Kelly & Houston’s Little Lights on the Lane Wedding in West Branch, Iowa

Wedding

Jun 3

Kelly and Houston got married last fall at Little Lights on the Lane in West Branch, which was built last year, so it’s a brand new venue! Kelly and Houston’s wedding was one of the first ten weddings they ever hosted. Their wedding was my first time shooting there ever, and let me just say - I FREAKING LOVED IT! This venue was built by wedding photographers, and you can totally tell by the way they put it together that they are super experienced in the wedding world and knew exactly what couples AND photographers would want in a venue.

I loved how they had everything set up - the whole venue was so aesthetically pleasing, from the romantic lighting to the white walls and high ceilings to the huge doors that open up and let in tons of natural light, it was a dream to shoot there. The furniture and decor was SO cute, and the whole venue was styled so well. Plus, it’s an “all-inclusive” venue, meaning there are multiple spaces for ceremonies, the reception, the first look, AND getting ready.

Kelly and Houston’s wedding started off a little rainy, and we were kind of bummed about it at first, but after exploring the venue, we realized there were just SO MANY different places to shoot indoors. Kelly met Houston for their first look right in the entrance of the venue in front of this super pretty staircase, and it ended up being completely adorable with the black details and white walls. These two were SUPER pumped to see each other for the first time that day, and they’re also a couple of goofballs, so their reactions to each other were so cute! We ended up having a ton of fun and getting really creative with the venue for portraits, and we got some amazing shots in front of this big blank white wall and in the loft up above the reception space that has some gorgeous string lights!

Kelly is very detail oriented, so her whole look was incredible. She had these super cute white cowboy boots and she even hand-painted her amazing pink leather jacket to say “Just Married.” She actually THRIFTED her gorgeous crocheted Rue de Seine dress for SO CHEAP. It was covered in lace appliques and was seriously one of the most beautiful wedding dresses I’ve ever seen - I loved it so much and I totally wanted to steal it from her after their wedding! Kelly was a DREAM to photograph. She’s super silly, but when she throws a straight face at you, she looks like a freaking supermodel!

Kelly and Houston’s wedding was mid-September, so they were originally going to have an outdoor ceremony in this open grassy area at the venue. It was still warm and green outside, but since it was a rainy day, they moved the whole ceremony to this amazing covered patio. The owners at Little Lights on the Lane are seriously so amazing for thinking of this GREAT backup option because their awning over the patio is big enough to cover 200 guests, so they were still able to have their ceremony outside instead of cramming everyone inside at the last minute. Everyone definitely got a little emotional during the ceremony. Kelly and Houston are so silly and fun-loving that they were laughing together the entire time, so there were lots of smiles and laughs in the crowd and everyone there was soooo happy for them and ready to celebrate with them.

I vibed with Kelly and Houston SO WELL because they are truly the happiest, goofiest, most in love couple ever. One of the first things Kelly told me when they started planning their wedding is that she just wanted to mow down on some pizza on their wedding day, and I was like, “HELL YES GIRLFRIEND!” So, after the ceremony, the wedding party went and got a bunch of pizzas and they came out to the front of the venue and just devoured it and we took a bunch of photos and they freaking loved it! It was one of the most fun parts of their wedding day. I loved that they just wanted to eat their favorite food on their wedding day and we made it happen!

Their reception was every bit as amazing. These two are OBSESSED with the TV show “The Office,” so they did their grand entrance, complete with choreography, to the song from Jim and Pam’s wedding episode! The reception space was just stunning. They had a super cool neon sign with their new last name on it, gorgeous moody floral tablescapes with deep fall tones and rich warm yellows, oranges, reds, and browns, and black candlesticks nestled in the floral arrangements. Another thing they incorporated into their wedding was their SERIOUS love for Coca-Cola. They had custom mini Coke bottles made for everyone with their names on it, and it was one of the cutest ideas for place cards I’ve ever seen! Kelly and Houston’s even said “Mr. Harreld” and “Mrs. Harreld” on them!

One of my favorite personal touches at their reception was actually their dessert. They had a little wedding cake to cut, but the best part of dessert were the cookies. All of their close relatives - aunts, grandmas, moms, everyone - all baked separate batches of cookies for the wedding, and they put each batch in its own jar with a little label that said what kind of cookies they were and who baked them. The tags said “mother of the groom,” “from grandma shirley,” and so on, and it was so sweet that their families wanted to contribute that little personal touch on their wedding day.

Kelly and Houston’s wedding was seriously one of the most fun weddings I’ve ever shot, and it’s because they are just so happy and so in love and have so much fun together. They spent time planning their wedding to be exactly how they wanted it and incorporated so many of their favorite things, and it was just so “THEM!” They danced the night away, and I went home at the end of the day LOVING my job even more.