After 2 years in the making, Kori and my wedding day has come and gone. Kori and I have been together for a little over 7 years and we've spent the past 2 years preparing for one of the best days of both of our lives. Planning a wedding can be as complicated or as simple as you want to make it and we chose both of those options.

It might be completely different from her perspective but for me, a wedding feels like a lot of hurry up and then wait. You hurry to set the chairs up, wait for the ceremony, hurry to get ready, wait your turn to take a ton of pictures, hurry up to the reception, and wait to eat. The hurry up and waiting starts to feel a bit draining. The end result was everything we could've hoped for and more.

Kori and I are both pretty awful at remembering to take our own pictures and when the professional ones are finished and sent to us, I will share my favorite ones with you. For now, these will have to do.

Wedding Photos

First and foremost, this is one of my best friends, and his name is Paul. I've known Paul for so long, I can't even remember how many years it's been. Paul works in radio and before I moved to Iowa, we had joked about him being the officiant after our ceremony. That joke turned into a reality and I will never be able to repay him for what he did for Kori and me. He spoke from his heart, handled everything with class, he was patient with everyone, and it mattered to both of us that he was a part of our day.

Paul helped make this the best day of our lives and I'll love him forever for it. Not only that...he was the DJ at the reception and made the night incredibly fun for everyone. Since Paul was the officiant, he also got to sign our marriage certificate.

This was our first kiss as husband and wife! Kori was the most stunning bride I've ever seen and the rest of the bridal party looked incredible. I'm so glad I decided not to have the groomsmen and myself wear jackets. I wanted to try and make it as affordable as I could for everyone and it also ended up being pretty dang hot. How is it almost 90 at the end of September!?

We didn't even know that these giant pictures were being made but they ended up being extremely popular during the reception. Everyone took turns carrying around our giant faces and it made for some pretty funny moments.

There were 2 things for dinner that Kori and I planned that we had never seen before. I know we're not the first couple to do this but we wanted to try and do something a little bit different for the food. At the reception, we had breakfast for dinner! Kori and I are big breakfast food lovers, so for dinner, we chose to go with eggs, sausage, bacon, waffles, pancakes, and fruit. I was kind of surprised how many people would be a fan of that. Selfishly...we chose breakfast food because that's what we wanted. We also didn't choose a cake for dessert either.

Kori would've been fine with any kind of dessert but I'm not much of a dessert eater and cake is pretty close to the bottom of my favorites list. One thing I will enjoy from time to time is a good donut. In Winona, Minnesota, there is a donut shop called Bloedows Bakery. They've won awards for their donuts before.

We chose to go with these for dessert. Another thing that surprised me a little bit was how big of a hit the donuts were. People loved this idea. I'll take that as a small 1% good idea that I picked when planning this thing.

Throughout the entire process, Kori and I both had so many people who were there for us every step of the way. There wasn't a single moment we felt like we couldn't ask for help or advice on what to do. As I mentioned before, there are plenty more pictures I want to share with you but for today, these will have to do.

If I'm being honest...I'm pretty glad all of the planning is over. It can be stressful at times. I'm also a bit bummed that this will be the last time that this exact group of people is all together in one room. It's a humbling experience hearing your friends and family tell you and your new wife how proud they are of you. I'll remember everything about this day for the rest of my life and most importantly, I'm proud to be Mr. Kori.

For my ring...I just wanted something a little bit different. I actually bought this ring at the Good Makers Market here in Iowa. There is nothing wrong with the guys who wear the gold, silver, or steel bands, and I do think eventually I'll get one of those athletic ones for when I'm out running around but I really liked these rings with wood in them.

It's made from Tungsten metal and Koa Wood, which is found in Hawaii. I've had it for about a year and a half and now I can finally wear it out in public! I think it's pretty cool

Kori has worn her engagement ring for what feels like forever and now she has officially added the wedding bands.

I think it was technically a fall wedding but this will definitely be my favorite memory from the summer of 2023.