Couple gets married in their bridal shop
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Kevin Finney and Lori Hajdu were married Saturday in Bella Sposa Bridal Prom & Tux on East Maiden Street in Washington. The couple, who owns the shop, were joined by 20 close friends and family members for the ceremony.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Kevin Finney and Lori Hajdu were married Saturday in Bella Sposa Bridal Prom & Tux on East Maiden Street in Washington.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Pastor John Miller of Life Church in Washington officiates the wedding of Kevin Finney and Lori Hajdu, who were married Saturday in Bella Sposa Bridal Prom & Tux. The couple owns the boutique.
When Lori Hajdu and Kevin Finney’s plans for a destination wedding were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple had an idea: why not get married in the Washington bridal shop they own?
“We love our shop. We thought, what better place for a wedding ceremony?” said Lori.
On Saturday, the couple, surrounded by 20 close family members and friends, said “I do” at Bella Sposa Bridal, Prom, & Tux on East Maiden Street.
Initially, Lori and Kevin had planned to be married in July 2020 in Jamaica.
“COVID changed that,” said Kevin.
The couple rescheduled a trip to Jamaica for July 2021, but, said Kevin, “So many people couldn’t make it this year that in order to get married in front of family and friends, we wanted to do something here.”
The newlyweds, who purchased the bridal boutique about four years ago, moved quickly to pull the wedding together in a few weeks.
The ceremony was officiated by family relative Pastor John Miller of Life Church.
Lori hired local vendors to provide post-ceremony appetizers, flowers, the wedding cake, and photography for the big day.
And following the wedding, the bridal party and guests celebrated with a reception at the Union Grill, the site of the couple’s first unofficial date.
The pair met about six years ago, when Lori was working in the fragrance department of the former Macy’s in Washington Crown Center Mall. Kevin stopped in to buy cologne and saw Lori behind the counter.
“I saw her from across the room and I just knew it,” said Kevin. “She smiled at me and I smiled back, and it was all over.”
Lori had always wanted to own a bridal shop, and fulfilled her dream when she and Kevin purchased the former Alison’s Bridal in 2017.
Said Kevin, “Lori called the owner, looking for a job at a bridal shop. They got to talking about how Lori had always wanted to own one, and she saw Lori’s passion. She wouldn’t sell it to anyone else.”
The pair got to work renovating Bella Sposa (Italian for “beautiful bride”), which specializes in bridal, prom and homecoming fashion. Kevin manages the Bella Sposa Tuxedo Shop.
“We figured if we can survive being business partners and still enjoy being together, we should get married,” Kevin joked. “If you can live together, work together, spend 24 hours a day together and still get along, it’s good.”
The intimate wedding was an experience the couple will treasure.
The bride, dressed in a Madeline Gardner gown, cried as the pair exchanged vows; the groom smiled at her lovingly. And, when Kevin’s cellphone rang with a robocall at the start of the ceremony, Miller quipped, “I’d like to take this moment to ask everyone to please silence their phones.”
Lori said she and her new husband “are absolutely going with the flow” in their decision to follow their hearts and celebrate their special day with their closest family and friends – at a place they consider home.
“And I like my dress much better than the one I was going to wear last year,” said Lori, laughing. “We love this place, and I’m excited. Things happen for a reason.”