Amber + Nate

Amber and Nate were married on August 20th, 2022 at the same church their parents and grandparents were married in. The elegant and simple ceremony and reception held many sentimental memories as they took the first steps into their new life together, surrounded by family, friends and church members! Congratulations Amber and Nate and welcome to the Believe Bride Family!

The Proposal! The best April fools day ever! Yes, that is right, my fiancé proposed to me on April fools day! He had originally planned to propose to me the previous Saturday, however, I was sick and he had to improvise. I was still at work when I received a text from my man asking if I would like to go to Manito Park for a stroll then afterwards go look at some rings together. I was so excited! we were walking for a while, when suddenly he stops underneath a stone gazebo. I was in complete shock. This was something I had been dreaming about ever since I was little AND IT WAS HAPPENING! After giving me the sweetest speech, he asked for my hand in marriage and produced a ring I had saved on my Etsy quite a while back. It was a perfect proposal on a very memorable day!

The Big Day! Our wedding was hosted at the place we first met, church. We didn't know it at the time, but this is both the place where my parents and his grandparents were married! This made for some fun re-creations of our family members weddings and added sentimental value. We decided to go with green and gold for the main colors, and to stick to a simple, yet elegant theme. So many church members, friends, and family helped in setting up for the big day. My fiancé added some very fun touches by stringing lights to the ceilings in both the ceremony area and reception. My mother, mother in law and aunt in law helped create a wonderful feast for the big day. We were truly blessed for everyone's help. It was beyond what I had hoped for and more lovely than what I could have imagined. The decorations, the food, close family and friends all there to share it with, made it perfect. I am so grateful!

What was your favorite part of your wedding? My favorite part of my wedding was my fiancé seeing me in my dress for the first time. We did a private first look up at Manito Park. I just remember the photographer telling him to turn around, and all i could think was that he is so handsome in his suite (him and the groomsmen rented from Believe Bride). He started to cry and we both became emotional. I remember the nice woman who helped me find my dress, Darlene, and how she encouraged me to keep the back open. I am so glad I did! He spun me around and our photographer caught the cutest image of him seeing my backless dress for the first time. It was just a special private moment to share with each other!

Special Memories: One major, special memory from the big day happened at 3:00am. I received a text from my soon to be sister in-law/ my makeup artist that she would not be attending because she was in the hospital in labor! This was so special. This was the niece that both my fiancé and I have been praying for a safe pregnancy/ delivery! Although Nates brother was not able to be a groomsman that day, in order to be with his wife during her delivery, it added to our special day. We were waiting to go down the aisle, when a phone was handed over to us. About 6 minuets before our wedding started, we were shown our beautiful baby niece! It makes for a memory I will forever treasure.

What advice would you give to future brides? Stop, take a moment, and soak it all in! This is your special day. Not everything is going to be perfect, something is bound to go wrong, but the main focus is that you are getting married to the love of your life! Enjoy it! Sometimes the things that don't go according to plan, make the day even more memorable!

Vendor Credit:

Venue: Valley Landmark Missionary Baptist Church

Our amazing photographer: https://www.heibergmedia.com/

Flowers aren't just for bouquets!

Flowers and weddings go hand in hand! It’s an element that allows your personality to shine through. Finding a great florist is a surefire way to add an artistic element to your big day that is sure to make an impact.

Often times, brides think about flowers in their bouquet, or maybe even their centerpieces, but rarely do they consider other possibilities. One area that flowers have long been overlooked: the bridal party! We’re not talking traditional bridesmaids bouquets, nope! It’s time to get the guys involved.

We had the honor of partnering with some incredible local vendors to do this styled shoot, and we instantly fell in love with the florals elements for our guys. Design House Florals created these custom, one of a kind pieces for us to showcase alongside our menswear collection. These pocket squares and lapel arrangements are such a fresh take on the classic boutonniere. And dare we say, so much more stylish!

Now that your entire wedding party is decked out with incredible florals, you can start thinking about your ceremony space. Adding flowers to your altar or creating a custom wedding altar is one way to add even more personality to your wedding day. Not to mention, it makes for absolutely stunning photo opportunities for the couple as well as for their guests.

We love the use of flowers to help elevate your day to match your vision. Whether you add a couple of blooms, opt for silk flowers, have no flowers at all, or add floral elements to every part of your design, this is such a cool way to let your personality shine.

Cheers to all of your wedding plans! May they be fully in bloom.

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Photographer: Jaime Denise

Florals: Design House Florals

Venue: Blackwell Hotel

Decor: Artifact Rentals

Lights: Alpha-Lit Marquee Letters

10 Most Common Wedding Dress Alterations

If you’ve ever tried on wedding dresses, you’ve almost certainly been told “they can fix that in alterations”.

