Dan and Kristine met on Match.com and quickly realized even prior to meeting in person that they had very similar personalities and both were young at heart. On their first date, Kristine shared with Dan her love of bubbles and how she wanted a partner who would blow bubbles with her. On their second date they dined at Twin City Grill at the Mall of America. As they left the restaurant, Dan knelt down in front of a beautiful fountain surrounded by flowers and presented two little bubble containers. When he asked her to blow bubbles with him, she knew she had found her match!
The proposal took place in the same place where Dan had knelt down in front of the fountain and asked Kristine to blow bubbles with him. Their adult children were standing on the level above them holding signs, which read “Will You Marry Me?” It was such a lovely moment shared with their children, and then they gathered for a family dinner together at Twin City Grill.
Dan grew up going to the Lake Elmo Inn Restaurant, and he had always loved the food. While searching wedding venue options, they learned the restaurant had an Event Center that the restaurant catered. They were sold after visiting with Cheryl, the event coordinator. Kristine described her as absolutely wonderful and very helpful! The entire staff at the Lake Elmo Inn Event Center were outstanding, and the food as delicious as Dan remembered.
Dan’s favorite moment of their wedding day was when the photographers captured their first look at church. He said that at that moment he knew it was all really going to happen. Kristine’s favorite memory will forever be their fairy tale reception with all their closest friends and family present and celebrating with them. Kristine described the sweetheart table as simply magical with the gold linens, white lights two large wreaths behind them. She said it felt like she was Cinderella sitting with her Prince Charming!
Kristine and Dan chose December 22nd for their wedding because Christmas is their favorite holiday. As a surprise to family and friends, Dan arranged to have Santa arrive right after dinner, which made for a lighthearted, fun night! Their musician, Michael August, played the guitar and sang throughout dinner and followed up with jazz for their dance.
Choosing a Christmas theme, Dan and Kristine wanted to use greens, reds and berries as their colors. Kristine’s favorite color is purple, so that was added into the mix. She found velvet berry colored dresses for the girls and chose for herself a dress of ivory lace.
Kristine’s vision was to have the venue turned into a scene from a fairy tale wedding. She wanted the flowers and the decor to be elegant, romantic, and beautiful. As a result, we used florals in the colors she had chosen, and then accented with gold and champagne linens and draping. We used cedar to bring in a fragrant aroma. To bring both a Christmas feel and the fairy tale vision to life, lots of white lights were added to the venue.
When we asked Kristine and Dan to send us some notes about their wedding, they wanted us to also share the following: “The thing we would like expressed is how truly LUCKY and blessed we feel to have found each other. I met Dan when I was 48 and he was 49. I have told him many times that I waited for 48 years to find my true love. We wish more than anything that we would have met sooner. It is very important for us to love each other every day in the same way Christ loves us. We know that life will not always be perfect, but we do know that we are perfect for each other. If it takes 48 years to find that kind of perfect love, then I will be forever grateful to God for bringing us together.”
“The Luckiest” Ben Folds “And I know that I am, I am, I am, the luckiest. I love you more then have ever found the way to say to you…”
See more of Dan & Kristine’s wedding in our Gallery!
These vendors also participated in Dan and Kristine’s day: Photography~8th Street Photography; Ceremony Venue ~Bethlehem Church, Bayport, MN; Venue~Lake Elmo Inn Event Center; Floral & Decor~One Precious Pearl Floral and Styling; Linens~Apres Party & Rental; Draping~Quest Events LLC; Musician~Michael August; Hair~The Wedding Stylists/Erin Dennison; Makeup~Makeup by Mindie; Dresses~Bella Bridal Boutique; Tuxes~Men’s Warehouse; Jewelry~Raffine Bridal/Nordstroms; Santa~Dan Maher
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In September of 2019 I was the owner and lead designer of a successful wedding floral design and styling business in Minnesota, and quite content with things as they were. As life would have it, however, my husband's job moved us 350 miles away. Leaving children, grandchildren, our home and my business behind, we made the move and settled in by early February 2020, just as #Covid19 started trending everywhere.
As a way to manage the upheaval of the move and the isolation of the pandemic, I turned my creativity to painting, crafting and photography. Always an entrepreneur and not yet ready to retire, I decided to start another business, One Precious Pearl...the Next Chapter.
Combining mixed media art with bookbinding, I now design and sell journals of various types. They range from vintage, modern vintage or mid century, junk, art, writing, faith or commonplace journals. I also welcome and thoroughly enjoy commissioned pieces!