Tori and Austin’s Harmac wedding in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa was a blast; and overall was a perfect venue for their boho chic wedding! The overall industrial vibe of the building paired beautifully with the couple’s design of pampas arrangements and pops of terracotta!

The Harmac located in downtown Cedar Rapids is a unique industrial building that brings a new take to weddings, which is exactly why we love it! Gone is your typical Iowan white barn wedding that is instead replaced with character from this 1922 Industrial warehouse. The Harmac wedding venue is easily one of my favorite venues in Eastern Iowa for many reasons, but my #1 is because of their staff. Every wedding I have at The Harmac, their staff knocks it out of the park! From their bar staff team, to their event manager, and their setup and tear down crew, they always rock it!

I also love the fact that The Harmac in Cedar Rapids, Iowa has getting ready spaces for both the bride and groom! While most venues only have a bridal suite for the girls, The Harmac offers two large rooms for everyone to get ready in. After the ceremony, either room can also be transformed into a kids area, quiet space for the grandparents, or even a place to keep your pets- because the Harmac lets your bring your fur babies!

It all started back in 2015, when you could still see people’s best friends on Snapchat… Tori had recently gotten out of a relationship and thought “what the heck?” and pulled the trigger and added Austin. To her surprise, he added her back AND followed it up with a snap. It started pretty casual; seeing each other occasionally throughout early summer, attending each other’s softball games, to both of them realizing “hey I actually think I kinda like you”

February 2016, they went their separate ways for close to a year and a half, but they didn’t stay away from each other long. Fall 2017 they found their way back to each other and made it “official” again in December of 2017, and the rest they say is history.

The harmac wedding ceremony

The Harmac has two main ceremony spaces; one inside the space in a secluded room infront of a view of the city, and one on the rooftop of the building.
Tori and Austin opted for the rooftop for their ceremony, because of the gorgeous views and of course, the perfect lighting for photos!
While we had beautiful wedding decor for the ceremony, we had quite the wind storm on the rooftop, and I unfortunately had to remove the pampas arrangements and candles before the wind blew them off the roof! Our bride was also wearing a veil- that lasted about 5 seconds down the aisle before the wind snatched it off her head and I had to run down the rooftop to catch it!
Despite the wind, Tori and Austin’s intimate rooftop ceremony was beautiful, and guests loved the unique space.

The harmac wedding reception

After the rooftop ceremony, guests took the elevator down to the second floor to join the cocktail hour. During the cocktail hour, the bar was poppin’ (as per usual). But one of my favorite features the Harmac does for each of their couples, is that they make a custom ice stamp! The couple pics out a design they like which can be their initials, monogram, or wedding date, and each drink the bartenders make, they stamp the ice cubes right in front of guests! It’s such a cool feature, and guests love to see all the different stamps they get throughout the night!
While guests mingled, the couple went off for more photos, and shortly after went into their grand entrance. After their entrance, the couple cut their cake, and had their first dance before dinner was served. Once each guest had their food, we started speeches and toasts, followed by parent dances, before the dancing offically commenced!

The Harmac Wedding Decor

Tori and Austin opted for a boho chic wedding with a color scheme of terracotta, tans, and other neutrals which ended up pairing beautifully with the industrial look The Harmac has. We placed terracotta napkins along with dinner plates and gold silverware at each place setting, and placed votive candles and multi heighted pampas arrangements along the tables.

Overall I had so much fun getting to help Tori and Austin plan their wedding at The Harmac! Big thanks to all the incredible vendors who helped make the couples wedding dreams come true!

Vendor Team

Venue: The Harmac

Planner: Elizabeth Bliss Events

Photographer: AP Photo & Film

Videographer: AP Photo & Film

DJ: David Schulte

Charcuterie: Graceful Boards

Florist: The Trendy Tulip

Makeup: Beauty by Kylynn

Photo Booth: Pixel Pop Photo Booth

Dress: Embody Bridal

Tori & Austin’s Testimonial

“There aren’t enough positive words I could say about Lauren and her girls!!! They made our day run smoother than I could’ve ever imagined; not a single detail was missed or out of place. Her behind the scenes work is the star of the show because she made the big big things I was worried about (set up/tear down) happen without me even knowing! Just an absolute all star team. I am eternally grateful for her work and so thankful I found her. You will NOT regret having her for your big day!!! Much love Lauren🫶🏼”

Tori & Austin, October 5th, 2024