Ask Rachel!

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Gotta wedding question? Ask me!

Wondering which venues allow you to have your own caterer? Where to get cheap bridesmaids dresses? Or where the best place to get a spray tan is?

I definitely don’t have all the answers, but I will do my darndest to find them for you! You can leave a post in the Apple Brides forum or e-mail me!

 

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31 Comments

  1. Reply
    spacer Pamela Terpstra
    Posted August 17, 2010 at 2:15 AM

    My name is Pam and My husband and I are the owners of Belle Victorian Gardens. I found out about your wonderful blog from my dear friend Esther at Special Touch Florist. I am delighted to see this blog for our Spokane Brides! Thank-you for highlighting our wonderful venue through Sophie and Chad’s wedding. The bed that is outside is in our secret garden. It is quite romantic asnd provides beautiful images for our brides and grooms. We are currently working on putting a claw footed tub out in the secret garden for pictures as well. We feel that we provide a photographers paradise as we have been told by them all over the country that have shot here. If you would like to contact us you can call 1-509-276-6939 or you can e-mail us as well. We would like to submit many more weddings to your site. Thank-you once again.

    • Reply
      spacer rachelsallie
      Posted August 17, 2010 at 5:19 PM

      Thanks for the feedback Pam, I’d love for you to submit more weddings! Definitely send them my way!

      • Reply
        spacer Pamela Terpstra
        Posted October 6, 2010 at 12:30 AM

        Rachael, I would to submit a 30 year vow renewal and a few original pictures of our 1st wedding. It was an awesome day, one that I will never forget. I would like to see more long time married folks do this as a celebration more often! Ifong recently took some pictures of our 35th anniversary just last week. They can be seen on her blog at Ifongchenphotography.com, Pam and Larry 35th Wedding Anniversary. In the proofs I particulary like Images 92 and 146. Our submission can be seen on spokanebrideblog.typepad.com. Thank-you ever so much for your consideration of this. Pam

  2. Reply
    spacer Megan O'Doherty
    Posted September 22, 2010 at 8:45 AM

    Hello wedding guru Rachel! My name is Megan and I am having one heck of a hard time finding a wedding venue for my upcoming summer 2011 wedding. We are having trouble because we will be having 350 guest and wanted an outdoor/indoor area. The real problem is that my family owns a local Irish Pub-Slainte!!! And we really need a place that will let us bring our own alcohol because it is such a budget buster if we cant. Do you have any ideas, we are very open to dates and even Sundays. Any help is greatly appreciated!!!
    Thanks
    Megan

    • Reply
      spacer rachelsallie
      Posted September 22, 2010 at 12:22 PM

      Hi Megan,

      Slainte, indeed! So cool your family owns an Irish pub, at least I know I’ll have somewhere to go when I move back to Spokane and crave a Smithwicks or Guinness!

      Your venue dilemma is a tricky one, but I’m sure there is somewhere that would work. I think your best bet would be places that are more independent and sort of alternative venues (ie not hotels and the main wedding places). Have you tried somewhere like Red Barn Farms? They are located a ways out of Spokane but can hold a lot of people and I doubt they would mind if you brought your own booze. Or there are a couple of barn type places on Greenbluff, one is High Country Orchard, the other is Trezzi Barn. I am not sure of their capacities, but it might be worth a call.

      If you’re not into the barn wedding, what about a huge cabin by the lake? With all the lakes around the area there are a lot of options. One of the more popular ones is Elkins Resort on Priest Lake. I’ve also featured a wedding at Rose Lake Lodge on Rose Lake, I don’t know much about it either but it looked amazing! Another venue I’ve been hearing a lot about is Arbor Gate. Their web site is not great, but it looks like a really nice place. Most of the venues I mentioned are featured on Apple Brides (just check in the Spokane Vendors page).

      I will keep thinking and let you know if you I think of anywhere else! And if you have more questions, ask away!

      Rachel

    • Reply
      spacer Nichole
      Posted September 23, 2010 at 6:58 PM

      Megan, I was looking for a large indoor/outdoor space as well but we ended up pushing the date back to the fall and chose the Davenport Hotel. (Don’t want to chance the weather in October!)

      The Luxury Box has several different locations around Spokane that might work for your indoor portion. Not sure of the exact capacity. There’s also a sizable park near their valley location that they suggested for a ceremony. The valley site is very close to the park and they have tons of parking. Their owners/coordinators have really innovative ideas. Not sure about brining in your own drinks but they will know. I’ve seen them run other private events before and was impressed.

      Hope that helps!

  3. Reply
    spacer rachelsallie
    Posted September 23, 2010 at 7:06 PM

    Good advice Nichole. I’ve never heard of The Luxury Box, but it looks pretty impressive.

    Megan, Stacie from The Spokane Polo Club (yea, I didn’t know there was a Spokane Polo Club either…) saw your query and said that their venue meets your requirements. It’s located in the airport direction, their website is www.umbrellaevent.com, I think it’s more of a marquee venue, but looks really nice. I will e-mail you more info!

  4. Reply
    spacer Nichole
    Posted September 23, 2010 at 7:16 PM

    Oops forgot A Touch of Country. Another barn option but the grounds are beautiful and manicured.

