REAL BRIDE: Amelia

Justin + Amelia Parker

4.12.19

Pretty confident that today’s featured wedding is the most fun wedding we’ve posted thus far. The Parker’s wedding is laidback in the best way + happiness radiates out of e v e r y o n e in their photography by Missie LaFrenz! We love that Amelia + Justin really made their day about celebrating them [ I mean, that’s what weddings should be about! ] + every detail reflects on their relationship + their new union as husband + wife. Plus, The Iowa Taproom is seriously so good + their mural is the ultimate wedding photo background.

Keep scrolling to read all about Justin + Amelia’s wedding + a little bit about their love story! Amelia is hilarious, relaxed + straight up one of the coolest, most down to earth brides we’ve ever encountered + we are so glad we get to call her a #swbbkcbride. <3

How did the two of you meet?

“Justin + I met in Ames, Iowa while we were both attending Iowa State University. We met at a bar through mutual friends + then just kept running into each other separately - like in the laundry room. Turns out we both lived in the same apartment complex as well. So we really fell in love over drinks + laundry detergent haha!”

How did you know your gown was the one?

“I actually fell in love with my dress while visiting Something White’s website. It was literally the only dress that I found online that I was able to picture on myself. So, of course after seeing that I immediately made my appointment. When we showed up I showed it to my consultant + it was the first dress I tired on. I loved it then, but I didn’t realize how much I loved it until I tried on other dresses + wasn’t as happy or immediately thought back about that one. Then once I put it back on after trying on a few others I knew it was the one!”

Tell us about the proposal!

“Justin popped the question after having my ring for AN ENTIRE YEAR, while we were vacationing + attending a wedding in Key West. [ Don’t worry he didn’t propose AT the wedding, just that week. ] We went to a really nice dinner + then were walking on the beach + that’s where he got down on one knee. That was in December of 2017!”

How did the two of you decide on April 12th?

“Justin + I didn’t have a special date in mind, we just wanted to make sure our venue fit our needs. So our date wasn’t really picked by us, it was just the first available date that our venue had open. LOL not the most romantic story, but we are really happy with our date + how everything turned out. Originally we had a Friday wedding ruled out, but we LOVED our venue + having a Friday wedding was awesome, because we definitely needed two days to recover afterwards.”

What was one of your favorite moments from your wedding day?

“My favorite memory from our wedding day is when we exchanged vows. Both Justin + I wrote our vows + read them to each other during the ceremony. It was magical + super hard to do in front of 170 people, but it really meant a lot of both of us to remind everyone why we were there + to celebrate the love between us.”

Did you have a specific theme in mind while planning?

“We didn’t really have a theme for our wedding - we just really wanted it to be tailored to us. We are both very laid back so we wanted a very relaxed environment + for everything to fit our style. We didn’t want to choose what anyone wore, so we just told people they could wear any jewel toned clothing + for it to fit their style. Never in my life did I think I would wear a princess style dress, but I cannot imagine a different dress.”

Where did you draw your inspiration + ideas from?

“Since Justin + I had been dating for so long, I had a Pinterest wedding board, so that helped me solidify our colors + what Justin would wear. Then I just took those colors + ran with them. I gave the people at Molly’s Cupcakes + the florist from HyVee a general idea of what I wanted + let them run with it + put their own style on it. I was so happy to see things for the first time that day, everyone did such a good job! So really just trusting in people who are in the business helped me a lot, so I didn’t have to stress about the little stuff.”

Wedding Dress Cleaning And Preservation_Kansas City

What advice would you give to other brides in regard to dress shopping?

“Stick with your gut! Each dress is going to make you feel a different way, but listen to your gut + get what you want! Don’t listen to anyone else + do what makes you comfortable.”