2023 Board of Directors
Matt loves networking and meeting new people. Matt has been a member of WEDNI for a year and has found great value in the community WEDNI has provided for North Idaho. As a WEDNI member, he can provide our Idaho “Nerlyweds” with vast resources and connections from our community dedicated to the local area and amazing people.
Matt and his amazing wife Laura started their journey when they first met at Post Falls High School here in North Idaho in 1993. They have 7 kids and 6 grandbabies. Matt is also a 20 year retired Air Force veteran. Being in the military has allowed him to travel the world providing mobile DJ services in many cultures and environments. Matt has provided DJ services for many types of events over the past decade with a plethora of reviews, and they are ready to take on your next event, providing great memories for life!
Matt is a mobile DJ for all your special events! Every event needs music to play with no worries. Without worries, you can pay attention to the things that matter! FTSmobileDJs philosophy is to be there at your special event providing the music everyone loves to hear and guiding your event and guests on a musical journey! FTSmobileDJs will do their best to fit in guest song requests and keep the party going in all kinds of musical styles, so everyone can party and have a good time creating a lifetime of memories.
Erica Jacobs is a wedding and portrait photographer and owns a full-service portrait studio with her husband in Spokane Valley, WA. She grew up in North Idaho and has spent most of her life in the Inland Northwest. She discovered photography in January 2011 as a means to document the beauty in our diverse landscapes, and this influence carries over into her portrait work. She loves to spend her free time crafting or outdoors exploring the Northwest with her husband, Bob, little boy, Timothy, and sweet pup, Penny.
She studied art and business management in college and earned her BA in Business Administration at Eastern Washington University. Taking a job in the FinTech industry, photography became her creative outlet during her free time and eventually became a business on its own when Bob joined in on the endeavor. She pursued this business full time when they opened their studio in 2018 to better serve their wedding, portrait and commercial clients.
Erica has been a member of WED’NI since the Fall of 2020 and is excited to take on the role of Vice President, fostering collaboration and professional development in the association while celebrating the beauty of our region.
Chris White is the new Treasurer for WED’NI, he’s excited to serve and help grow the organization. He graduated with honors from the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy. He is the Corporate Chef and Director of Operations for Cosmic Cowboy Grills in Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, Secretary of the American Culinary Federation's local chapter, and adjunct instructor at the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy, and sits on the advisory committee for the N Idaho College Culinary Program.
Chris loves catering and events, and especially working with clients on their special day. Cosmic Cowboy Grill was voted Best Caterer in N Idaho by the Inlander in 2022. He hopes to use his broad range of industry connections to help grow WED’NI member businesses and expand their networks. Within just a few months of joining WED’NI, he booked several large events. He is proof of the value of being a member of WED’NI. He has been married to his wife Amy for over 23 years and has a son and two daughters. In his free time, he enjoys spending time at their lake cabin at Twin Lakes.
Jessi Groene grew up in the beautiful mountain town of Sandpoint, Idaho. Considering herself a creative, she continues to draw inspiration from the beauty around her and has been able to apply It to many facets of her life.
Her interest in events was peaked in her early 20’s while promoting & organizing various musical festivals and celebrations. Although hosting events was a prominent part of her life, she could have never imagined how head-over-heels she would fall for the wedding industry.
She began her wedding journey by coordinating ceremonies and various different bridal events for close friends and family. Soon after she made the decision that wedding and event planning was the path that she was destined to take!
Enchanted Cactus was then established in 2018. Named after her love for plants and succulents, Enchanted Cactus serves the Pacific Northwest. Offering customized service packages as well as unique wedding services including bouquet preservation, specialty wedding signage, and clothing printing.
She states that she is very blessed to have the opportunity to facilitate her couples in walking down the aisle to happily ever after.
If Jessi isn’t organizing a big day, you will likely find her spending time with her husband or any of her 6 children. Fishing the lake, playing in the woods, or in her studio space creating!
With the legal name of Lily Garland, it’s no wonder she became a florist.
Lily has a long history of merging creative and business skill sets, so becoming a floral designer was a perfect fit! Lily graduated from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania with degrees in Economics and Studio Art. After graduating, she attended the Long Beach City College Floral Design program to perfect her skill set. In 2018, she started her business in Southern California through friends, family, and word-of-mouth doing everyday deliveries. She quickly found her passion for the events business. Lily has a unique ability to help people’s vision come to life, creating lifelong memories.
Prior to starting Flowers by Lily Garland, Lily has an established history of entrepreneurial endeavors and working in sales management positions for startups. Lily started her career working in marketing for large brands like Disney and Belkin.
Like many of her former clients, Lily is recently married and is happily raising her Goldendoodle, Huckleberry (named for a popular floral greenery in the pacific northwest). Lily caught the travel bug at an early age and jokes that she was raised on an airplane. In her spare time, you can find Lily traveling throughout the Pacific Northwest and internationally, playing volleyball, attending workout classes, or gardening in Coeur d’Alene Idaho.
Yasna joined WED’NI in 2015 and became a board member in 2016. She enjoys networking, meeting new people, sharing her experience, and supporting fellow wedding professionals.
From 2016 to 2018, she was our Membership Officer; from 2018 to 2022, she was our PR / Social Media Officer; and she is now our Events & Meetings Officer.
Yasna is from Belgium. In 1989, she went to Coeur d’Alene High School as an exchange student. 20 years later, she reconnected with Tony (her High School sweetheart) and moved to the United States in 2012.
She’s the mother of 4 daughters. She’s been married to Tony since 2014. Her native language is French. She loves reading, crafting, decorating, organizing, and traveling. (And hates cooking! lol)
Yasna and Tony have been in the wedding industry since 2015. They own “The Hitchin’ Barn”, a rustic elegant event venue located near Blanchard, between Spirit Lake ID and Newport WA. They host (camping) weddings of all sizes, between mid-May and mid-October.
Yasna is also a wedding officiant, with “Coeur 2 Coeur” (Heart 2 Heart). She was ordained by the Universal Life Church in 2019. She performs ceremonies for all couples, she does weddings of all types, and she can perform bilingual ceremonies.
Deanna is the creator and owner of Little Photo Bus of Spokane, serving the Northern Idaho and Eastern Washington area since early 2017. Deanna had a dream back in mid-2015 to bring the VW Bus Photo Booth Bus concept to the Inland Northwest. After 1.5 years of restoring her 1978 VW bus, and developing the business concept, the Little Photo Bus was launched in early 2017. After 5 years in business, people are still smiling and laughing in the back seat of the bus!
Deanna and her husband Kirk were college sweethearts, meeting their senior year in a business management class. Graduating in 1991 with a degree in Human Resources and Marketing, then working 10 years in the HR field, she put her career aside to raise her two beautiful children who are now 23 and 21. During that time of raising a family and supporting her husband's career; they built their portfolio of businesses that included commercial and residential properties. When Deanna is not working on her photo booth business, she is working on their 20-acre horse property. It this there that she finds the calm and quiet moments.
Deanna has been a part a member of Wed’NI since 2017 when she launched her business. In early 2020, she voluntarily took over the website position.
“This organization has been an integral part of the growth I’ve seen in my business. You get what you put in!! Get involved and get connected to anyone and everyone in this group and your business will flourish, guaranteed.”