breanna + erik

from Area Woman Magazine Feb/Mar '19

by Lake & Home Magazine | Area Woman Magazine

fun events with family and friends

JULY 7, 2018

When high school sweethearts Breanna and Erik began planning their wedding, they set about infusing personal touches into every single detail. They started by choosing a meaningful wedding date that reflected their seven years together: 07-07-18. “We wanted it to be us. Very unique and nothing generic,” Breanna says.

Breanna’s love for flowers sparked their use throughout the entire day, from the invites, to décor, to the one-of-a-kind rose petal aisle installation. Ranee, of Flowers by Ranee, included roses everywhere and came up with the rose aisle installation idea as a nod to the bride’s middle name, Rose. As the wedding party walked down the aisle to begin the ceremony, the rose petals spread out creating a beautiful pink carpet for the bride. Erik says his favorite moment was watching her walk down the aisle.

During the ceremony, the couple donned safety glasses to pour two flasks of liquid into a large beaker creating a chemical reaction that turned the united liquid pink. “We are pretty nerdy and like science stuff so we wanted something showy and meaningful to us,” Breanna says. She used her nursing and science background to create the unity ceremony based off the saying, “When people meet and there is a chemical reaction.” They saved the resulting pink liquid and turned it into Christmas ornaments to hang on their tree each year.

After the vows, guests headed over to the barn for dinner and dancing where they signed a homemade periodic table guest book, which now hangs on the newlyweds’ wall at home. The couple opted for custom Sandy’s Donuts instead of a traditional cake. The donuts were reflective of memories of mornings spent having breakfast at Sandy’s while the couple lived in Fargo. Guests took home jars of homemade salsa from the newlyweds, who grew all the vegetables and made the salsa themselves. This romantic, hot summer wedding ended with nighttime photos and a sparkler send-off.

Detail-oriented Breanna had everything planned out and structured so the couple could relax and enjoy the day. “Our vendors played a huge part in making the day really successful because they were all very genuine,” says Breanna. “I came up with a lot of crazy ideas and they just said let’s see how we can make that work.” Photographer Abby Anderson and the DJ from Harmon Entertainment were key in creating schedules for the day that went off without a hitch, which made for a very relaxing, blissful day. Breanna’s advice for couples planning their wedding day is to plan ahead of time as much as possible and don’t leave anything to the last minute because that’s when it gets stressful. “Things you plan to do yourself, do as much ahead of time as you can so you aren’t stressed about finishing them last minute.” ceremony + reception: Rustic Oaks photography: