The ceremony was held at the beautiful Washington Prairie Lutheran Church, just outside of Decorah. I remember driving by there many times while I lived in Northeastern Iowa, but I had not had the opportunity to go in the church before. It was lovely.
Their ceremony was officiated by Marybeth's twin brothers, who are both pastors. I have to say, I think this is one of the best ceremonies I have been to in a while. There were so many personal touches and stories. Part of the readings were not from the Bible, as is traditional, though there were some passages from there too. Instead, they chose to read some Story People quote that had significance to them. If you are unfamiliar with Story People, they are artworks with sayings created by a local Decorah artist. You can check them out online here.
The homily was a little nontraditional as well. It was read, a bit like a readers theater piece, by Marybeth's brothers, Marybeth, and Stuart. Marybeth and Stuart, in turn, each read one of their story people quotes. Her brothers, followed each reading with a related story about Marybeth and Stuart's journey in building their relationship. The stories were filled with humor, but more importantly, they were filled with love. Honestly, it was wonderful.
Instead of a kiss, her brothers told the couple they could seal their vows with a high five. Such a brother thing to do. Love it!
After the ceremony, we took a few minutes to capture some portraits around the church. I love the images we captured there. The stairway with the golden light streaming through the stained glass window and the kiss on the front steps with the clear blue sky, love!
The reception was held at the Luther College Peace-Noble Dining Room. Being a Luther alum, I have spend a lot of time on that campus. It was so fun coming back to it again. Both Marybeth and Stuart are Luther grads and their love for the campus and the Decorah area is what brought them both back there for their wedding day.
As they were eating, I took a few moments to capture more details shots, especially of their rings. We were able to grab one of the super-adorable dinosaur bubble containers as we left the ceremony, so what better place to photograph the rings? Also, if you remember from my post about their engagement session, Stuart owns a cotton candy and kettle corn cart. As favors to their guests, they had bags and bags of cotton candy and kettle corn. On each bag was a custom sticker, showing two dinos in love (and Sunshine too!). In addition to getting images of the favor, I thought it would be fun to get a few shots of their rings in the cotton candy. It was super cute, but a bit sticky.
During a break in the evening, we headed out for some portraits as the sun set on the Oneota Valley. The rocks to the north of Luther's Centennial Union were a perfect setting. Not only were they lovely, they offered a great view of the sunset.
Portraits at Luther are not complete without a photo by the Luther bell!
The rest of the evening was filled with heartfelt toasts from friends and family and beautiful dancing. I am so honored to have been a part of Stuart and Marybeth's wedding day.
Congratulations again Stuart and Marybeth! Thank you for having Geno Photography as part of your big day. Also, thank you to Michael Weber for assisting me with this gorgeous event!
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