A contemporary approach. A sophisticated result.
The 2018 Iowa Corridor Wedding Guide is now out! We told you a few weeks ago that Appleby Photography’s image was chosen for the cover here. Now the guide is really out. It’s so fun to be able to see and hold it! And if you need ideas, advice or want to know who the local wedding professionals are that can help you on your big day, pick one up for yourself. The Corridor Wedding Guide website is also amazing for getting you the information you need to plan the wedding you want!
We got big news yesterday and we’re so excited!
There is a local publication and website, the Corridor Wedding Guide, that helps engaged brides and grooms plan their wedding and advertises wedding professionals and vendors from the area. I love this guide because it not only helps engaged couples, but also because of how much Nicky, the owner, works to support local businesses and people in the community.
Recently, photographers were asked to compete for the cover image spot that will be the face of the publication for all of 2018. The submitted images were then voted on by our fellow business owners.
We are absolutely delighted that Appleby Photography’s image was voted the top choice and we’ll be gracing the front of next year’s wedding guide!!! How amazing is that? It makes my heart happy and I truly appreciate being chosen. What a cheery, effervescent sort of week this makes.
I hope you have wonderful things to be happy and thankful for this week, as well.
Happy Thanksgiving.
I was so happy to have Kristen and Nick thrilled over their wedding album. I knew that details were important to Kristen and I wanted her to love every detail about her album.
Vendors that we worked with that day:
Saints Peter and Paul Church
First Avenue Club
E’s Florals
Zazou’s Bridal Boutique
First Kiss Videography
Tiffiny’s Tipton Bakery
And my most favorite image from their whole wedding: 
Last week, we shared photographs from Kristen and Nick’s wedding day. Today, we continue with some of my favorites!
After the ceremony at Saints Peter and Paul Church, we went into Iowa City for photographs at the ACT campus. The reception at First Avenue Club followed.
Kristen and Nick were recently married in the Iowa City area. I love images from their wedding and I want to share my favorites!
The day started with Kristen getting ready at Iowa City’s hotelVetro. We then went to their wedding ceremony location, which was Saints Peter and Paul Church, which is a former Catholic Church that is now available to rent for weddings.
Next week, we’ll show more images from Kristen and Nick’s special day! Check back!
I love being able to show off what our clients’ finished wedding albums look like. It’s such a better way for couples to savor the images, them being able to pour over each photograph, instead of just looking at a small proof booklet or seeing them online. Brides and grooms are always amazed at how much better it is to see their wedding photographs in an actual album.
I worked with Shelby and Jeff to create a beautiful album for them that I want to share. Also, if you want to see more images from their wedding (and you really do–it was an amazing event!), you can see the sneak peek here, details about their venue Oak Hill, and a lot of photos from their whole wedding, which was featured on the Corridor Wedding Guide.
It was so important to have to the details from the day in the album. This is what you spend so much time working on as you plan, yet the details are some of the things you forget first. Capturing them in the album will help you remember all the important elements of the day.
Shelby and Jeff had a lot of special details, too. Like the childhood photo collages that they displayed in the old school house for people to see during the cocktail hour. And the candy buffet at the old general store. And even details that showed off their personality and relationship. Because they love going to breweries together, Shelby and Jeff used beer “growlers” (large brown jugs breweries will use to send you home with their beer from their kegs) with flowers in them as center pieces for their reception tables.
Here is the finished wedding album for Shelby and Jeff, showing off all those details, family groups and the fun photographs of them, as a newly married couple.
Last week, Kristin shared about her engagement to Brody. You can read about it and see some wedding photographs here. This week, we’ll hear about their Real Wedding details, which took place in Dubuque, Iowa and included location photography at Mines of Spain Park.
What was the theme and color palette for your wedding day?
Once in Cedar Rapids, we realized this is where we really want to be. Our wedding had to be in Iowa. We didn’t really want anything over the top, just a big enough space for our big families and friends and something fun. Our colors were eggplant and light gray. We never really got an official color! His favorite color is red and mine is blue. We decided it wasn’t fair to do one of those, so combined they make purple.
What was your most memorable wedding moment or favorite part of your wedding?