What you might not know, is that almost every bride needs some sort of alterations to her wedding dress. These changes can range from minor tweaks to full reconstruction or design changes! So we chatted with our incredible in house alterations team to talk about the most common alterations that our brides have done to their dress so that you have a better idea of what to expect!

1. Adjusting the hem - wedding dresses are generally made in a standard length to accommodate a bride who is 5’10”. So, unless you’re the exact height of the sample size, or the designer offers an option to order the dress with a different hem length, chances are you’ll need a hem adjustment.

2. Adjusting straps - Straps will almost always be too long, because having them too long is substantially easier to remedy than having them too short. Depending on the type of strap, this could be a simple alteration!

3. Adding in bra cups - Whether you’re looking to add a little lift, or smooth out the shaping of the dress, bra cups can make a huge difference in the comfort and fit of your dress.

4. Bustle - This is the term we use to describe the process of getting your train up off the floor by way of attaching it to the back of your dress. Your bustle can come in any number of styles, and is made to be invisible until you need to use it.

5. Adding a sleeve - If your dress is strapless or comes with thinner straps, and you’re wanting something with a bit more detail or coverage on the arms, adding a sleeve is a great option! This type of alteration falls into the custom work category since the seamstress is substantially altering the design of the dress

6. Altering the neckline - Sometimes, you find the perfect dress, but you wish it didn’t have quite as deep of a plunge, or vise versa! This is where altering the neckline can be a relatively small change that makes a really big impact on the overall look of your dress.

7. Taking in/Letting out the sides - The secret to a perfectly fitted dress, is a talented seamstress. When your dress is ordered, it is ordered to fit you as best as the designer’s pattern can. From there, your seamstress can take in or let out sections of the dress to allow it to perfectly sit on your frame.

8. Lowering/raising the back - With low backed wedding dresses very on trend, sometimes you want to add a little something to your dress to give it even more drama. This could be an option!

9. Adding layers - If you dream of a giant ball gown, with enough fluff to stand completely on its own, that’s something your alterations team can definitely help with! This also applies if you’re dying to add a layer of sparkle tulle, or maybe even a colored liner to your dream dress.

10. Custom Accessories - Last but not least, a lot of times, a bride wants her veil or headpiece to match her dress exactly! Your alterations team can often find matching or complimentary lace, tulle, or other textiles to make your accessories look like they came from the same designer as the dress itself! Talk about the icing on the cake!

Nancy + Peter

Nancy and Peter said “Yes” to forever on August 22, 2020. Congratulations you two! And thank you so much for sharing your special day with us!

I had ask my groom to practice our first dance prior to our special day. We never quite got around to it. When our song began to play I entered the dance floor slightly nervous only to be literally swept off my feet by my groom who is truly an excellent dancer

Tell us about the proposal! We LOVE to hear these stories. : In the light rain, overlooking beautiful water and scenery, he got down on one knee behind me without me noticing and gave me the most beautiful speech about how much he loved me I almost forgot to say yes!

Description of Your Wedding: Rustic Romantic themed very intimate and wonderful. Ceremony was led by my officiants my twin brothers. We laughed and we cried. Then we ate amazing homemade street tacos with all our family and friends. The photo booth was a hit would recommend. One of my dearest memories was all the couples dancing on the dance floor with so much love in the air. We exited our perfect party with a bubble tunnel full of well wishes and laughing, smiling faces.

What was your favorite part of your wedding?: Sitting down at our table watching everyone eat and laugh and look so happy

What advice would you give to future brides?: Please don't sweat that small stuff. At the end of the day you are married and that is all that truly matters.

Vendor Credit: 

Complete Weddings cause well they're the complete package. DJ, Photo booth and photographers.

Halie + Colben

Halie and Colben said “Yes” to forever on September 19, 2020. Congratulations you two! And thank you so much for sharing your special day with us!

One of my favorite parts of our special day was when it started down pouring rain, everyone was running for cover but my in-laws walked out to the dance floor and started dancing, then my husband and I shared our first dance to the end of Copperhead Road, not the song we were supposed to dance to first but the moment was too perfect.

Tell us about the proposal! We LOVE to hear these stories. : We are avid hunters and we went to set up hunting camp on October 7th of 2018 where we set up the 'hut' and then went out to go scouting for opening weekend. This was the one time where I was pushing to go hike and really get serious about it, Colben was not about it and was almost insulted I wanted to do so. He kept pushing and pushing to get higher up on the mountain. Once we got up there everyone was parked around and I was trying to explain where I think we needed to set up and no one, and I mean NO one was listening to me. I was absolutely clueless and didn’t understand why no one had their head in the game. I turned to look at Colbens family and his dad had his camera up and I giggled because he sometimes takes cute candids of all of us when we are out and about and when I turned around Colben was down on one knee asking for my hand. It was absolutely perfect, all of our family around, beautiful scenery and what we now call proposal corner. It will forever be our landmark in our sacred hunting camp.

