Hope’s Bridal Boutique | Iowa City Wedding Photographer

My bride Kim is a sophisticated lady.  She’s lived in Manhattan, Washington DC, and Chicago; worked at elite businesses and educational institutions; and traveled the globe (like, she’s been everywhere — too numerous and vast to begin to list examples).

When it came time to shop for a wedding gown, she headed to boutiques in the major markets.  Soon I was getting google+ albums with hundreds of photos of Kim in dresses from NYC and Chi-town, and they were all so different that it was hard to figure out what I preferred.  And far, far more importantly, it was hard to distinguished what she liked.

Kim felt similarly. Overwhelmed to the point of un-fun-ness, she was losing her bridal joy.  Her fiance John offered his two cents.  “You know which dress I think you should get?”

“WHAT?  Have you sneeked a peek at the photos?!?!  How do you know?!?!”

“No, nothing like that. But, I know when you’re happy, and I’ve seen the look on your face after being at The Pink Barn.  Whatever dress is in there, that’s the one you should get.”

John was referring to Hope’s Bridal Boutique, a rustic (and literal) barn outside of Iowa City.  From their site: Hope’s Bridal was started by Hope Kolsto. Hope’s early experience in the bridal industry was cake baking. Sometime in 1972 she converted an empty dairy farm into her boutique began selling wedding gowns, because local brides were struggling to find opportunities to purchase bridal apparel.

When I got to see this place myself, I.loved.it.  It’s more than the setting (which is an honest-to-god big pink barn in the middle of a field with a dirt-road-cum-driveway leading up to it) or the ambiance (you take off your shoes upon entering & don cute pink booties).  The full charm of the Hope experience is based in the service, which is impeccable, authentic, and, yes, fun.  Fun.  Bridal gown shopping can be f-u-n.

When we walked up to the front door, Kim was greeted with huge smiles and good ol’ midwestern warmth.  These people weren’t sales-y ‘nice’ but genuinely happy to see Kimmy again (she’d been in to try on dresses several times) — and that energy lasted our entire visit.  We laughed, we teared up, we contemplated, we accessorized… and we bought.  Yup!  Kim went for it, and we left the gown in their capable hands for the first round of fittings.

One last note: Kim’s event planner, Brenda Strief of Town or Country Events, bought her wedding gown at Hope’s in 1977, and we took some shots (see below) of Brenda, Hope’s current owner Diane, and Diane’s daughter Ariel, who also works there (and, I quote with great enthusiasm, “LOVES” her job).  All of the above makes me wish I’d gotten married in Iowa!