Kassadie + Jake

(June 26, 2022 in Genessee, Idaho)

In this blog post, our real bride Kassadie shares her vision for the wedding and how she found her dream dress at Dearly. The writer also shares advice for future brides, such as not doubting themselves when they find their dream dress, not stressing too much about guests' enjoyment, and having a private last dance. Additionally, the writer emphasizes the importance of hiring a videographer to capture the special moments of the day and to take time to take in the love surrounding the couple.

By our real bride, Kassadie:

How was wedding dress shopping and wedding planning for you? What was your vision?

My wedding vision was a mix of western and law enforcement theme to embrace the joining of our two lives. My husband is a law enforcement officer in a small town and I grew up with horses and wearing cowboy boots with my dresses.

My parents drove up for Thanksgiving and we spent a full day in Spokane dress shopping the day before the holiday. Dearly was the third store we visited so we were exhausted when we walked in, but immediately felt so welcome as we stepped in the shop. We were greeted with a friendly smile and a mimosa then brought upstairs to where some of the most perfect dresses already waited for me in the dressing room. I wore my wedding boots as I picked them before dress shopping. I tried on a few dresses that were all beautiful in their own ways before I found THE dress, which happened to already almost fit me like a glove, matched my boots perfectly, and brought together my perfect vision. Even though I knew that was the one, I had one more shop to go to afterwards, but could not stop thinking of that dress. I went back up the day after Thanksgiving and purchased and walked away with my dress that day. My husband’s mom did the few alterations it needed and we were ready for our magical day!

How did it go the day-of?

The day-of was a blur full of friends, family, God, and lots of love. We had a day-of coordinator and helpful family members who made sure the day went off without a hitch. Although we started the day off with a fiasco of trying to figure out transportation to the venue, and I and a few bridesmaids were a bit late, we were able to get back on schedule with our hair and makeup and pictures before the ceremony. We had the best team of vendors who all went to work and made our dream day happen.

What would be your advice to future brides?

1. Don’t doubt yourself when you feel you’ve found THE dress. I made the mistake of continuing to look and going to another store after finding my dream dress at Dearly. This was so overwhelming for both my parents and me. I started to doubt myself a lot but I knew no other dress I had put on that day made me feel the way I felt in this dress.

2. Don’t stress so much about making sure your guests have fun at your wedding that you forget to have fun yourself. This is a day you and your spouse have been waiting for, a day that everyone comes together to celebrate your union and the joining of your families, and you won’t want to miss a second.

3. Do a first look where you read private vows. My husband and I both are not big on being in front of people so we knew we didn’t want to cry in front of all of our guests. Instead we had a moment to calm our nerves, share very special vows, and get some of the most intimate pictures before the wedding day really sped up.

4. Do a private last dance. The day goes by so quickly, making it so important to have a moment to take it all in. My husband chose the song we danced to as our last dance while our guests prepared for our sendoff outside. The song he chose was “Jesus and You” by Drew Jacobs. He sang the entire song to me while we finally had a moment to embrace without so much attention on us.

Every time that song plays now, my eyes fill with tears and I remember the most emotion I felt our entire wedding day. I am so grateful we took that moment to spend together before the night ended.

5. Don’t let the family drama ruin your view of your wedding. Sometimes family drama may be inevitable as you’re joining two families who may come from different backgrounds. Something I have had to work on myself about since our wedding day is making sure the family drama that occurred doesn’t make me blind to all of the beautiful moments of our day that I want to cherish.

6. On a similar note, don’t let the hiccups in planning scare you out of having your wedding day. Our cake artist passed away a few months after we booked her and having a June wedding, we struggled to find a new person to work with. We did find someone and our cutting cake was just as tasty and beautiful as we had hoped for even though we had to change our vision a bit.

7. Preserve your bouquet! I found this idea on Instagram and had a block and coasters made from my bouquet as a wedding gift from one of my bridesmaids. I loved my bouquet so much and even though it was well preserved in our pictures, I wanted to always get to keep a piece of it with me. I love that I will always get to have my flowers on my dresser to remind me of such a beautiful day that so much work went into.

8. Hire a videographer! One of the best investments we made for our wedding day was hiring Mezia Media. They captured the moments we were there for as well as moments we knew nothing about. My husband missed my aunt singing “At Last” by Etta James at our reception and I danced with my sister-in-law instead, but our videographers didn’t miss it so we can dance to it together for every anniversary to come. There will be moments you miss or your memories will fade with time and you will want to have the video footage to look back at and remind you of every beautiful moment with your loved ones and your new spouse.

9) Smile, have fun, and take in the feeling of all of the love surrounding you! As we look back on our wedding day, my spouse and I are still amazed at how many people attended our wedding and the love we felt from them all (we also took a big group picture following the anniversary dance to capture the smiles of all of our loved ones who witnessed the start of this chapter of our lives).

Congratulations to you and your spouse on a lifetime of adventure that merely starts with a beautiful day and follows with days full of so many small moments that will make you feel even more in love than you could’ve ever imagined!

Gown: Lillian West VP050

Veil: Waverly Veil by Sara Gabriel Designs

Photography: Caitlin Houser Photography

Videography: Mezia Media

Venue: The Barn at Mader Farm

Day of Coordinator: Annie Sturtevant Events

Hair: Megan Blimka

Makeup: Jenna Hutchins

Nails: Sassy Nails by Sammy

Hair Extensions: Tanya Jeffreys

My Lashes: Nicole Fleener

DJ: DJ Joe Stanley and the Electric Light Show