What a perfect day. It stormed the day before the wedding and after the reception but on the day of and during the day everything was perfect. Abby and Jason got ready in separate rooms at the Holiday Inn in West Des Moines. Abby had a gorgeous modern suite which is where she had her makeup done.
The ceremony and reception were at Sticks in Des Moines which has tons of windows for lots of natural light. It’s an award winning design studio which handcrafts wood furniture, accesories and object art. It’s located on a wooded lot which beautiful scenery outside as well as in.
Abby and Jason saw each other before the ceremony so they could spend as much time as possible socializing with their guests before dinner so we took the bridal party portraits and family portraits before the ceremony. The ceremony was held just outside the reception venue so everyone mingled afterwards for cocktail hour before going inside and partying the night away!
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Ceremony: St. Aloysius Catholic Church, Calmar, Iowa
Reception: Festina Community Center, Festina, Iowa
Part II of the weekend. My boyfriend and photographer-in-training, Andrew, was my second shooter for this wedding. He took some excellent photos which I will post here later, giving him full credit of course! I was a little jealous of some of his pictures which I thought looked fantastic. We headed to Eldora, Iowa for Katie and Trent’s wedding on Saturday. Where is Eldora? It’s a small town about 25 miles west of Waterloo. With a population of just over 3000 people, it’s not huge, but if you’ve seen the movie Twister it was filmed here so you may have seen it on the big screen if not in person! The ceremony was held at Camp Quaker Heights and the reception at the lodge at Pine Lake State Park.
The cutest flower girl!!
The rings.
The Maid of Honor and sister of the bride who was also the caterer/wedding coordinator at the wedding!!! Talk about multi-tasking. The food was delicious!!
Katie looking beautiful and relaxed!!!
Usually I think the bride is glowing but in this picture I think Trent is!
Flowers by Tara Dudley of Plant Life Designs.
Butterfly theme…
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Becoming Mr. and Mrs.
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The kiss.
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Butterfly release after the ceremony. One decided to stick around longer 
A quiet moment.
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Great detail shot by Andy!
They had strawberry shortcake for their cake and Andy got this great shot.
The Lodge at Pine Lake State Park.
