May 15, 20233 min read

Outdoor Midwestern Riverfront Wedding | Emily + Mitchell

April 22, 2022 — Wapsipinicon State Park

Emily and Mitchell had the most beautiful wedding ceremony on the Wapsipinicon Riverfront. I traveled from the Des Moines area with my second shooter through the most insane rainy weather. Every wedding day is a good one, but I heard the rainy ones are the lucky ones!

We started the day getting ready with Emily and the girls in a cabin at the state park and took a bunch of detail shots, shed some happy tears, and Emily got to see herself in her wedding dress, all dolled up, for the first time. Lauren with Elizabeth Bliss Events helped us keep everything on track for the timeline and helped with last minute touch ups! If you haven’t thought about hiring a planner or day of coordinator, Lauren is such a good companion to have on your day!

We headed to the first look, where E + M shared many tears and basked in each other’s radiant get ups! Shortly after, private vows and gifts were exchanged. Emily had quite the surprise for Mitchell!

E + M jumped into their cars and headed to the ceremony spot, a beautiful look out over the Wapsipinicon River under a newly constructed overhang. We snapped some photos while they were so giddy to be getting married and checked off the family photos! Meghan with the Evergreen Hour team was up for any of our shenanigans created the most amazing video for the Engelbarts to look back on for years to come. The florals were incredible from E’s Florals and complimented the ceremony site so well. Perfect for a springy day!

After the ceremony, we took some photos before it down poured, then hopped into the getaway truck! Before the reception started, we grabbed some group photos of the wedding party right as the sun came out for the first time that day! The (now officially!) Engelbarts shared their favorite coffees with That 1 Place (bean) coffee truck and invited their guests out to grab a coffee for ‘cocktail hour.’ We jumped right in to grand entrances and the first dance. Dinner was served shortly after.

Emily and Mitchell snuck out with me to get some sunset photos before they cut the cake and dug into dessert! We played the shoe game and learned some funny stuff about Emily and Mitchell! We danced the night away and then ended with a sparkler grand exit!

Emily and Mitchell are now out in Washington where he is stationed in the Air Force. Emily is a hairstylist in Spokane which keeps her very busy. I think about them a lot when I want to image a perfect wedding day. I’m so grateful they chose me and so many other wonderful vendors for their wedding day. We are all so lucky and blessed to know the Engelbarts!