Kylie's Bridal Story

I was not the little girl who grew up dreaming of my wedding day. I had no visions of wedding dresses or sparkly princess shoes, I did not particularly like wedding cake, and I definitely didn’t need a prince charming; to be honest I would have preferred the frog. I was the little girl who favored cowgirl boots to ruffles, who refused to brush my hair, and who spent my free time collecting fuzzy caterpillars in the back yard. The days that my older bossy sister made me “play wedding” were the days I dreaded most and longed for my sand box.

That little girl did not change much over the ensuing years. In college my thoughts were consumed by big dreams of medical school and self-sustaining farms and my free time was spent playing collegiate volleyball and traveling to third world countries to provide medical care. There would be no wedding dresses or prince charmings slowing me down.

I first met Marcella in my last years of college when my older sister got engaged. Although originally from Montana, my sister and I were both living together in Spokane at the time for school. I distinctly remember dreading the day that my sister made an appointment to go to Marcellas Bridal. I anticipated lace, silk, pearls, and more than enough opinions, hormones, and tears to fill the shop. Instead, I found pineapple flavored water, laughter to the point that my face hurt, an overwhelming feeling of hospitality, and Marcella. Marcella is the warm hug you didn’t know you needed, and the smile you always knew you did. I watched in awe as she effortlessly steered my overwhelmed and indecisive sister towards the custom wedding dress of her dreams. And on her wedding day she looked nothing short of stunning.

Almost a decade later, I found myself in uncharted territory. I had survived medical school, third world countries, a few earth-shattering family tragedies, and I was still standing strong. But this time I wasn’t standing along; I had unexpectedly fallen in love. I had spent my whole life focused on my career, my faith, and my family with little room for anything else, but somehow love still found me. And it found me smack dab in the middle of a pandemic. Not only were there no jewelry stores, wedding venues, or florists open, but every bridal store in the Midwest was closed for COVID. So I did what every strong and independent woman does; I called my momma!

In the standard fashion of all incredible mothers, mine knew exactly what to do. “Call Marcella” was the only advice she gave me, along with a picture of Marcella’s business card she had saved all of these years in anticipation of the day that I would meet my future husband. I called Marcella that afternoon, and she was as warm, soothing and wonderful as I had remembered. She agreed to make me a custom made wedding dress from over 1,500 miles away using nothing but a picture of a dress I found online for inspiration and the knowledge that I worked 80 hours a week and didn’t have time to contribute to the design process. I also had never tried on a wedding dress before and would not have time to do so with the pandemic and my hectic surgery schedule. Despite my endless attempts to sabotage her success, she created a miracle.

After fabric sample shipments, FaceTime meetings, custom measurements taken by my very own fiancé, and the brilliance and creative genius of Marcella, we had a dress! Although we had originally planned for the dress to be shipped to the wedding venue, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Marcella again in person. So my family and I all headed to Spokane to pick up the dress and say hi to our old friend. We were greeted in the usual Marcella fashion with warm hugs, big smiles, and fresh pumpkin bread; it felt like I was coming home. When she brought my dress out and helped me into it, I had this overwhelming sense that I was Cinderella being cared for by my very own fairy godmother. She snapped her fingers and I suddenly went from the girl who still refused to brush my hair and preferred boots to pearls to a princess. She made my dreams come true despite all odds, and gave me one of my most treasured gifts: she made me feel beautiful on my wedding day.

Thank you for being so incredibly good at your job, and thank you for sharing your gifts with the world. You will always have a place in my heart, Marcella.

xoxo Kylie Edinger