Brian + Stacie {Wedding}

In October I had the pleasure of assisting Shuva Rahim of Accent Photographics with capturing the beautiful wedding of Stacie and Brian at the Celebration Farms Timber Frame Barn.  The autumn weather was perfect and the colors were just beginning to turn.  Perfection.

I began my day at the Marriott Residence Inn in Coralville to capture some details and candids of Brian as he got ready for the day.  I love the outfit choice they made for the guys.  The subtle plaid vests, brown ties, jeans, and brown shoes were classy enough for a beautiful wedding, but casual to fit their personalities.

Stacie and Brian both love books and reading, so they chose to have book themed wedding decor.  Stunning!  The old books they used in the centerpieces were books from their families.  Not only were they beautiful, they were also a wonderful touch of family history.

As favors, they gave guests a bag of s'mores ingredients, each tied with a handwritten quote from one of their favorite books.  Later, during the dance, they had an outdoor table setup for guests to roast their marshmallows.  How fun!

Each table had a love quote from a different book.  LOVE that they used the Princess Bride for one of the quotes!

Stacie finished getting ready for the day by getting into her gown at the Timber Frame Barn.  I love her dress, so simple but stunning.

We headed to the arches for their first look.  Brian was hidden away as we got Stacie into place.  Then, with his eyes closed, we carefully guided him into place with his back to Stacie.  They held hands, both anxiously awaiting the moment they got to turn around and see each other for the first time on their wedding day.

Stacie kept reminding Brian, "Do not cry.  There is no crying.  Do not cry."  Though I think part of those reminders were for herself as well.  The moment they turned around, happy tears welled in both of their eyes and you could see the joy on their faces.  Such an emotional and beautiful moment!

As Shuva ran to the car to prepare for the family and bridal party portraits.  I took a few minutes with Brian and Stacie to capture a few portraits under the arches.  Love Celebration Farms!  It is a stunning location and was the perfect setting for this beautiful couple.

Stacie's bouquet was so gorgeous.  The colors and textures of the flowers were fresh and vibrant.  I love it!

The boutonnieres were awesome!  They were fishing flies and were simply the perfect addition to the guy's outfits.

Their ceremony was attended by close friends and family.  The reading was read by Stacie's mother.  It was a poem about marriage that had been written years before by Stacie's great-grandmother.  It was such a beautiful and personal addition to the ceremony.

We again headed to the arches for some fun bridal party portraits.  The nice thing about being a second shooter is that I get to hang to the side and try out some more creative techniques that I may not have the time or opportunity to do while shooting as lead photographer.  It's always fun to play with long exposures.  Though the downside was I didn't have a tripod and had to get creative as to how to hold my camera still for the long exposure.  Instead, I laid on the ground propping my camera on one of the flat stones in the seating area.  It worked great!  Though I'm guessing I looked quite ridiculous doing so.  Oh well, totally worth the shot!

Being a bit of nerd myself...ok, maybe a slightly more than a bit... I loved their personalized cake eating forks.  They say "I love you" and "I know," quotes from Star Wars.  Brian is a big Star Wars fan, so it was perfect for them!

At sunset, we again headed to the arches for a few more portraits with Stacie and Brian.  Lovely!

After sunset portraits, it was time to begin the first dance.  You can see the joy on their faces as they danced.  So beautiful!

It was a pleasure working with Stacie and Brian, as well as assisting Accent Photographics with this gorgeous wedding day.