Ground Floor: Former journalist opens bridal boutique

A chance meeting with a celebrity designer motivated Kelli Sutterman to fulfill her dream of opening Cedar Rapids' first independently-owned bridal store.

'He probably doesn't know he had such an influence over me,” Sutterman said of meeting designer David Tutera at a Chicago bridal show last year.

Tutera sat next to Sutterman at the show, and the two struck up a conversation about Sutterman's plans to open a bridal boutique.

'He asked me to tell him about my shop and I had to tell him it didn't actually exist yet,” Sutterman recalled. 'But he wasn't dismissive or disinterested.”

When they parted ways, Tutera, who is the host of 'My Fair Wedding” on WE TV, presented Sutterman with an autographed photograph encouraging her to 'dream bigger.”

'I decided then that I'm going to sell this man's dresses,” she said. 'That was my fuel to the fire to get it done.”

A year later, Tutera's photograph is on the wall and his dresses are on the rack at White Willow Bridal Boutique, the store Sutterman opened in June in the Fountains development in Cedar Rapids.

Sutterman, who started working in the bridal industry in high school, didn't always plan to open a bridal boutique. With a journalism degree from the University of Iowa, she thought she eventually would go to work for a bridal magazine in New York City. However, a post-graduation stint working as a bridal stylist in Madison, Wis., left her homesick for Iowa, and she knew a move even farther away was not in the cards.

She returned to Iowa in 2012 and took a job at KCRG-TV9.

'I came back with the full intent of scouting locations for a store and understanding the bridal business in Eastern Iowa,” she said.

What Sutterman found was local brides traveling to places such as Chicago, Des Moines and Minneapolis to shop for wedding dresses and a market that lacked the type of bridal shopping experience she envisioned.

'I wanted to bring a Chicago-type high-end experience without the over-the-top price point,” she said. 'I thought that if I don't do it, someone else will, and I will always regret not following my dream.”

At White Willow, the focus is on the bride. Shopping is by appointment only, and brides may choose from dozens of dresses from two exclusive bridal lines, David Tutera or Mon Cheri and Casablanca. The store does not sell bridesmaid or prom dresses.

As David Tutera encouraged her a year ago, Sutterman is dreaming bigger.

'My goal is to be not only in the forefront of brides' minds in the Corridor, but also a destination store for brides coming from other places,” she said.

'Everything starts with a crazy little dream.”

AT A GLANCE

' Owner: Kelli Sutterman

' Business: White Willow Bridal Boutique

' Address: 5300 Fountains Drive NE, Suite 100, Cedar Rapids

' Telephone: (319) 378-6361

' Email: whitewillowbridal@gmail.com

' Website: www.whitewillowbridal.com