Shop Promises To Get Freshly Pressed Dress To Church On Time
Anna Marie Brunke wants every woman to feel unforgettable on her wedding day.
She’s got a shop filled with gowns and accessories to make that possible.
“I think a girl should find a dress that everybody is not going to forget about two days after the event,” Brunke said.
“I want my girls to be in dresses people are going to talk about.”
Brunke owns the Acapricio Bridal and Formal shop at 2926 S. Regal.
Her gowns are all made by designers like Eve of My Lady, Marissa, Paula Varsalona, Amalia Carrera and House of Bianchi.
They aren’t cheap. No wedding gown is.
Prices at Acapricio run from $900 to $2,700.
That may sound like a lot, but many families spend as much as $16,000 on a wedding, Brunke said.
She said her favorite dress is one done in a low-cut style from the 1940s with embroidered English net fabric.
“These dresses are hot,” Brunke said. “They are fashionable and sexy.”
She has traditional types done in satin or silk, or the currently popular tulle fabric, which has an airy, Cinderella feel.
Her shop offers to press gowns just before the ceremony and deliver them to the church or wherever a wedding is held. The shop also has unusual accessories, such as a bouquet holder for the bride’s flowers and a silver unity goblet for that first champagne toast.
The 27-year-old Brunke said she opened the shop on the South Hill because she has no other competitors in the area and she believes the South Side has a lot of young women approaching marriage age with families that can afford nice weddings.
No other shops in Spokane offer the same lines of dresses, she said.
Brunke worked for three years as an agent for an airline but always wanted to run own business, she said. She chose the wedding shop because, she said, “I’m kind of a froufrou person.”
“It’s a happy place to work,” she said.
The name of her shop is taken from an Italian musical term that means fast rhythm.
To get an idea of the customer she is trying to reach, consider the script for an ad she placed in the Spokane Club newsletter recently.
“You’ve been dreaming about wearing a wedding dress for as long as you can remember,” the ad says.
“After all, it’s the only day of your life that you already know what you are going to wear.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo