For brides, Weddings

July 9, 2019

Trendy Tassels at an Iowa Vineyard

the blog

I’m so excited to finally share this styled shoot on my blog. It was amazing to work with Amanda from White Ivy Events who pulled this whole day together and helped with the write up for this post. We hope you enjoy the pictures and the story!

We chose The Walker Homestead as the background for this shoot because of the unique mission they bring to our community here in Eastern Iowa. This venue was built for more than just parties – everything serves a purpose. The story of this venue involves a bit of luck: Bob and Kristy Walker live on the land just next door to what is now the Homestead. It is extremely rare that an adjacent property would ever be put up for sale, but that’s exactly what happened. The Walkers knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so they put in an offer and began the building process for their longtime dream, with a mission to build community through agricultural education and culinary celebration.

The purposefulness of every aspect of this venue is what inspired this shoot. The white shiplap walls added a bright, modern feel to a traditional barn venue and allowed the space to serve as the perfect backdrop. Along with the mission, what really sold me on this space was the wrought iron and concrete light fixtures that add an unexpected element to the experience. Details were thought of all the way through this building process, and that inspired me to get a bit playful with our details.

When we began envisioning this shoot, we knew we wanted to pull in earthy tones so as not to compete with the understated beauty of the land. Our color scheme centered around copper and mauve. I fell in love with the idea of bringing a little quirkiness to the style by playing off the trend of tassel earrings. Adding tassels to the décor allowed us to pull in a brighter orange hue for a pop of color.

Our beautiful invitation suite designed by Simply Modern Design was accented with some colorful stamps from Little Postage House. These two created a chic and modern suite that unexpectedly pulled in our accent colors. I love the softness that the velum overlay added to the strong font used on the invitation. The Mrs. Box in dark green complimented the colorful stamps and was the perfect way to display the gorgeous rings from Hands Jewelers.

Our bride wore a gown from Modern Dress. Her tassel earrings added some movement and a modern touch to her look. Her look was completed with makeup by Tricia Lake and hair by Julia Youmans.

Our groom brought a sophisticated feel in a white dinner jacket courtesy of The Black Tux. His black and white ensemble was classy and modern.

Our florist, Shelly Sarver, did an amazing job creating all of the floral arrangements for this shoot. She kept up our unexpected details with unique florals that tied in the earth tones we were looking for– how amazing is that bleached hanging Amaranthus in the bridal bouquet?

We love these staircase florals created by Shelly Sarver Designs.

For our sweetheart table design, we went for an asymmetrical look.

The cake table provided by Classic Cakes By Design was no exception to the unexpected elements pulled throughout this shoot. Displayed on a Tuscan spice-colored linen from La Tavola, these varying height cakes were almost as pleasing to look at as they were to eat! Trendy designs can be difficult, as you don’t want to overdo it. Our tassels popped up subtly in this design of our white, fondant cake.

Provender Catering, which simply means “to provide”, is a wood-fired kitchen with character. They participate in the mission of the Homestead by growing and preparing the food with care and conscience from seed to table. And let me tell you, they made the best charred leek I’ve ever had.

The table designs were purposefully done to show the versatility of the space. Our first design used the barn wood tables from the Homestead. The mauve cheesecloth runner from La Tavola Fine Linen Rental served to soften the look as we mixed copper, concrete, and wood textures. The family style meal adds to the understanding of the community mission of the Homestead. The laser etched acrylic place cards and table numbers created by White Ivy Events added some modern touches to the table designs.

The Homestead sits on 85 acres of land with a vineyard that boasts 750 grape vines. These vines supply the wine that brides and grooms will cheers with on their big day. The pasture is home to rabbits, pigs, chickens, and some very boisterous turkeys, which guests are able to get up close with as they get away from the party and stroll along the 1.5 mile walking path.