Iowa Weddings

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[field title=”Wedding Colors”]Pastel shades of pinks and blues with lush orchids and roses with citrus notes accompanied by lots of fresh florals and greenery.[/field]
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Welcome to an enchanted wedding nestled in the gardens of Salisbury Mansion, located in the heart of Des Moines, Iowa. This historic home & gardens lent the perfect backdrop to Amelia & Sterling’s elegant and chic garden party inspired wedding. Following their ceremony in the gardens, guests dined under string lights & greenery in a tent across the lawn. After toasts, guests moved to the brick courtyard for dancing under the stars. The band kept the party going all night long!

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[field title=”Proposal Story”]Sterling and I met in Washington, DC where I work. He was visiting his sister who was also my friend! We had an intimate get together in our home with friends when he entered the room. We immediately locked eyes. He was the only man there so I quickly asked if he would like a bowl of my homemade soup to make him feel welcome. The rest is history! He invited me up to his home of Kodiak Island, Alaska where I spent time on his vessel that he captains on the ocean. We fell deeper in love. The next year, he proposed in front of a glacier in the remote waters of Alaska on jet skis.
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[section title=”The Fashion”]
[field title=”Wedding Gown”]The bride’s dress was a classic showstopper, complete with a high neck and lace detail on the sleeves and bodice.[/field]
[field title=”Bridesmaid Dresses”]Amelia’s bridesmaids each wore a color that suited them best, in various shades of pastels. [/field]
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[section title=”The Details”]
[field title=”Food & Drink”]Once the overall design details were completed, we couldn’t forget about the food and drinks! None of our guests left hungry. Our mocktail
hour menu included hand crafted mocktails, and a long charcuterie grazing table. The selection of passed hors-d’oeuvres included jumbo gulf coast shrimp, fresh bruschetta on crostini and more!

The outdoor tent reception was under the Iowa moon light with a plated meal with the options of chicken amaggio with a lemon cream sauce, beef tenderloin with a cabernet reduction, and of course per Alaskan tradition, Baked Salmon . In addition, the first course included Arancia Insalata with pine nuts and the sides were, Green Beans Almandine and a Potato Croquette.[/field]
[field title=”Florals & Decor”]The first question in the planning process was, where were we to have the wedding? We thought about a mountain in Alaska and my family’s generational farm in Iowa but we ultimately chose the most enchanting European style house and gardens in the heart of Iowa’s Capitol, Salisbury House and Gardens. The mansion was built in the 1920s and was inspired by The King’s House in Salisbury, England, blending Tudor, Carolean, and Gothic architectural details. I knew it would be a unique destination for guests from Washington DC, Alaska and Iowa to fawn over.

We wanted our guests to feel loved and seen in our intimate garden party, all meticulously designed by Honey and Joy Events. It was a large gathering yet everyone felt that it was a thoughtful wedding day. We wanted the day to be high energy yet laid back. The string quartet for the ceremony and the live band for the reception were perfect!

My next thought was colors, keeping the European garden theme in mind led me to choose pastels and colorful flowers. These included lush roses, and pink orchids. In addition, each table had bright citrus elements.
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[field title=”Wedding Cake”]The whimsical 3 tiered cake was created by a local pastry chef Alix Brower of Dore Bakery, a bespoke bakery with meticulous creations. The desserts had a French influence with macarons, mini fruit tarts and for an Iowa classic, a local ice cream truck.
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[field title=”Readings, Ceremony Music, Reception Songs”]I wanted to be sure to include our grandparents who had passed away. We had folded flags for our grandfathers who were veterans and white roses for our grandmothers on chairs in the front row.

My nephew was the ring bearer and he carried my grandfather’s personal Bible he kept close to him as a soldier and prisoner of war during the Korean War.

Family is very important to me. I was so pleased to have my entire family including my 7 nieces and nephews involved in the wedding as junior groomsmen and bridesmaids.

