I went ahead and ate a cupcake on this day, and I didn’t feel bad about it. It was a beautiful day for Noah and Jenae’s wedding out at the Celebration Farm, north of Iowa City. It was also a nice day for my birthday.
We spent the morning getting ready at the Coralville Marriott. Once Jenae had her dress put on, she did a first look with the first man in her life—her dad. Dad insisted that he keep his sunglasses on, and he just about had me convinced that he had some sort of retinal disability that required him to wear them. Turns out, he just knew Jenae was going to make him cry, and he wanted to hide behind them. Well, she did make him cry, but she gave him a hanky as a sweet gift to dab those tears.
We then headed out to the Celebration Farm for the wedding festivities. Noah and Jenae had their first look before the ceremony, and I think we more or less saw Noah’s mind explode when he turned around to see his bride for the first time. Staggering—I think that’s how we could describe what Noah was doing for the next 30 seconds after his first glimpse. Jenae – “Was it what you were expecting?” Noah – “No. I mean, I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s way better!” After Noah gathered himself, we did our best to create some “wow” portraits of the two of them. In my awesomeness, I can add another gem to my journal of accidental direction miscommunication. I’m far too embarrassed to share the words that I misspoke, but we’ll just say that what I said led Noah to start humping Jenae with an expression of confusion that read, “Am I doing this right?”. I died. I had tears from laughing at the ridiculousness that I accidentally inspired. Staggering—I think that’s how you could describe what I was doing while laughing so hard.
The ceremony was at the amphitheater space, and it was ridiculously beautiful, as usual. A little warm in the sun, but still beautiful. Noah and Jenae had a wine ceremony as part of their wedding, where they symbolically mixed bitter and sweet wines to represent and accept the times that they will experience as a couple. Once the Noah and Jenae knot was officially tied, we all made the 100 foot walk to the Double Round barn for the reception. The toasts were great and all, until a certain groomsmen (we’re ALL looking at you, Kyle), stole the show and decided to waste half a bottle of very nice Cedar Ridge wine on his rented shirt and vest. When everyone said, “Cheers!”, I’m not sure that’s what they had in mind. That all sort of developed in slow motion, and I was thinking to myself, “Is this really happening??” Yeah, I guess Kyle was having a wine ceremony of his own, and his wine was only sweet. Max from Center Stage Productions got the dance started shortly afterward. In lieu of a dollar dance, Noah and Jenae spent a few minutes of the reception bartending for some tips. Things maybe got a little messy at that point, so I think it was before the bartending experiment that we went out and captured a few photos at sunset. You can see a front was starting to move through, so there is a clear line of clouds that are present in the photos. I guess that’s unique.
Noah and Jenae, thank you guys for your hospitality and for choosing to have us be a part of your wedding day! We hope you enjoy the photos! And keep an eye on Kyle.
Hair – Caitlin at Deeply Rooted
Makeup – Solace Skin & Beauty
Flowers – Hy-Vee Waterfront
Cake – Iced Bakery
Dress – Adore Bridal
Video – Austin Dearing
Catering – County Line Catering
Photographers – Carter Photography
