A Romantic Farm Wedding at Lakeside Occasions in Topeka, Indiana

Jennifer Beakas (25, Kindergarten Teacher and Coach) met Andy Williams (26, Physical Education Teacher and Coach) at Manchester College in 2008. The two co-eds were both members of the Manchester cross-country teams, but it wasn’t until 2010 that the two went on their first date. The two dated for 18 months before graduation, after which both accepted teaching and coaching jobs in their hometowns. The two maintained a semi-long distance relationship for two years, driving an hour to see each other every weekend.Andy proposed to Jennifer in June 2013 at Warren Dunes Park on Lake Michigan. The two spent the sunny day at the beach and then climbed to the top of a secluded sand dune to enjoy a picnic dinner. After dinner, Andy passed Jennifer their dessert, a treat from her favorite bakery. “At the bottom of the dessert pan was a note, in which Andy calculated the number of miles he had ran before he met me and after he met me (which totaled tens of thousands of miles!),” says Jennifer. “He said that he would run all of those miles again in a heartbeat if it meant he got to spend the rest of his life with me.”Over the course of their year-long engagement, Jennifer and Andy planned a barn wedding to be held in the heart of Amish country at Lakeside Occasions in Topeka, Indiana. “I knew I wanted a rustic aesthetic, and I when I found the newly renovated wedding barn, located on a tiny lake on a quiet country road, I knew it was the perfect venue. Andy had grown up on a farm, so we loved the idea of having a barn wedding,” says Jennifer. Surrounded by 270 of their closest friends and family members, Jennifer and Andy said “I do” under a gazebo on the venue property and celebrated in the classic red barn.