Love in Longville

This past weekend one of my favorite couples around tied the knot. You may remember from pics that Bry was a bridesmaid in my wedding a few weeks ago~!

Bryana has been one of my best friends since first grade. We were on our way to Oxbow park with our classmates and I was all ready for the day in a zoo-themed sweatsuit. Everyone made fun of my outfit- but not Bryana. She sat by me  on the bus and didn’t make fun of my outfit. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. She moved away in fourth grade, but we remained penpals. Bryana invited friends and families to share memories and toasts at the rehearsal dinner, and I had fun embarrassing Bryana by reading aloud some of the letters she had written to me over the years. The last letter I read was one she had sent me about Dan when they first dated in middle school. As she said then and will say now, “he’s sweet, funny, romantic and very attractive.” (-;

The two of them have grown up together, completed college and Master’s Degrees together, and are about to embark on their careers up in the Northwoods together. They are such a great couple, it was evident throughout the wedding weekend that they are a perfect pair. My favorite example took place during the gift opening on Sunday. Dan's friends play a game where they hide bottles of Schmirnoff ice and if you are the unlucky (or lucky, depending on your perspective) person to find the bottle, you have to take a knee and gulp it down. As Bry and Dan opened their gifts from the groomsmen, sure enough there were two bottles of Schmirnoff Ice in the package. Like champs, they took a knee and gulped it down!

Bryana's ceremony was extremely personal. Dan's grandmother played the harp during the prelude, his sister played the flute during the unity candle and his mom played the violin as we processed. Katie and I also sang "Take me the Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson as Bryana walked in, we had to fight back tears as we sang.  Instead of lighting a unity candle, Bryana and Dan's parents poured lake from their respective lakes into a small bowl. Then the maid of honor and best man placed the rings into the water for a blessing before the vows. Their vows were so sincere and meaningful, as Bryana struggled to say her vows through tears of joy, I took a look out into the crowd- there wasn't a dry eye to be seen. To top it all off, her uncle was the officiant and their dog, Shadow, was the flowergirl.

Bry grew her own sunflowers for the big day, they were beautiful! They lined the stairs from the cabin and some were taller than the cabin itself. One of the bridesmaids, Kenora, was talented enough to make them into beautiful bouquets! Kenora also made all the adorable signs in the pictures below. We nearly had a disaster on the dock during photos, but luckily no one got wet (well, except the groomsmen who had to repair the dock before the ceremony!)

The rain held off, but Bry had an umbrella just in case! She loved the umbrella so much that when it fell off the pontoon into the lake she sacrificed her whole look by instantly dropping to the floor of the pontoon and reaching into the lake to grab the umbrella, typical Bryana.

After the wedding we hopped on pontoons, one for the groomsmen and one for the bridesmaids. We had fun tossing the football back and forth and dancing. At one point some of the groomsmen pretended that they were hopping on our boat to mix and mingle the parties, not wanting to be left out, some of the girls hopped over onto the men's boat. At the last second the boys hopped back onto their original pontoon with a cooler of beer from the ladies' boat in tow. Scoundrels! Luckily, I was one of the girls that hopped onto the boys' boat!

When the pontoons pulled up to Patrick's, the whole crowd was waiting to greet us as we processed in from the dock. In the mayhem... the keys were lost and in the middle of dinner we noticed one of the pontoons was drifting from the dock. When some of the groomsmen went out to save the day, once again, they realized there were no keys!

The speeches, dinner, conversations and dancing were all wonderful. One of the highlights was watching Travis dance in a bucket.... It's a family tradition that if a younger sibling marries before the older sibling, the older sibling has to dance in a bucket because they are "washed-up".

Anyway, I'm rambling, but take a look at the pics of Bry's perfect day!

You can see the bowed dock, the flowergirl, Bry's cute little accessory and some of her flowers!

Bry and Dan at the rehearsal

Our friend Tessa did most of the hair, she is so talented!



Had so much fun dancing to the awesome band Wildwood!



Dan's groomsmen made their invites which I turned into a candle. Bryana and some coworkers made those adorable wine bottle centerpieces out of hot glue and spray paint. Bryana and Dan made little articles about each member of the wedding party so guests could put names to faces and read about how Bry and Dan knew each member of the party. She also had a mason jar for a honeymoon fund, smart girl!

Pontoon ride!

Some of the decorations, Kenora made the bouquets and the ceremony sign, my little sister and I made the Cook*Ryan sign and Bryana grew the sunflowers!