We spent this past Sunday with Ben and Jennifer for their wedding ceremony and reception at the HarMac in downtown Cedar Rapids. As usual, we spent the first part of the day shooting details and documented the girls getting ready. Ben and Jennifer’s dog Zelda (named from the beloved video game franchise) is clearly a big part of each normal day, so it only made sense that she would be a big part of their best day. Whether or not the 7 photos of her included here is overkill, I’m not sure, but we couldn’t help ourselves. She was a fixture in the bridal suite, transitioning from lap to lap for the duration of hair and makeup.
The day began with dark, cloudy skies that transitioned into some light showers during the afternoon, exactly during the time we had carved out for portraits, of course. Fortunately, the HarMac is the most photogenic venue in the area for inside portraits, and it wasn’t really a bummer at all that the outdoors weren’t available.
When it came time for the ceremony, there was a surprise that came down the aisle before the bride walked down. Many times the groom will walk the mother of the bride down the aisle, but on this day, it was the first time that I saw mom act as a flower girl/lady, walking herself down the aisle with a basket of flower petals. 😁 Pastor Mike from Marion Methodist did a very nice job of delivering a biblical message for the ceremony, and the couple vowed to include the Lord in their marriage by symbolically filling a jar with three colors of sand—bride, groom, God.
The sunlight came out during the ceremony, and we had a little time afterward to play around with the brighter window light that was now available to us. Artsy fartsy Joel has entered the chat. I love sunlight, and it’s so much easier to be creative when we have it at our disposal. The other good news about the decreased cloud cover is that we were able to get up on the rooftop at sunset for some sweet golden hour images. The sunny skies didn’t raise the temperatures any, but Jenny had her mink coat to keep her warm, and we worked as quickly as we could to capture some beautiful sunset images.
There was not a lot of dancing at the reception. Well . . . at least not the typical dancing that you would expect from a standard wedding playlist. There actually was a lot of dancing during the evening, because Ben & Jenny invited Tanya from Five Seasons Swing give their guests swing dance lessons during the reception. So, if you came to their wedding hoping to get low to ‘Get Low’, you would have needed to wait a bit before your request would come through the speakers.
Ben & Jenny, thank you so much for choosing to have us document your best day ever! We wish you guys all the best in your new journey together!
Wedding Planner – Soirée
Catering – Peppercorn Food Company
Cake – Tip Top Cakes
DJ – Energy Wave Entertainment
Rentals – Borrow My Vintage & Unique Events
Dress – Heart to Heart
Jewelry – Ginsberg Jewelers
Suits – Holley’s
Invitations & Stationery – Allegra Iowa City
Beauty: Branded Beauty
Photographers – Carter Photography
