Visions in white: Enchanting Bridal Show prepares for post-COVID wedding season
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 7 months AGO
Amy Kovaleva models a bridal gown at the Enchanting Bridal Show. The gowns are from Cocomelody via Enchanting Gowns Bridal Boutique in Moses Lake.
Joel Martin/Columbia Basin Herald
Kellsi Foster prepares Amy Kovaleva’s makeup for the fashion show at the Enchanting Bridal Show Saturday.
Attendees browse the offerings at the Enchanting Bridal Show at the Grant County Fairgrounds Saturday.
From left: John Lopez, Gary Candela, Jose Chavez and Isaiah Patero wait their turn to show off formal wear in the fashion show at the Enchanting Bridal Show Saturday.
Megan Washburn shows off a Cocomelody bridal gown at the Enchanting Bridal Show Saturday at the Grant County Fairgrounds.
Megan Washburn, left, and Elizabeth Maden take their turns on the runway at the Enchanting Bridal Show fashion show Saturday.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | March 2, 2022 1:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — The snow wasn’t quite melted outside, but in the Commercial Building at the Grant County Fairgrounds Saturday, it was a bright spring day, perfect for a wedding.
Between 200 and 250 people were in attendance for the Enchanting Bridal Show, more than 100 of them brides-to-be, according to organizer Sandy Hanson. The prospective brides were given bags and buttons to identify them to the 28 vendors who came to offer cakes, hair styling, makeup, catering and a host of other necessities for the perfect wedding.
The show was the first of what Hanson, who owns Jamison’s Event Center and Enchanting Gowns Bridal Boutique, expects to be a tradition.
“We know there had been big expos in Moses Lake in years past, but it’s been a while,” she said. “We normally do our small one every spring, so we thought, ‘Let’s see if we can do a big one.’”
“We’ve been getting some great feedback,” said Dasha Hernandez, a student at Sage Academy of Massage and Bodyworks who was staffing the school’s booth. “It gets us a connection with the community.”
“We had JBH salon, out of Ephrata, and they’re the ones who did all of the models’ hair, and they just did amazing,” said Hanson. “And we had Kellsi Foster do the makeup. They were out there at their booths doing the hair and makeup during the expo so people could see, and then the girls would go up and do the fashion show.”
There were actually three fashion shows during the eight-hour expo, highlighting bridal gowns from Enchanting Gowns, as well as tuxedos for the gents, from Jim’s Formal Wear. Nine women took part in the fashion show, as well as five gentlemen.
“Some of them we had to pay,” said Hanson, “but with the girls, they just loved doing it. They’ve modeled for us before, some of them have, and they just love playing with the dresses.”
The fashion show was coordinated by Jamison’s sole employee, Samantha Candela, who married her husband Gary two years ago at the event center. Hanson and her daughter Ashley Meadows bought Jamison’s in May 2019, and opened Enchanting Gowns in November 2021.
Hanson said her plans for next year include shortening the hours a bit and doing just one, bigger, fashion show. Meanwhile, Jamison’s is already booking weddings much more quickly than in past years, in a thriving post-COVID-19 climate.
“In the wedding industry, everybody we’ve heard from is predicting this year will be one of the biggest years in like 30 years for weddings,” she said. “So we’re anticipating a very, very busy season.”
These businesses were represented at the Enchanting Bridal Show:
Enchanting Gowns Bridal Boutique
Honey Cakes
the SPA Experience
Forever Flawless Permanent Cosmetics
Paparazzi
Bees Photobooth
Color Street Nails
Grandma’s Sunshine Crafts and Creations
Mary Kay – Beelievers
Simply Just Little
Rockstarr Entertainment
Aloette Beauty Consultant
Door to Door
Erich Sonnabend – real estate
Pure Romance by Amy Jo
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”