How did you meet?We met at Canby High School. My older brother offered to let me use his car to take Todd out on our first date.
Place of Marriage: St. Peter's Catholic Church, Canby
How did you meet?
We met at Canby High School. My older brother offered to let me use his car to take Todd out on our first date.
Who proposed and how?
Todd came home on leave from the army in June 1984 and said that he had $400 to spend on an engagement ring. We went to the jewelry store and found the perfect ring.
How long were you engaged?
One year. We got married on June 29, 1985.
How large was your wedding?
We had four attendants and about 350 guests.
What food was served?
We had chicken with all the trimmings. One of our groomsmen ate 13 chicken legs, defeating a bridesmaid who could only eat eight wings.
What was the most memorable
moment at your wedding?
Todd's grandmother was not able to attend the wedding. So after the reception, we made a to-go plate and went to visit her. Those pictures with her are very precious to us.
What was your most
memorable wedding gift?
Uncle Eldon installed a hitch on our 1985 Plymouth Horizon so that we could pull our U-Haul trailer to Fort Hood, Texas.
Who caught the bouquet and
did they have to shove to get it?
My high school friend, Vicky, graciously caught the bouquet. (She is still single today.)
Whose relatives, or friends,
had the most fun at the reception?
This may be hard to believe but Todd's relatives from Racine, Wis., were "well known" by the end of the evening. My mother also said that our wedding party was the loudest she had ever heard.
Where did you go
for a honeymoon?
We received a wedding gift of one night's lodging in Pipestone, Minn., at the Calumet Hotel. We then honeymooned for one year in Killeen, Texas, while Todd finished his army stint.
What do you do to keep
romance alive in your marriage?
It's the little things, like sending an e-mail or a voicemail, leaving a note in Todd's briefcase, filling Mary's car with gasoline, and never leaving without a hug.
One of the most romantic things that Todd ever did was spending two hours digging through all of the dust and debris in the vacuum cleaner bag looking for my lost diamond from my wedding ring. Five years ago, during our move from Virginia, Minn., to Paynesville, I noticed that my diamond was missing. I was so upset that I think I cried halfway here.
A few days after unpacking and moving into our new house here, Todd took the vacuum cleaner bag out to the garage and spent the next two hours searching for my lost diamond. I fell in love with him all over again when he ran into the house with the diamond in his hand.
Today, I wear that diamond around my neck. When Todd took the ring and the diamond to the jeweler for repair, he replaced the original diamond in my wedding ring with a larger one and had my original one set into a pendant.
If you could travel back
in time to your wedding day, what advice for maintaining
a happy marriage would you
give yourselves?
Marriage is not a 50/50 deal - it's 100 percent all of the time. The more you give, the better it gets.