Tell Us About Your Wedding: Our wedding day was nothing short of perfect to Colben and I, we had some trials we had to overcome getting to that day. Our original venue cancelled on us due to COVID and we searched endlessly for a new venue that checked off all of our boxes. We were very adamant on being able to have our bridal party stay at the venue, we wanted to be able to have campers there and a relaxed environment that was surrounded by mountains and timber. We struggled finding somewhere until our amazing photographer asked if we had looked into the SouthFork River Ranch in Stites Idaho. It was perfect….We had a whole palette of colors, dusty blue, dusty rose, soft pinks and peaches, yellows, tans and greens to go with our BoHo/Chabby Chic/Country themed wedding. All of our decorations came from the Hanger Mall in Clarkston WA. And let me tell you, no one could picture it when I would explain to them how I wanted it or why my bouquet had enough flowers to fill a flower shop, my homemade hair piece, and the homemade flower arrangements, but when it was done, everyone had that ah-ha moment. It was everything I had pictured, down to the last detail. It was perfect. We made it through the ceremony, pictures, sat down to eat and then it started raining, and I mean cats and dogs raining. But it was amazing. We danced in the rain as everyone ducked for cover. The environment was perfect and it all fell together how it was supposed to. Many people could not make it due to COVID and older relatives decided not to come due to the thick thick smoke that covered the whole west side of the US and smothered our hometown and venue, but the show must go on. After it poured rain the smoke cleared and we seen the golden sun for the first time in weeks. Heather, my mother in law, had told me that if I feel a flutter or just that feeling, it was my dad. I tell you what, I knew in that moment, not only my dad but all of those we have lost and couldn't be there in person were looking down on Colben and I in that moment. I felt it and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too. Amanda, one of my bridesmaids even asked me if I've ever heard holes in the floor of heaven before. Our day was absolutely perfect.

*edited for length and clarity

Special Memories: I am a huge gift giver and I am not close to a lot of my family members so for the wedding day I had gotten special gifts for my Mother-in-law / best friend and my Father-in-law. And when I say gift giver, I mean the kind of gifts that make your eyes well up, and they did just that. I really don't think there is a time leading up to the wedding or on the wedding day that wasn't special to me. My mother in law helped me make all of the flower arrangements with the bridesmaids and close friends and family, the decorating of the arch to dress shopping. Means our dad passed away when we were young I wanted to have a tribute song to him with my sister, she just didn't know it, so we called her up on stage and she dance with me to Even though I'm Leaving by Luke Combs, we cried, everyone cried but it was amazing. I shared the father daughter dance with my father in law who also walked me down the aisle. My sister did all of the artwork for our invitations, save the dates and thank-yous. All of our wedding was perfectly us.

What advice would you give to future brides?: Weddings are stressful, there were many nights I felt like pulling my hair out because I was worried we weren’t going to find a venue, things weren't going to pan out, we weren’t going to have enough time but you just have to take a step back and breathe. You are getting married no matter what, trashbag dress or not, at the end of the day you are walking out a married woman to the love of your life. The details don't matter. No one is going to know if you paid hundreds of dollars on the keepsakes, signs, or decorations. Its your day, there are going to be stressful moments but make sure you have more fun moments than stressful ones. Lean on others around you they are all there to help.

Vendor Credit: Venue - SouthFork River Ranch Stites Idaho http://southforkriverranch.com/
Dress - Believe Bride https://believebride.com/
Caterer - The Love Shack Kitchen https://loveshackkitchen.com/
Beer - Groundwork Brewing https://groundworkbrewing.square.site/
Photographer - Courtney Kammers Photography https://www.courtneykammers.com/
Art work - Harley Decius
DJ - Our close friend Robert
Videographer - Pure Production https://pureproductionsmedia.com

Sandra + Owen

Sandra and Owen became Mr. and Mrs Rust on August 8, 2020. They hosted their beautiful ceremony on their family’s property in Sandpoint, ID. Congratulation you lovebirds! We wish you a lifetime of happiness!

My wedding was an antique, garden theme. Lots of lanterns, beautiful flowers arrangements that my mother made, beautiful vines, the decor was brilliant thanks to my sisters! We had pasta and lots of beer ;)

What was your favorite part of your wedding?: That’s really hard to pick but probably dancing the night away with my husband!

Special Memories: My grandfather gave me away due to my father passing away in 2015. My Gramp cried and cried, hugged and kissed me, it was so sweet. He was very honored and thrilled I asked him. He was devastated by the loss of his son, my dad.. so he was speechless on Christmas Day when I asked him to give me away.

