded me of the lavender around the venue We were happy that everyone could eat something between the macaroons the cupcakes and the popcorn (gf vegan, etc).

BRIRO: What was the dance floor like?

We loved our DJ so much, I couldn’t recommend him enough. He let us be very involved in the making of playlists and had such an easy process to upload or request songs without having to be emailing or texting back and forth. He even had us plan out backup songs in case people weren’t vibing with certain things. I liked working with him because we were able to sit down and talk about how we’d be having a mix of college friends and older relatives who would probably like different things. He did a great job at getting everyone out on the dance floor, and had lots of experience with dry weddings so he knew how to make sure the dance floor was full despite it.

BRIRO: Did you do a traditional garter or bouquet toss?

Our florist had the idea to do a smaller lavender bouquet to toss since our families would traditionally let whoever caught the bouquet keep it. When looking at the garter toss I was hesitant to do it, and felt like it would be better to skip it. My dress was too tight to have something there all day and I didn’t want to have to shimmy it on right before. A few weeks before the wedding we found a red bull charm on Etsy and had the idea to wrap it around a red bull can by my feet that my husband could end up throwing toward the crowd. It was so much better.

BRIRO: How did you decide what to use for your send off?

The venue didn’t want fire, fake petals or rice, which makes sense because those things can cause such a mess to clean up and get out of the lawn. We went with bubbles because it was something that could disappear as soon as it hit the air, and it was so sparkly and I loved it. The way the flash caught the bubbles made me love it even more.

BRIRO: What’s the biggest piece of advice you have for brides?

If you worry about it too much, you’ll remember worrying about it, and not what it was supposed to be like. There were some things you can forget about the wedding day because it was insignificant but you won’t forget the worry the months leading up to it. So just skip that and enjoy the process.

Photography: Casa BRIRO

Venue: Winn Homestead

Videography: First Cut Media

Bride’s Dress: a&bé Bridal Shop

Bridesmaids Dresses: AZAZIE, Billy J, Lulu’s

Groomsmen & Groom: Menswarehouse

Desserts: Butter Me Up

Catering: Bon Appétit Whitman

DJ: Walla Walla DJ

Rentals: Dove Events Services

Embroidered Veil: Lamnhi Studio Etsy