Bella Bridesmaid Open House

This Saturday, October 3rd, we will be having an Open House! Please stop by anytime between 2pm and 5pm to take a look at the new store and see the transformation, schedule an appointment or just get more information. Since we will technically be by appointment only moving forward, we are taking this opportunity to invite anyone to just stop by for one afternoon. Bella Bridesmaid opens this Thursday, October 1st and we are currently taking appointments. Our hours will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday - 11am-5pm, Thursday 11am-8pm and Saturday 10am-5pm. For more information please contact us at kansascity@bellabridesmaid.com or 816-361-5700. Or visit the website at http://www.bellabridesmaid.com/!

Hope to see you Saturday!

Ashley and Taylor

This is the wedding of Ashley and Taylor Hankins on August 16th out at the Loose Park Rose Garden. We were so lucky to have the wonderful team of Josh and Jenny Solar to photograph the whole thing. We were in between flooding rain that had be going strong all weekend. They caught a 20 minute break of the downpour to say their vows.

Taylor could hardly wait to see his bride. Needless to say he was thrilled at the sight of her.

Just as the officiant instructed Taylor to kiss Ashley the rain started pouring down! It couldn't have been more perfect timing.

They were such great sports about the rain that day. They made it safely to their car and on to the rest of their evening.

The night ended with family, friends and beautiful send off as husband and wife!

Before and After

After three weeks of renovations - here is our most up to date before and after. We still can't believe the transformation!

Before...

After....
We started installing the flooring last night and just for the record, lock in laminate flooring IS NOT as easy an everyone says it is! Hopefully by the end of this week we'll be able to share images of the finished product - at least for the build out phase.

Bella Buildout Update

The past week and a half has been CRAZY! Our painter was scheduled to arrive this past Tuesday so last weekend we had some major work to do to get ready for him. All the walls were up and the major construction finished, however we had lots of "finishing" work to do. Our Labor Day weekend was filled with finishing trim (my favorite!), fixing the stairs, fixing little imperfections and the biggest challenges - electrical and building the shelves. In many of the pictures you see Joel and John working on our future dress racks. We decided (after much debate!) to scrap the old shelves and build new ones. The new racks they made are awesome and they did a really great job! Our painters finished up yesterday and last night we started prepping for the the floor installation which is today's big task. I've got pictures of what the store looks like now that I'll post later today. You will not believe the difference!

Thank you to everyone who gave up part (or all!) of their Labor Day weekend to help - Our dads - Doug, Steve and Tom, our husbands - John and Joel, our good friends and other family - Chris and Ryan and my mom Kathi for planting our beautiful new flowers and providing nourishment! Check out the pictures below.

Construction Update

Vandenberg.O'Neill Wedding

With the new store under construction and a busy wedding season underway, we've been bad about posting on actual weddings!

We're going to try and change that. To kick things off, here are some images from Corinne and Tom's big day! We were hired by Tom's mom Mary Etta and I have to say, she is one cool mom! Mary Etta put her heard and soul into this wedding and it turned out to be amazing! It was classic in its tradition, but modern in all of its detail and personal touches - including lots of "subtle" Irish undertones (the colors were orange and green - like the Irish flag!). The day was so much fun - even on my side of things. Corinne was one of the most calm and collected brides I've ever worked with. She just truly enjoyed herself the whole day. And Tom was great as well - he just wanted Corinne to have her day.

Here are some details of the event:
Photographer - Kdog
Florist - Blue Bouquet
Church - Visitation
Ceremony Music - Panapolli Trio
Reception - Hobbs Building
Reception Music - Three Dollar Band; Reddell Productions
Cake - Take the Cake
Hair/Make-up - Be Chic

As I said, Corinne was totally calm the morning of the wedding. I love the anticipation captured here.

Notice the green bridesmaid dresses - they had orange shoes! Again, so much anticipation!

I just absolutely love Visitation. I think the church is amazing from the courtyard to the sanctuary, its just stunning.

I love this shot by Doug from Kdog. Bride. Groom. Church. Married.

After the ceremony Tom & Corinne and the wedding party went and took pictures down by the Hobbs building. I love the artwork in the background.

Blue Bouquet did an awesome job. I love it when brides put color into their bouquets.

Tom and Corinne's grand entrance was so great. As they walked up the ramp into the patio at the Hobbs building, the Three Dollar Band was playing traditional Irish jig music. They followed Tom and Corinne into the building and played as they cut their cake. It was awesome and totally set the tone for everyone to have a great time. The band played out on the patio through dinner and beyond and had everyone up dancing (including a traditional Irish dance performed by Mary Etta!)

I love first dance moments.

Thank you for allowing us to be a part of this wonderful event!