All eyes were fixed on England as Harry and Meghan’s royal wedding captivated the nations. In Cannon Falls, Minnesota though, it was a different story. It was a day 7 years in the making and 200 people were so excited to celebrate with Troy and Danielle as they started their marriage adventure.

They met and became friends when they were in high school. Danielle’s dad was a teacher at their school and had Troy in class. After graduation, they went off to separate colleges- Daneille to Milwaukee and Troy to the University of Minnesota. They started dating and during their freshman year, and Danielle declared that Troy was the man she was going to marry one day.

Her dad rolled his eyes. Not because he didn’t like Troy but because it’s not too often that relationships last at that young of an age, especially long distance.

They surprised everyone though when they not survived in 5 years of a long-distance relationship but thrived. They are both very motivated and dedicated to their education, but they still made each other a priority.  McKenzie, Danielle’s friend and roommate from college, said in her maid of honor speech that they always made time for each other, texting and calling daily, no matter what they had going on at the time.

Weekends were spent taking trips to go visit each other. In recent years, they bought a fixer-upper house and spent their weekends together working on renovating it from the ground up. Troy has always been handy but Danielle learned to be handy along the way as well.

She would work hard at school all week and then make the 10 hour round-trip drive to help with the house. They spent their weekends together painting and installing flooring.

Although Danielle’s dad was skeptical at first about this young relationship, Troy kept showing up and becoming more and more invested in the Haala family through the years. Ron and Jolene realized he might be the real deal and was a man full of integrity who cared deeply for their daughter.

Family and friends eagerly waited for Troy to pop the question, especially after I had them model for me in this engagement adventure session in July 2016. However, Troy had something a little more interesting in mind! His family took a trip together to Ireland that September, and Troy got down on one knee on the gorgeous Dingle Peninsula.

His family knew ahead of time that Troy was going to propose in that location. When Danielle found a bracelet she loved in one of the stores along the way and got to get it engraved with one word, she was really confused why everyone said she should get Dingle engraved on it but was happy to have it after the proposal since that spot would forever be theirs.

That brings us to May 19. The day of the royal wedding, but more importantly the day two best friends committed their lives to each other at their family church in Inver Grove Heights and spent the night celebrating at Cannon Falls Winery.

I grew up boating with Troy, and our families have been friends for more than 20 years. I can confidently say that I’ve never seen Troy smile this much. He couldn’t take his eyes off his stunning bride. They kept stealing little glances, smiles and kisses. During the ceremony, they kept reaching over to grab each other’s hands. It was an honor to document their day, and I’m so excited for these two best friends to start their marriage adventure!

Thanks to all of the incredible people who helped make this day so awesome!

Getting Ready Location – Grandstay Cannon Falls

Ceremony Venue- St. Patrick’s Church – Inver Grove Heights

Portrait Location – Cannon River Vineyard

Reception Venue- Cannon River Winery

Photographer – Lumos Images

Second Shooter- Laura Alpizar

Videographer – Adagio (John and Joel)

DJ – Chelsea with Adagio

Makeup and Hair – Chelsea and Daniella

Flowers- Paige’s Posey’s (Nancy)

Dress- Wedding Shoppe Inc

Groom’s Attire – Josephson’s – Red Wing

Invitations – Minted

Catering – Cannon River Catering