A Fall Fairytale Wedding in Pella

Every once in a while, you meet a couple where you just know that they are totally head over heals in love. Cassidy and Ryan are one of those couples. Ryan has a way of looking at Cassidy where you know he cherishes her. And you can tell that Cassidy receives that love whole heartedly! She smiles back, touches his cheek – and you just KNOW that they are totally 100% all in! Plus, their laughter and joy when they are together is contagious! When you’re around them, you feel blessed to be around people that are so committed to one another. Their relationship brings a sense of security to any situation. Their rock steady relationship is founded in their faith in the Lord, which was a thread woven throughout their entire day. Their family prayed over them before their ceremony, starting them off with the full support and blessing of their nearest and dearest. Ryan and Cassidy shared their vows at Third Reformed Church in Pella, dedicating their first official moments as husband and wife to the Lord by sharing communion and washing each others feet in a symbolic ceremony. This thread continued when their friends and family toasted (and roasted…a bit!) Cassidy & Ryan, sharing stories and admiration and encouragement, all grounded in scripture and their faith. I’m positive that everyone present was personally blessed by them in some way either before or DURING their wedding day – it was just amazing!

Cassidy and Ryan – thank you SO much for allowing me the honor to capture your love. It was a beautiful day not just visually for me as an artist, but as a fellow believer as well. Thanks for showing a powerful example of how a Christ-centered marriage can be so incredible before it even has seen one day!

We started off the day with details, and I am in love with the navy and burgundy color palette that has been popular this fall! Love the rich jewel tone colors!!!

Cassidy and Ryan got ready and had their ceremony at Third Reformed Church in Pella. Originally they had planned not to see each other before their ceremony, but those plans changed the week before, and so that meant we had a lot of time for portraits! But first, last minute getting ready moments.

Meanwhile, Ryan was just a taaaaaaaad nervous and pretty quiet 🙂

A little “first look” with her bridesmaids and best friends – loved this moment!

Cassidy is quite close with her family, and so I thought it was SO sweet that she wanted a first look with her brothers and dad.

Family prayer time before Cassidy sees Ryan…

Get ready for one of my favorite first looks EVER! No, seriously…just wait!

This moment is everything – I love it.

All week long, the weather forecast for Cassidy & Ryan’s wedding day said 100% chance of rain. So when it changed to 30% the day before and we woke up to gray skies but a LOT of wind, I was honestly SO happy that we had no rain! The wind was preeeeeeeetty crazy, but we made it work as best as we could!

A final blessing and prayer before they walked down the aisle.

This sweet moment between Ryan and his younger sister when she processed down the aisle – I have no idea what she said, but it was so special 🙂

One thing Cassidy mentioned when she switched to having a first look was that she was concerned it would change how the ceremony felt and the that the processional wouldn’t be as meaningful. And this is honestly a very common concern for MANY couples! But there really is NOTHING like seeing your bride walk down the aisle and all of that build up right beforehand while you wait, even if you’ve already seen her earlier at that day! These next few photos just tell it all!

Guests sent them on their way to the reception in a horse drawn carriage!

Pella is the cutest little Dutch town, and I just love weddings where we can roam around and take advantage of the scenery. We had an hour for couple’s portraits in between the ceremony and reception, and while we didn’t use all of that for portraits because a carriage can only move so fast, it was still SO wonderful to have a relaxing pace to that in-between time instead of being rushed!

Our final destination was Graham Conference Center at Central College. But first, a few last bridal party photos so we could take advantage of the beautiful fall colors!