  5. Reply
    spacer Erica
    Posted October 5, 2010 at 1:29 AM

    Hey Rachel,

    Have you heard anything about weddings at Settlers Creek in Couer d’Alene? It’s a barn-venue, and my roommate went to a dinner/event there a few weeks ago and said it was really pretty. I’d love to hear anything about it (as far as weddings go) if you know anything!

    • Reply
      spacer rachelsallie
      Posted October 5, 2010 at 5:39 PM

      Hi Erica,

      I haven’t heard of Settler’s Creek before, but it looks awesome! I e-mailed the owners and found out they can hold 500 people for outdoor receptions and 250 inside, which is pretty good. They provide all catering for the venue. I was talking to Shannon Varela, her e-mail is cvarela@settlerscreek.com.

      She also said that www.Eventective.com has more photos of the venue. I might do a review on them in the next couple weeks to give more info. I think it may just be a little wedding gem!

      Hope that helps, let me know if you have more questions!

      Rachel

  6. Reply
    spacer Felicia
    Posted October 28, 2010 at 9:53 PM

    Hey Rachel! I just wanted to say first of all that I think this blog is absolutely amazing! I am getting married in April, 2011 and can say first hand how frustrating it is to plan a wedding in this town! My fiance’ and I are seriously considering buying some property and starting our own wedding venue with all the fixin’s as soon as we are done with our own. It is nutso!

    We are getting married at the Spokane Masonic Center and I can tell you: so far so good! I noticed you didn’t have many reviews up for them. I have been in twice and have sent them a million question emails. They are amazing at getting back to you quickly and answering everything thoroughly. If there is something they cannot help you with, they give you options on people/places that can. The price of the venue (after researching MANY) is pretty cheap. The caterers they have you chose from range from super expensive to super doable. They also have so many rooms to chose from it is more overwhelming choosing which room to use than anything. I actually found your blog through them! As I said: so far so good! I would be more than happy to share our day and give more feedback after our wedding in April!

    One of the biggest problems I have had (besides the details of who does what and what goes where) have been cakes and flowers! For brides that have a huge budget, there are tons of venues out there for you! However, finding someone that doesn’t want you to sell your first born child gets a little tricky. I am also allergic to eggs so finding someone to make an eggless cake has been trying. I am going to send the girl who is helping me with my cake to you as she has been so helpful and willing to try whatever it takes to make sure my day is amazing! (For the flowers… I have nixed them!! LOL! I am using feahters instead with just a few lillies).

    I hope I have been a little helpful. The big stress of the week for me: finding a song to play during our sand ceremony. We are blending a family and all of the kids are going to be included in the ceremony. I have been looking for WEEKS trying to find a song that incorporates blended families. Any advice on that would be awesome!

    Thank you again for this amazing blog!
    Felicia

    • Reply
      spacer rachelsallie
      Posted October 29, 2010 at 5:14 PM

      Hi Felicia,

      Thanks so much for you comments and input. I have been looking for a Masonic Center bride! I did write a review on them (applebrides.com/2010/08/04/the-spokane-masonic-center-review/) but it was only based on my experience with them when I was looking for a venue. So I am sure the searching brides would be really happy to hear your first hand experience (and also to learn that it’s pretty cheap!). You could leave a comment on the review post or e-mail me your comments and I will put them up.

      I would also be very interested in doing a post on the girl who is making your cake. Vendors prove their weight in gold when it comes tall orders!

      Your song dilemma is a tricky one. Would something instrumental work? There is a really beautiful one on the Forest Gump soundtrack that I love! I’ve seen it used in weddings before. I can’t think of anything else off hand, but let me think about it and I will let you know if I think of anything.

      Thanks again!

      Rachel

      Rachel

  7. Reply
    spacer Jessica
    Posted November 17, 2010 at 2:55 AM

    My name is Jessica and my fiance and I are planning a wedding for August of 2011. We have our venue and a lot of the details nailed down, but I am stuck trying to find an officiant. We are having trouble finding someone who will perform the ceremony outside, and honestly I dont even know where to begin looking! Any advice?

    • Reply
      spacer rachelsallie
      Posted November 17, 2010 at 8:17 PM

      Hi Jessica,

      Tricky dilemma! I had some doubts when it came to my officiant too. We were not part of a church in Spokane so I didn’t have a pastor or anything, and I didn’t want a civil ceremony. I remembered that in high school I had a teacher I loved and still kept in contact with so he got ordained (think that’s the right word) and married us! Apparently anyone can marry people as long as they are legally approved. I don’t know exactly what’s involved but a quick Google search would fix that I’m sure!

      One thing I would say is, that if you do choose that route to make sure it’s someone who is comfortable in front of people. It’s not a great time to get stage fright!

      Another option is to call one of your local churches and see if you could “hire” the pastor or priest. I’ve heard of people doing this before. You may have to come in for some meetings just so they can get to know you, but for some churches you don’t actually have to attend there.

      I know you can hire people from the Courthouse to do weddings too, but I have no idea what the process is, but I’m sure if you called them they could tell you.

      So basically, you have a load of options it’s just deciding what you want!

      Best of luck and let me know if you have more questions!

  8. Reply
    spacer Veronica
    Posted November 18, 2010 at 6:11 AM

    I don’t have a question for you but I just wanted to say that I love love love your blog. It is literally the first thing I check in the morning. spacer Even though my wedding has come and gone it’s so fun to see other people’s weddings.

    Thanks for creating such a unique, informative and local blog <">

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