What advice would you give to future brides?: Give yourself at least 1 year and be realistic about a budget!!

Vendor Credit: 

A&P’s Bar and Grill

Ruby Frog Entertainment

Tina Inez Photography

Victoria + Mark

Victoria and Mark said “Yes” to forever on July 26, 2020. Congratulations you two! And thank you so much for sharing your special day with us!

We got married on the Pend Oreille River. COVID made it so that our 200+ guests went down to 95. We thought it would take away from our day, but the truth is that we couldn’t have felt more loved and supported than we did.

What was your favorite part of your wedding?: I looked at my high school sweetheart, my best friend, my love for the past four years and realizing that it was real. I was finally his wife and that we have our entire lives ahead of us.

Special Memories: I have five brothers! I did a reveal to them and my dad. THEY ALL CRIED WHICH WAS THE MOST SPECIAL MOMENT I COULD HAVE IMAGINED.

What advice would you give to future brides?: Drink water, EAT SOMETHING, and squeeze everyone as tight as you can!

Vendor Credit: 

Photographer: Noah Baker Photography
Catering: Taste of Country Catering
Venue: Grand Pend Oreille Weddings

Megan + Trevor

Megan and Trevor had to change their plans in the face of our current world events, but it couldn’t have turned out better! They tied the knot July 5th, 2020 in Kettle Falls. Congratulations you two!

There’s a small, old, abandoned schoolhouse he took me to on our first trip up there, and I fell in love. We decided that since we had to cut down on our list so much, this school house would be perfectly romantic and so sentimental. It was a dream!

Tell us about the proposal! We LOVE to hear these stories. : We were visiting the place where we first met, two years earlier. We were getting ready to leave, but his car wouldn’t start (turns out he had pulled some stuff out to make sure it didn’t run). He asked to go on a walk with me to “de-stress” (dramatic I know). We stood by the river and watched the clouds roll in. He looked at me and smiled, said “I really love you”, and got down on one knee. I had NO IDEA it was coming. Suddenly I noticed a dear mutual friend hiding in the bushes taking photos, along with several other close friends. I cried and said yes a dozen times.

Description of Your Wedding: Like so many others, our wedding was affected by COVID. It was supposed to be on Mount Spokane, but we moved it two hours north to his hometown. There’s a small, old, abandoned school house he took me to on our first trip up there, and i fell in love. We decided that since we had to cut down on our list so much, this school house would be perfectly romantic and so sentimental. It was a dream.

What was your favorite part of your wedding?: My favorite part was the first look. My heart was beating out of my chest! The photographer told me to reach out my hand and touch his shoulder. He teamed up and I could tell he was tearing up. He turned around and we absolutely cried. He held me and suddenly all the anxiety melted away, all I was was excited and eager to marry my best friend.

Special Memories: My mom danced to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston with me!!! Best dance moment ever.

What advice would you give to future brides?: Take mental screenshots because the day will be over in what feels like a flash!

Vendor Credit: 

Caterer: Wanderlust Delicato
Photographer: Tori Osteraa
Florist: Holly Hoffman, Fresh Design Gallery & Rentals

Menswear Done Right

Once you’ve found your perfect dress, you have to make sure that all of the guys in your wedding have an equally amazing ensemble! That’s where our tux department comes in! We Believe that menswear is such an important part of your formal event! Whether it’s a wedding, prom, a special night out, that charity gala you’ve been looking forward to all year, or a backyard picnic that you just want to look fabulous for, we have a style that suits all of your needs. We actually carry a wide range of designer styles, including a special CoolMax fabric that is both stylish and surprisingly comfortable. From Michael Kors to Allure, some of our favorite designers are creating suits with you in mind. Not to mention, we have all the accessories you could possibly need. We’ve got you covered.

We know that wrangling the guys in your wedding party to all come into the store isn’t always the easiest process! That’s why we created a process that will work for everyone.

It starts with a consultation! That’s where we sit down with the lucky couple to choose the colors and styles that you would like everyone to wear! We offer a wide variety of colors and styles, and our tux specialist is a master at helping you mix and match styles until hey suit your vision! The great news here, is that this can be done either in person at the store, or it can be done virtually in the comfort of your very own home. This way, we can make sure that we can meet with you at a time and place that’s convenient for you.

Then, we get all of your party’s information, and send them a video explaining how to do their measurements! Then the suits conveniently show up right on their doorsteps, ready to try on, the week of the wedding. It truly can’t get any easier than that.

After you party the night away, looking sharp and stylish, just drop off all of your suits right here at the shop, and you’re good to go!

When you’re ready to start your amazing suit and tux journey, let us know! We can’t wait to meet you.