The St. Paul College Club a Minnesota Wedding Venue

By jeanninemarie

When and how did you two first meet?

Andrew says he first noticed Sarah’s “beautiful smile.” Sarah says she liked Andrew’s humor, as demonstrated by a picture with a fish tail hanging out of his mouth. Both thought “why not?” and hit “like” in June 2019 while browsing on their online dating accounts. Andrew’s first message to Sarah stood out immediately. In a sea of “what’s up,” Andrew’s message was sweet and direct. Clearly, here was a rare online dater who wasn’t just “mucking about.” Heartened by successful banter online, the two decided to meet in person.

On June 15th, 2019, a nervous Sarah stood outside French Meadow on Grand Avenue (she was a bit early) waiting for Andrew to arrive. Would he show up? Would he look like his picture? Would her Luther College alum father approve of an “Ole”? She needn’t have worried about any of these thoughts. Andrew strolled up Grand Avenue with a nervous smile on his face exactly at the agreed-upon time. The conversation during that first lunch date went surprisingly well. Andrew and Sarah (both a bit cynical from years on the online dating circuit) left feeling cautiously optimistic and eager for a second date…which they scheduled for three days later. And the rest, as they say, is history.

When and how did you get engaged?

THE PROPOSAL – ON TOP OF THE WORLD 07/26/2021 The proposal was a “controlled surprise” as Sarah likes to call it. After a heart-to-heart discussion, Sarah provided some “preferred guidelines” for a proposal such as “no jumbotrons” and “you should talk to my parents and sister.” Armed with this and other knowledge, Andrew went about planning the proposal. This is his story… Sarah and I had already planned to drive out to Montana in late July to see her parents, Stephen and Joyce, a trip we had made for the first time the previous summer. For this second trip out, Sarah’s parents were gracious enough to invite my mother, Eileen, to come out as well. A trip with our parents together for the first time in scenic Bozeman seemed like the perfect opportunity for a proposal. I let Stephen, Joyce, and Eileen know that I planned to propose at some point during this trip several weeks ahead of time, but shared that I was not sure which day of the trip or where the actual proposal would take place.

Once we were all out there, when we all decided early in the trip to make a drive up the Beartooth Pass, I chose this as the perfect place for the proposal. I let Stephen, Joyce, and Eileen know about this plan, so they were ready to take lots of pictures. Sarah and I had taken a picture together at the Beartooth Pass Summit during our trip the previous year, so Sarah had no reason to be suspicious when I asked to pose for a picture at this same location again. While Sarah had her suspicions that I would use our Montana trip as the time to make the proposal, she was still genuinely caught off guard when I got on one knee and presented the ring in front of the sign indicating the Beartooth Pass Summit. It was a wonderful moment shared on top of the world together, and Sarah and I felt it was even more special that our parents were there to share it with us.

Tell us all the unique details of your wedding day!

1) Andrew’s mother is the organist at the church where we are holding our ceremony. (Don’t worry! She has the day off and there will be a different organist.) Both Sarah and Andrew have grown up with organ music so that will feature in our ceremony.

2) Sarah’s father is an ELCA Lutheran pastor (recently retired) and will be the head officiant of our ceremony. Sarah has always pictured her father performing her wedding one day. The Associate Pastor for Hamline Church will assist and bring in the Methodist tradition in which Andrew grew up.

3) We’re planning a smaller, family focused wedding. Of our 93 invited guests, the majority are family members; though both Sarah and Andrew have select friends invited as well. At the end of the day, our perfect wedding day will be more semi-formal and while there will be some traditional elements, especially for our church ceremony, we’re looking forward to a relaxed, fun reception where we can celebrate with our guests and with each other.

Tell us all the sentimental details of your wedding day!

1) Sarah’s something borrowed will be a string of her late-Nan’s pearls.

2) Sarah’s engagement ring is her maternal grandmother’s diamond (given to Grandma by Grandpa on their 50th wedding anniversary). The ring also includes a sapphire chip representing her mother’s birthstone.

3) Sarah’s father has taken up beekeeping in his retirement and he (and his bees) are providing the honey that will be used for the wedding favors.

4) Both Sarah and Andrew’s grandparents have passed on so there will be an “In memorium” set up at the reception site with a candle, sign, and photos.

5) The New Testament reading during the ceremony is the same reading Andrew’s younger brother, Joe, and his wife, Jenna, used for their wedding.

6) Sarah’s mom is hand-sewing the pedal bag the flower girl will carry down the aisle.