Jake and Tanesha got married at the beautiful Millwork District Ballroom in Dubuque, Iowa. The two of them have a huge interest in Oriental/Japanese culture, so they wanted cherry blossoms and a color palette of teal (Tanesha’s favorite color), white, blush, raspberry and silver. About 70 guests got to see the couple exchange vows on that cold and rainy day, and Tanesha claims what made the day the most special was that she “was going to, finally, officially become a Thomsen. I had been accepted into Jake’s family for a long time and he in mine, so it made me happy for it to finally be offical.”
The story of how Jake and Tanesha came to be a couple is almost like the plot of a movie. At the beginning of June of 2013, Jake was in the Coast Guard in Dubuque, Iowa, and would hang out at a bar called The Lounge that Tanesha’s great-grandma owned. Tanesha would help out at the bar on the weekends during the summer, and one slow night with no other customers around, Jake, thinking the bar might be closed, hesitantly came in and sat at the bar. Tanesha, claming that Jake is more of a listener than a talker, says the night was spent with her “serving him Coors Light and giving him [her] whole life story.” After that night, Jake continued to come in while Tanesha was working, they talked and exchanged texts, and about a month later on the Fourth of July is where Tanesha claims they went from just friends to a potential romantic relationship. Four years after they met, the couple moved to Oregon when Jake finished his time with the Coast Guard, and the following year they decided they wanted to get married. According to Tanesha, there was wasn’t much of a proposal. They started talking about getting married and after that, everything just kind of fell in to place. She got an engagment ring for Christmas in 2018, and they got married on March 9th, 2019!
Some advice from Tanesha for future brides would be to “let the professionals do their job, it’s what they are paid to do, and they have way more experience than you will every have.”
Jake and Tanesha had this to say about their photography experience: “[It was] amazing. [Stephanie] was flexible, creative, concise, and easy to work with. No matter what was going on she seemed to always have a smile on and enjoying everything. The pictures also turned out amazing, and she took so many it was hard to choose which ones I wanted to actually print.” 
Photographer – Stephanie Marie Photography
Event Planning – Emily McMahon with Soiree Wedding Planning – Note from bride and groom regarding their experience with Emily: “She was amazing, because we had to plan a wedding from Oregon for Iowa it was really important to have a good planner, and she was not just good, she was excellent.”
Flowers – Hydrangea Bloom
Music /DJ – Riley Mullane, Premium DJ
Dress – Boutique: Ania Bridal in Portland, Oregon. Designer: Zamera by Maggie Sottero in Antique Ivory/Pewter
Shoes – Teal Glitter Heels by ChelseaDeyDesigns on Etsy
Suit – Charcoal Canali Suit from Nordstrom
Venues – Millwork District Ballroom in Dubuque, Iowa
Catering – Millwork District
Cake and Cupcakes – Candle Ready Cakes
Videography – Eyeworks Studios
Hair – Hillary and Abby at Embrace Salon and Spa
Rings – Diamond was custom, bands were from Embr
Other – Placecards/welcome sign: Painting for Cheese
Wedding day Hashtag – #neeshandjakecutthecake
Wedding colors – Teal, Blush, Raspberry, White, Silver
First dance song – Have it all by Jason Mraz
Leave a Reply