He was her grade school crush

By Celeste Edenloff

Abigail (Hanson) Doherty and her husband, Tyler, both grew up outside of Alexandria. They now reside just outside of Brandon.

She teaches preschool at the Early Education Center in Alexandria and Tyler is a lineman for Runestone Electric Association. She said they have two beautiful daughters – Leni, 2 and Loretta, 6 months.

“We love spending time outside as a family and stay pretty busy from spring to summer, as we have a little hobby farm where we raise pigs, meat chickens and maintain a big garden,” said Abigail. She answered the followed questions:

QHow/where did you meet?

ATyler and I actually went to grade school together (we attended Lincoln Elementary) and grew up as friends. I always had a crush on Tyler growing up, but once we made it to middle school, we slowly drifted into our own friend groups and did not become close friends again until senior year of high school. We officially started dating in the fall of 2014, and the rest is history!

QWhat’s your proposal story?

AToward the end of my senior year of college, I really started joking/asking about when I was going to be getting a ring as we were already building a house on the 33 acres of land we found outside of Brandon, and I knew he had already asked my parents’ permission. On our dating anniversary, we had decided to go out to dinner at D. Michael B’s in the mall. That was also when Karrow Jewelers was located there. After we were done eating, Tyler had suggested going to look at rings at Karrow’s, so he could get an idea of what I liked. Tyler ended up going back into Karrow Jewelers a couple days later to buy the ring. He then proposed a couple weeks later in what was then our framed up house we were in the process of building. I said “YES!,” and we started the process of wedding planning. Little did we know what was in store for us come 2020.

QWhen and where did you get married?

AWe got married June 20, 2020, at Long Lake Lodge near Brandon.

QHow did you decide that location?

AWe decided on Long Lake Lodge as it was about four miles from our house, and it had all the amenities that we were looking for in a venue.

QWhat was your favorite part of your wedding day?

AThere were a lot of favorites about our wedding, but I would have to say my favorite part was just being able to have a wedding! It had been a long and stressful five months of replanning a wedding around COVID. But even though it was not what we had originally planned, it was as normal as a wedding could have been during a pandemic. With everyone dealing with stress and a lot of canceling due to the pandemic, we really wanted to create a fun day for everyone. We had a photo booth, two bounce houses, yard games, a bonfire once it got dark and we also hosted prom for all of our cousins/guests that did not get to celebrate it due to schools being online. Overall, it did turn out to be the perfect day!

QWhat advice do you have for newly engaged couples?

ALeading up to your wedding day/day of your wedding, don’t stress the small stuff. In the end, it is about getting to marry your best friend and start a new and exciting season of life together. And on your wedding day, TAKE PICTURES AND VIDEOS. Professional pictures are great to get, but it’s the candid pictures/videos that were taken on your phone or sent to you by a loved one that you will love to look back on.