Brianna + Colston’s Wedding Day Pros

PREMIER HEARTLAND WEDDING IDEAS VENDORS:
Venue // Emerald Hills Events
Event Planning // Honey & Joy Events
Floral // Shelly Sarver Designs

Photographer Brooke Pavel | Videographer Lighthouse Film Co. | Caterer Pancheros, burritos with queso and charcuterie board done by Emerald Hills Events | Cake or Dessert Molly’s Cupcakes | Hair & Makeup Kelsey Klein Salon | Wedding Dress Modern Dress | Menswear Skeffington’s Formalwear | Stationery & Calligraphy Painting For Cheese | Rentals Borrow My Vintage | Bartender Charlotte’s Shenanigans | Photobooth All Things Good Photo Bus Company | Officiant Deacon Jeff Boehlert, Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Church

See all the vendors we LUST for, that can help you with your big day!

First, let’s announce the WINNERS!

When weddings had to drastically change during the pandemic, there were four Iowa businesswomen with a goal to continue to serve couples and spread joy during a difficult time. Brooke Pavel, Karla Lewenczuk, Shelly Sarver, and Abby Ewing decided to give back and launched the Iowa Petite Wedding Giveaway! They worked with many other local wedding pros to create a prize package worth over $20K+ to give away to one lucky couple!

Thanks to voting from people like you, we're excited to share with you the winning couple. Congratulations to Brianna & Colston! Here's to the years of laughter and love to come.

Let’s start from the beginning.

It was at Iowa State University, Brianna, majoring in mechanical engineering and Colston in mathematics when the two met. "Colston was also a wrestler, and I wasn't so sure I wanted to date an athlete," Brianna told us. After 7 attempts to sway her, Colston finally got his date, and Brianna decided on ice cream. "At least since ice cream melts if the date was terrible, it wouldn't last very long ... " But that turned out not to be a problem. The ice cream shop employees finally had to kick them out at closing time because they had talked all evening. It was clear these two were destined for each other.

2020 was not an easy year for anyone to plan a wedding, but the pandemic was the least of Brianna and Colston's worries. They set a date for May 16th and started to get moving. Then in February, before anything had changed due to the pandemic, their venue closed its doors! The couple quickly scrambled to find the Tea Room miraculously had the date open! It felt like they had it figured out, and of course, the pandemic hit, and with the couple living in Washington D.C., travel back to Iowa to continue planning was next to impossible. Then the final blow came just weeks before their wedding day. Colston, who still wrestled, injured his knee, had surgery, and was in a wheelchair for 10 weeks as he recovered. Needless to say, May 16th was not going to happen, and went in search of a new plan.

When they saw the Facebook post for the Petite Wedding Giveaway, they decided to take a chance and enter, and the rest was history. They were shocked at every turn, from being a top couple for voting to all their family and friends supporting them along the way. It was a fantastic experience they'll never forget.

Congrats to such a sweet couple.

AND THEY WON! "We really didn't fully understand the magnitude until our actual wedding day; it was jaw-droppingly gorgeous," Brianna told us. "Let me tell you that this group of professionals are hands down THE DREAM TEAM. They went above and beyond to make our day perfect."

The wedding didn't have a theme. It was more like a feeling. Think beautiful, relaxed, modern, Palm Springs, and it shows. The day was full of sunkissed florals and sprays of palm fronds, with colors of pinks and peaches everywhere. The couple, of course, wanted personal touches too, so it was Pancheros for dinner! While living in D.C., every trip back to Iowa, Brianna's mom would pick them up with Pancheros in hand, so it was a no-brainer. And Brianna's mom surprised her with a special gift, her original engagement diamond set in a necklace for her daughter. Many happy tears were shed as her mom put it around Brianna's neck on the morning of the wedding.

It was SOOO special to the couple that they could celebrate their big day, in a small way. It allowed for their most vulnerable family members to attend with no worries. And with only 30 guests, they were able to talk and enjoy everyone throughout the night. "Plan whatever wedding is right for you and your partner. Everyone will have an opinion, but the only opinions that matter are the ones you value. Enjoy the process because the challenges along the way are just meant to bring you closer together.