Randi Kate & Brad Wedding - Decorah Iowa

Randi-Kate and Brad were high school sweethearts who said I do to forever at Decorah Lutheran Church in front of all their family and friends. The amount of support and love they had from their family and friend was so sweet and very evident throughout their wedding day. Although it was oddly warm and there was no snow in sight these two still had a beautiful winter wonderland wedding day 🙂

For their reception Brad and Randi-Kate celebrated at T-bocks located in the heart of downtown Decorah.

Alison and Caleb Engagement Session | Des Moines Engagement Photographer

These two. Where do I even start. With lots of heart eyes for sure.

I met Alison and Caleb behind the Des Moines Art Center at The Clare & Miles Mills Rose Garden. They specifically requested a nature filled engagement session because like me they enjoy spending their time outside. As soon as we started the session I knew we were going to have a great time together. These two are so sweet and genuine with each other and all their tender moments together were so stinking cute. I was saying “Oh my gosh you guys are the cutest'“ every other photo and they’d just smile and continue to be the cutest.

By the middle and end of the session Caleb asked for few specific poses which I LOVED. Can all guys be this into their engagement session? 😉 These two were so trusting of me and were up for whatever which had my heart pitter pattering and it paid off big time. Scroll through to see for yourself!

Okay, story time about the next set of photos.

At our second location, Caleb had a book under his arm and explained when they were in South Africa they would go to book stores and buy different books together. When family visited they made them take books back because they had so many. So now they have all these books they collected in their home and mementos of their time in South Africa together. He wanted to incorporate one of the books because they spent 6 months together in South Africa. My sentimental heart about exploded.

I love how intentional these two are with their relationship. From the stories they told me to the way the held each other during their session; I cannot wait for their wedding at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden this August.

DIY Patio Chairs

My husband and I had our eyes on patio furniture this last summer, but didn't like the price tags of what we were seeing, so we decided to take matters into our own hands. We went where I assume all first time DIYers go: Pinterest. After lots of scrolling, we stumbled upon these chairs and knew they were the ones for us. 

Jon grew up doing a lot home projects with his dad and I having a degree in art felt confident we could build the chairs together. We decided to cut the wood ourselves after getting the materials from Lowes (This was a mistake, but a good learning experience). Cutting the wood turned out to be much tricker than we anticipated, but we got through it and became a better team because of it. FYI most places that sell the wood will cut it for free, all you have to do is supply them the measurements. I recommend doing this to save time and frustration if you've never cut wood yourself before. If you enjoy cutting wood in your spare time, then this is the project for you! 

Us after picking up the wood at Lowes and fitting it into our tiny car. 

The directions by Ana White were straight forward and easy to follow. We made a few small and correctable mistakes along the way, but this was just because we were newbies and looked at something too quickly or wrong. My advice would be to triple check everything before cutting and screwing the pieces together. Definitely worth the extra seconds it takes. 

Mia checking out the chairs and making sure they are up to her standards.

After buying the wood we looked for stain. We both gravitated towards the darker, contrasty look and Minwax Red Oak 215 was the perfect fit for us. We also bought a grey stain to add to the dark stain, but after completing the dark stain we decided we liked the color as is. 

The finished chair without cushions

The one thing we didn't anticipate was how hard it would be to find chair cushions under $50 each. We had only paid $50 total for wood didn't want to spend more than that on the cushions. We searched online and in stores and ended up waiting a few weeks. We even looked into making the cushions, but we had no sewing experience and the materials would have cost the same as professionally made cushions. Eventually, we were able to snag two sets for $30 each from Lowes.

The final chairs cushions and all!

In the end, this was a really rewarding and fun project. Jon and I decided once it is warmer out we want to start doing at least one DIY project a month together. Do you have any projects you are looking forward to this spring/summer? Comment and share your favorite DIY projects!