Nikki + Mager

Jul 15

April in Iowa is always a bit unpredictable. The kind of month where the sky keeps you guessing. For Nikki and Mager, their Friday evening elopement unfolded beneath a heavy, dreamy blanket of clouds. The air was cool, but not unkind. Green had just begun to stretch its fingers across the land, though the flowers were still curled in sleep, not quite ready to bloom.

We began the evening tucked inside the Couple’s Cabin, where Nikki’s mother gently helped her into her dress. Laughter spilled through the room; Nikki’s two best friends keeping things light with their jokes and joyful chatter. The energy was bright, full of that giddy kind of calm that settles just before something beautiful begins.

Soon, Nikki stepped onto the stone path, her father by her side, following a trail of soft purple petals into the heart of the conservatory. Mager waited with a quiet eagerness, and the moment their eyes met, the world around them seemed to soften. After three years together, this was the moment and it had only been three weeks since they decided to elope.

Their ceremony felt deeply personal, even playful, with nods to their first connection at Olive Garden; a love story that began over shared meals and turned into a forever kind of thing. The officiant wove those memories into something that felt entirely them.

After vows and kisses and joyful tears, we wandered the property for photos. Nikki moved like she’d done this before; confident, radiant, completely in her element. They made my job far too easy.

As the sky dimmed, the two of them slipped away into the woods for one final moment, a private exchange of handwritten vows with only the conservatory behind them and the hush of evening settling in. A perfect close to their perfectly imperfect April day.