Lara & Amanda’s Ceremony

Both Tom and I have never been to Iowa, at least I don’t think I have. The state is in the middle of the country, not really a vacation spot or a business trip spot for my field. So we didn’t know what to expect, plenty of corn fields???

This was the second "family" event on Tom's family side since our wedding. Lara is Tom's niece. She is the dark hair one. Her partner, Amanda, is the red head. Their wedding site is here.

It was fall in the Midwest now, the air felt different. The ceremony was held in Iowa City, a smaller city, meaning a connecting flight and losing 2 hours flying east. We started early like 6 am on the west coast on Saturday morning, and didn’t reach there until late afternoon local time. Of course, it started to rain when we picked up the rental car. The mist was quite heavy so I didn’t see much along the highway.

We mad dashed to make the rehearsal dinner, hosted by Cheryl, Tom’s second sister. The town is charming, and has a small college town feel. We met up with the rest of the family at the Motley Cow restaurant. That was a big gathering. Tom and I tried to meet both sides of the family. I didn’t know anyone except Tom’s siblings and children. Amanda’s parents are very sweet. The food was very good; the restaurant uses local products wherever possible. They also catered for the ceremony the next day.


We spent the night at the Iowa City Sheraton, uneventful, after a full day of traveling. My hubby did try to find his snack bar and there wasn’t any around. It gave him a good excuse to kick start his attempt to curb midnight snacking.

The weather continues to be misty the next day. Fortunately, by the time of the ceremony, it was not rainy, just majorly overcast.

The outdoor ceremony was held at the Palisades-Kepler State Park. The reception was inside a historical lodge building, very charming. The tables were set up like picnic tables. The head table was set up with vintage linen and a delectable wedding cake was placed there, along with pies baked by Amanda. We were told the couples picked all the Iowa wild flowers themselves.

The ceremony was very nice, with reading from both sides of the family. The reception was catered from Motley Cow, followed by music & dance by the family. The whole event was very sweet and beautiful.

And we got a few family pictures of this event too!



And this was the best surprise found on our way home from the ceremony. So appropriate.