By Rebekah Giambroni
wedding day is supposed to be the happiest day of a bride's life, but sometimes, the preparation and planning can make it unnecessarily stressful. For many brides, it would be a welcome relief to hand over that planning to someone and simply show up looking beautiful to marry the love of her life. Bellevue Place strives to make that dream come true for brides.
Located in a former Methodist church in Benton, Bellevue was purchased by Sarah Collier in 2003. Soon after the purchase, a couple approached Collier, asking to use the site for their wedding. It wasn’t long before Collier had a proper wedding venue on her hands and decided to turn that into a business. Thirteen years later, it was decided a renovation was needed. The old carpet was removed for new flooring, crystal chandeliers were hung, the reception room was updated, and a huge bridal suite was added. Sarah Collier’s daughter-in-law, Destiny, remarked, “From what I’m told, it’s one of the largest in the area, but I can’t verify since I haven’t been to all of our competitors.” In addition, the church has oak pews and beautiful stained-glass windows. In 2019, the exteriors of all the buildings were painted cream with black trim to give it all a clean, modern look. An arbor was built with decorative Edison bulb string lights, and color-changing lights were added to all the buildings to coordinate with any event’s color theme.
When a bride comes in, she meets with the team at Bellevue to give her thoughts on the basics. The idea the Colliers had was for the bride to pick out a few things to give the general vision of her dream wedding and for Bellevue to take care of the rest. “Weddings are stressful enough,” Destiny said. “We wanted people to be able to enjoy their engagement and enjoy the wedding process.” So, they have cultivated an all-inclusive wedding package. They handle everything from ceremony to reception, flowers to cake. They will take care of the setup, cooking, and breakdown of the entire event. The only things Bellevue does not provide are the DJ, photographer, and officiant. If the bride is still deciding who to choose for those roles, Bellevue Place can help by providing a list of recommendations. “I will get brides who will call up and say, ‘I feel like I should be doing something,’ and I tell them that we have it handled, ‘you just relax,'” Destiny added.
Their all-inclusive packaging allows couples to get the most for their money. They are given options within various ranges to ensure they receive the best for their budget. This includes a wedding coordinator for the big day and, of course, a rehearsal the day before to ensure it all goes according to plan. A lovely three-tiered wedding cake and floral arrangements, boutonnieres, and bouquets are also built into the package, but if the bride wants something more, they choose from a list of “add-ons” that Bellevue offers. The venue also handles all linens, centerpieces, glasses, serving, and dinnerware.
Though weddings are their priority, Bellevue does offer its location for events such as bridal showers and Sweet 16 parties. But their weddings really do take the cake – pun intended. From the traditional to the slightly out-of-the-box, Bellevue can handle all sorts of ceremonies. They truly love what they do, and that is to make a bride’s big day the happiest – and least stressful – of her life.