Since Christ is the center of our marriage, I chose to walk down the long cobblestone isle surrounded by the lush gardens to “Be Thou My Vision” with a string quartet. My husband and I partook in communion using my late grandmother’s glass chalice and antique plate. The gospel message was made clear by our pastor in the ceremony along with scripture reading. [/field]
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Photography: Nicole Laing Photography | Videography: Drew Barett Studios | Event Design: Honey and Joy Events | Event Planning: Honey and Joy Events | Floral Design: Wildflower | Wedding Dress: Elegance by Roya | Cake: Dore Bakery | Invitations: Honey and Joy Events | Catering: Barattas | Band: Diamond Empire Band | Transportation: Foster Limo | Beauty: Powder Studio

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It’s likely that your friends and family are traveling from all over to celebrate at your wedding with you and your soon-to-be spouse, so we’re always fans of fun ways to spend more time with your loved ones during the wedding weekend. This oh-so-pretty, pre-wedding bridal brunch at Magnolia Wine Kitchen, where Shelly Sarver added her special touch to the space with pink floral arrangements, is a perfect example of a fun yet low-stress way to get all of the ladies together. If you love the idea of a bridal brunch as much as we do, head to the gallery to see all the photos by Aly Carroll.

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From Aly Carroll Photography… The day before Sarah and Justin said “I do”, Sarah’s family showered her with love and attention at her Southern inspired bridal brunch. Her family traveled near and far for her big day, so it was the perfect opportunity to get all the ladies together and enjoy each other’s company! Shelly Sarver Designs decorated and adorned Magnolia Wine Kitchen with her gorgeous creations, including ombre center pieces, floral chair accents, and a balloon garland to greet the guests as they headed to the dining table upstairs. Magnolia’s details paired perfectly with the theme and style of the lunch. They served a light lunch and a signature bridal drink. It was an afternoon to remember!

Photography: Aly Carroll Photography | Floral Design: Shelly Sarver | Catering: Magnolia Wine Kitchen | Venue: Magnolia Wine Kitchen | Film Processing: Richard Photo Lab

You know those weddings that instantly cause that warm, happy feeling all the way down to your tippy toes? You know the ones – the first peek brings a smile to your face that doesn’t end for days. Well this wedding is the queen of those weddings. From Amy Allen Photography‘s very first image, I knew we were in for something special – something heartwarming. And after spending a whole lot of time in the gallery you can rest assured that this is definitely something VERY special + heartwarming!

Click here to see the whole soiree in the gallery!

Dan and I are both from the same town, but didn’t officially meet until my freshman year of college. Through mutual friends, we were introduced and began spending more and more time together. We graduated college, both started our careers, and eventually made our way back to Cedar Rapids. After seven years, we decided to make the big jump into marriage and haven’t looked back!

I knew I was in trouble when I started finding projects on Pinterest and wedding blogs to create for my wedding before I had even gotten engaged. Once we were engaged, the hard work really started. I have to give my crafty mom all the credit for helping turn my vision into reality. I knew I wanted a smaller wedding, thus allowing me to create a more intimate setting in two beautiful historic venues in downtown Des Moines.

Our ceremony was held in a traditional Lutheran church close to the Iowa State Capitol. I loved the old fashioned feel of the church and the warm welcoming people we got to know there. Because the church itself was so beautiful, we left the decorating to a minimum. Our only addition was to add two grapevine wreaths to the large front doors. During the ceremony, we had two of our closest friends read passages from our favorite book and poem. Following the ceremony, guests were able to toss rosemary and lavender from cones my mom and I had carefully crafted out of complementary colored scrapbook and tissue paper. I had decided on a color scheme long ago of mostly blues, greens, bronzes, and hints of burlap brown. These must have been a hit because we were covered!

Once guests arrived at the reception, they were treated with hors d’oeuvres and our signature drink of white peach sangria. To add to their sangria, we handmade custom drink stirrers with cute phrases on them. My mom and I crafted our seating chart out of an old wooden frame we picked up at a craft store and hooked twine on the back. We  clipped our table listings to the twine with mini clothes pins. I bought a mailbox and had my dad paint it a beautiful slate blue. He carefully stenciled our name along the side to create a unique card collector. Instead of the traditional guest books, my husband and I each picked out a coffee table book we would like and had our guests leave their well wishes.

To add to the decor, my mom and I stocked up on over 100 mason jars and added strips of burlap around the middle of the jars. We tied a bow of twine, and filled the jars with sand and a candle. This gave the venue a glow all evening. I wanted to make sure our guests had a great time, so I made postcards and placed them at each person’s seat. I asked our guests to give us their marriage advice (and drop in our mailbox, of course). This proved to be a huge hit! It was so fun going through and reading everyone’s response. I made sure to save these for Dan and I to go through again over the years. We hauled an old whiskey barrel 2 hours from my hometown to place our cake on and it ended up working perfectly with the scheme of the wedding.

