Kenny and Kelsie’s wedding day was what every wedding should be—a joyful celebration that tied together a cord of three strands forever. The Lord was at the center of their day, which is always an encouragement for us to witness and document. It was visibly obvious that these two were just so darn excited to get married. Kelsie was an absolutely radiant bride, and it was fun to capture the personality of these two on their big day.
You never know what a winter wedding is going to look like in Iowa because of the unpredictable weather. We were fortunate the week around Christmas to have a heat wave sweep through, and Kenny and Kelsie were able to benefit from it on their wedding day. Kara and I joked that this was literally the warmest wedding that we had photographed since September! Despite that, there was still some snowy/icy spots in the shaded areas that added a little more character to the photos. The best of both worlds, really.
We started the day at Veritas Church in Iowa City where the guys and girls were getting ready. They have a brand new building with lots of windows, so that’s always helpful for us. Once they were put together, Kelsie shared an emotional first look with her dad before the ceremony. A dad of 3 girls, you could see the weight of the moment as he was about to give away his oldest daughter. It’s such a privilege to be a fly on the wall for moments like these, especially as a dad myself. Some day my time is coming! But back to their day. . . As I mentioned before, the ceremony was very much focused on the Lord and it cemented him as the center of their marriage together. I expected nothing less in the time that I had gotten to know them before.
After the ceremony, we traveled out to the Celebration Farm where we first spent some time capturing photos of the wedding party, and then later the bride and groom by themselves. I had talked about not knowing what a winter wedding might look like, but when you are able to take advantage of the grounds at the Celebration Farm, you can be pretty confident that you’ll have some pretty epic wedding pictures no matter the conditions.
Their wedding reception at the Celebration Farm just continued to pile on the awesome. They had a beautiful setup courtesy of Unique Events, the catering from Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack was crazy good, and oh yes, there were Hurts Donuts. Travis from Unique Events was their DJ and he went above and beyond in providing them superior service and entertainment. He is a stand-up guy that is really good at what he does. Not only that, he is dealing with A LOT right now with his family’s health circumstances, so to provide an exceptional level of others-focused service in the midst of what he’s going through was really, really impressive and worth a special shout-out. I’m sure Kenny and Kelsie would agree. We’re praying for you guys, Travis.
Kenny and Kelsie, it has been a great pleasure getting to know you guys and your hearts. I’m confident that you guys will stay grounded and do very well. We wish you guys nothing but the best and hope that you enjoy a lifetime of love and happiness together.
Hair & Makeup – Salon Voché
Flowers, Rentals, Photobooth, DJ – Unique Events
Donuts – Hurts Donuts
Coffee Bar – Barnstorm Coffee
Catering – Jimmy Jack’s Rib Shack
Day of Coordinator – Tracey Moushon
Photographers – Carter Photography
