Garrette Turner was a new mom when she hit pause on her career to help out with her own mother, who had fallen ill. After her mom passed away in April 2016, she and her father, Stafford Silverman, found solace working side-by-side over a table saw. “We got through our grieving together,” says the Falls Church resident. “It’s helped turn a really sad time into a happier one.”
It’s also given rise to a new business, Brightly Ever After, which rents oversize light-up letters, silk flower walls and custom marquees for events, weddings and photo ops. Launched in the fall, the company rents its characters for $85 to $100 each. They can be delivered anywhere within a 50-mile radius of the studio and the rental period is typically 48 hours.
You can see the company’s signature 4-foot-tall LOVE letters on display most Saturdays at the Rough Luxe Vintage Warehouse in Falls Church. The collection also includes ampersands, numbers and an ever-expanding alphabet that can be used for weddings and proposals.
“We’re hoping to have a 4-foot-tall MARRY ME? soon,” says Turner. “How amazing would that look for a proposal on the National Mall?”
For Turner’s own wedding in 2014 to her husband, Greg Turner—a fan of ’90s rap—she designed and built a sign for the reception that quotes rapper Ice Cube. The message? “Today was a good day.” www.facebook.com/brightlyeverafter