Krystal & Mike’s Fall Wedding in Grinnell

Krystal and Mike met through mutual friends while on a trip to Florida, and even though these two warm-weather fans and travel lovers chose November in Iowa for their wedding day, we were blessed with a beautiful and joyful day! It was your typical dreary and gray late fall day. I was actually a bit nervous it might rain on us at various times throughout the day. Thankfully it didn’t! We started our day gathered at Hotel Grinnell with Krystal and her bridesmaids, toasting with mimosas and getting ready to celebrate. I was greeted by the most perfect palette of flowers, dresses, lace, and of course laughter and excitement filled the room as well!

This bracelet has the coordinates of her home address – I love this!

Love love LOVED her cranberry colored shoes that perfectly matched her bridesmaids dresses and bouquets!

Hotel Grinnell just opened this year, and it is by far my new favorite place for bridal parties to get ready! The penthouse suite where Krystal prepped for the day has plenty of room, a separate space for hair and makeup that’s out of the way, a great modern industrial decor theme that works with any style of wedding, and LOTS of great light! I loooooooooved it there! So a tip for my local brides: book Hotel Grinnell for your wedding weekend. It’s awesome!

Mike’s genuine smile and excitement when he saw Krystal for the first time was the best!

This archway never gets old. I’ve photographed here dozens of times, and it’s still one of my favorite locations for classic portraits on a wedding day.

Many thanks to Bates Flowers by Dzyne for the gorgeous floral arrangements!

A few remnants of fall color remained. One of my favorites from the day!

Krystal chose the best bridesmaids – it was pretty chilly on their wedding day, but not one of them complained about the cold.

There was a pretty important football game that day that may or may not have provided some distraction!

This year has been the first year where most of the weddings I’ve photographed have included children in the bridal party. While some people find this stressful – HELLO no-nap meltdowns RIGHT in the middle of the portrait time! – I actually love it! It’s not just because I have kids of my own, though. It’s because you really get a sense for a couple’s relationships with their family and friends when children are part of their day. When nieces and nephews are lovingly embraced or run down the aisle FAR too fast or can’t seem to calm down unless the bride and groom share a sweet moment with specifically them, it brings such joy to my heart to capture these interactions!