One of the most memorable parts of our wedding was our officiant who couldn’t pronounce my name right during the ceremony! We’d met previously and she didn’t mispronounce it then, so I don’t know what happened. Taking pictures beforehand and catching up with friends and family follow.
What advice would you have for other couple’s getting married?
My advice: if you have a really opinionated husband-to-be, be prepared to fight for what you really want. I never had a childhood dream of the perfect wedding, but I always wanted something small. He definitely disagreed. And he had an opinion on everything. It was frustrating at the time, but that was further proof that I could marry him and not kill him. Don’t let others barge in and try to make decisions for you. It’s not worth your sanity or time. We had a nit-picky aunt. Don’t let anything stress you out. There’s always a workaround and people willing to help if needed.
What do the wedding photographs mean to you? Why are they important?
Wedding photos. Oh goodness, I was so excited once I got the proofs in my hand. They allow to relive that day and remember the things your brain wasn’t focused on at the time. I passed my proof book around my family and shared stories and even memories of previous times.
It’s interesting to see what others thought of your dress, flowers, decorations, speeches, cake, and even the photo booth. (We’re going to be putting together a collage of some of the goofy pictures from the photo booth, too!) You get that family photo that’s treasured. You get that feeling full of love over and over again looking at your pictures.
Thank you to Kristin and Brody for sharing about their special day, from the engagement and the wedding details to how they felt about the photographs after the wedding.
We love to here the details about couples that we photograph! We photographed Kristin and Brody’s wedding, so we asked them to share with us about their engagement and wedding. Here, in Part 1, Kristin gives us the her answers about their budding romance. Next week, we’ll here about their wedding in Part 2.
How did you first meet?
Brody and I met while we were working at the Isle Casino Hotel in Waterloo. He was a beverage attendant while I was a cashier on the casino floor. He constantly walked past the cage, even though he really didn’t have to. Then he started winking at me. We’re both pretty confident, so I winked back.
After about a month of this, along with some small breakroom banter, he couldn’t resist. He asked for my number. “Hard-to-get” was my angle. He stopped by my window so many times that night, I’m sure his tips suffered!
Finally, I asked if he was good at math. So a few more stops later, he had my number in individual equations. Before his shift was over he came back and asked if he had the right number. I told him he’d have to wait until I was off and see if I answered. After that, we were fast friends.
How did you know they were the one?
On Halloween, he asked me if we could make it “offricial” (he had a few too many to drink). Then, on our month anniversary, he took me to a nice restaurant. Monthly anniversaries aren’t a thing to me, so this made it apparent he was a sappy romantic!
Afterwards, he gave me a 12-picture frame. In the top corner was that silly business card and my math equations. He said for every month together, we’ll put something in there. This is where (looking back at it) he must’ve known I was the one.
A few months later, a career change took me to Wausau, Wisconsin, six hours away from Waterloo. It didn’t even phase him. He just asked when we needed to be there and when we start apartment hunting. There was no pause or consideration if we should do a distance relationship. That’s when I knew for sure he’s it.
Tell us about the proposal!
We were coming up on Halloween and our year anniversary, so we had planned to go out to a nice restaurant in Wausau. A few days before, Brody decided it couldn’t wait. So he made sure my assistant got me out of work promptly because he was going to be ready to go that night.
When I got back to the apartment though, he was sitting on the couch-completely unready. Then, unlike him, he went into super-speed mode and wanted to leave right away! I had my dress on, I just couldn’t decide on shoes. He wasn’t much help, either, because he was itching to get out the door.
By now, I realized what was going on and I should just pick some cute shoes. I never wear heels, so that was my chance to wear really cute ones that have never left the box. I hobbled down the steps as he was not-so-patiently waiting at the door. I know I asked where we were eating before the door closed. He said we’d figure it out as we were driving.
Two steps away from the car he stopped and said there was something wrong with my ruffle on my shoe. I was already in happy tears by the time he asked “will you ‘offricially’ be my fiance?” (Those shoes walked me down the aisle to the rest of my life with this silly man).
Check back next week for the rest of Kristin and Brody’s Real Wedding!
Here’s a sneak peek of Rebekah and Jason, newly married this past weekend!
Congrats to the new Mr. & Mrs. on their wedding!
June weddings are beautiful for outside photography locations! Here is a sneak peek from Jia and Doug’s June wedding!