My favorite element of the decor were the umbrellas I had carefully selected to hang over the dance floor. I rented these from a store in Seattle and they were exactly the unique touch I was looking for.

With a wedding of only 90 people, we closely knew each one of our guests. Our goal was to make them feel welcomed and appreciated, with the opportunity to kick back and have a great time! Between the welcome bags filled with goodies on arrival to their hotel up to Jimmy John’s being catered at the end of the night, I know our guests (and ourselves) had a wonderful evening.

Photography: Amy Allen Photography / Flowers: cynwhd b designs / Event Planning & Design: Laura and her mother / Ceremony Location: Capitol Hill Lutheran / Reception Location: Zart 1312, Downtown Des Moines, IA / Invitations: Zephyr Weddings / Shoes: Badgley Mischka / Dress: Paloma Blanca / Umbrella Rentals: Bella Umbrella / Custom Purses: Jenna Lou Designs / Custom Postcards: Vistaprint

Weddings tend to strike a separate cord in all of us, and this personality-filled Iowa fête by Mark Kegans Photographs is the perfect example of what tends to strum every cord in my wedding-obsessed heart. Because not only was this wedding held in the chicest of lofts filled with the most sophisticated details (hello fabulous ceremony backdrop!), but when the best man also has the rings flown in by a remote-controlled helicopter and the couple had their hands in every special detail – you just know this entire celebration is strike-a-cord-worthy. And after scrolling through the images of the couple’s oh so perfect day in the full gallery of images, I guarantee you’ll agree.

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From the bride… From the get go, Kyle and I knew that we wanted to have a large role in the pieces that would make our wedding day whole. We struck a fine balance between knowing when to ask for help and knowing what we could handle ourselves. Sometimes it was a bit stressful, but in the end, it all turned out perfectly. Kyle and I got engaged in a photo booth on Christmas Eve, and though we knew having a photo booth would be important to us for our fall wedding, Kyle (an industrial designer) decided to put a unique spin on things: he built our photo booth himself. Not only was craftiness a large part of our wedding, but so was locality. I’m from Iowa, and Kyle is from Michigan, and we tried to have the wedding reflect our appreciation for all things local: our food included Iowa prosciutto and local greens, the honey we used as our party favors was from Iowa, and our salad had Michigan dried cherries. All of our paper materials were provided by a Michigan paper company, and our beer and wine were purchased from the restaurant where I worked all through high school and college. Kyle and I are proud of our roots, and we wanted to pay homage to them in every way we possibly could.

While we take the tradition of marriage seriously, we did want to have at least a little bit of fun with our guests — which is why we enlisted the help of Kyle’s brother, best man, and sister-in-law to help us stage a spoof in which the best man “forgot” the rings and had a remote-controlled helicopter bring them over to him. It was the best surprise ever — from everyone’s reactions, you can see that we were able to keep that one a pretty good secret!

Aside from the photo booth, Kyle designed our invitations, programs, menu cards and honey tags, and I wrote the copy for everything. Nothing felt better than knowing the majority of what we’d come up with we’d also been able to execute and create ourselves. We had friends do the chalk art, arrange songs to be played during the cocktail hour, and help us assemble the photo booth. We were lucky enough to have had Kyle’s father, a judge, marry us. Looking back, nothing is cooler than seeing the parts that so many wonderful people played in helping us with our wedding day. The day was wonderful, from top to bottom. Kyle and I knew that above all else, our hard work was only an element of the event. We wanted to have a good time and not sweat what we couldn’t control. That was the easiest (and best) decision we ever made. The night flowed perfectly, thanks to our coordinators; the decor was absolutely stunning; and every moment was filled with laughter and wonderful conversation.

Wedding Photography: Mark Kegans Photographs / Event Planning, Design + Flowers: Magnolia 105 by Divine Flowers / Wedding Venue: Sticks in Des Moines, Iowa / Wedding Cake: Cake Me, I’m Yours! / Food + Catering: Lisa LaValle / Wedding Invitations: Kyle Lawson, Groom / Shoes: Miss America / Wedding Dress: Tara Keely