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By Celeste Edenloff

Amy and Levi Doherty were born and raised in Alexandria. By day, Levi works at ALP Utilities and Amy works at Herzog Property Management. At night, the couple renovates houses together around the Alexandria area and manages their retail properties.

Amy answered the followed questions:

QHow/where did you meet?

AWe met in 7th grade science class and I used to pick on Levi for having hat hair. At this point in time, though, he was too afraid to talk to girls, so he didn’t really acknowledge me. Fast forward to 10th grade (this was in 2013) at Jefferson High School. We had all but one class together and we were assigned as lab partners the second semester of the school year. I knew that Levi had quite the sweet tooth, so I convinced my mom to make a pit stop at a gas station every morning before going to school so that I could buy a bag of candy to share with Levi. I knew that the only way to Levi’s heart was through his sweet tooth.

QWhat’s your proposal story?

AWe were in the middle of renovating our first house together, and it was the night before Easter. A thunderstorm rolled through around midnight and Levi got up to go and check something outside (the ring basket) when he noticed something moving under the deck. He wasn’t sure if it was a skunk or a raccoon when suddenly a scared dog snuck out. Levi let the dog in the house and while he was making a bed for the dog by the wood stove, the dog quickly came and startled me awake. The dog eventually found its way to its bed and slept through the night.

As soon as I woke up, there was an Easter basket on the table, but I didn’t pay much attention, since it was filled with all of Levi’s favorite candy, fishing lures and a bird house. Levi, however, was not going to let me get ready for church until I opened every last egg in the basket – each one filled with more of Levi’s favorite candy.

Finally, I got to the last egg, the only golden one in the basket. To my surprise, when I opened it, there was a beautiful ring inside and as I turned around, Levi was down on one knee with our overnight guest – the stray dog. He asked, “Will you marry me?” I gladly said, “Yes!”

We never did figure out who the dog belonged to, but once we let it out in the morning, it took off and then we never saw it again.

QWhen and where did you get married?

ADue to COVID-19, we were lucky enough to have two weddings. Our first wedding was on Aug.13, 2020 at St. Mary’s Church in Alexandria. We were only allowed to have about 20 friends and family there. It was a beautiful day, sunny and 75 degrees. After our small wedding at the church, we went to Gathered Oaks for what was originally supposed to be our groom’s dinner, and had a quick rehearsal for our second wedding. Technically, it was a vow renewal that was conducted by my older brother, Justin. It was to take place the very next day.

The next day, Aug. 14, Alexandria received over three inches of rain. It poured all day long and finally let up right as guests were starting to arrive. After everyone had taken their seats, the wedding party was all standing at the altar and I was beginning my walk down the aisle when the tornado sirens went off. Thankfully, we had tents and I had purchased plenty of umbrellas to go around because right as we were saying our vows, it began to downpour once more.

As guests grew more and more uncomfortable squeezing closer and closer together under the tent to avoid getting rained on, our love for this very moment grew more and more.

You see, we have always had a love for storms and during the planning phases of our initial Catholic wedding, we had asked the priest if it would be possible to sprinkle the guests with holy water like they do periodically at Sunday masses. The priest said that that was not “normal” and had never been done before and that he was not open to doing it. Thankfully, God had different plans and completely drenched each and every guest in His holy water.

As the wedding party and guests ran up the stairs to Gathered Oaks, we all had to remain in the basement until the storm let up. Each and every person in that basement could hardly keep from laughing because we were all soaking wet. As we made our way through the soaked crowd to greet guests, just about everyone shared some sort of old wives tale about rain on your wedding day and told us, “This is going to be a hard wedding to forget.”

It was the most perfect day.

QHow did you decide that location?

AWe chose to get married at St. Mary’s because that is the church both of us grew up in. There is a picture of both of us at our Sunday School Christmas concert when we were about 4 years old, just two rows apart from each other. There is another picture of both of us at First Communion, again two rows apart from each other. As young teenagers, we used to spend every Sunday morning staring across the church at one another as we sat with our own families.

We chose Gathered Oaks as our reception/vow renewal location because in high school we used to kayak from my parent’s house on Lake Louise, up to little Lake Charlie, where there was this old farm house set perfectly up on the hill. It’s where we began dreaming of fixing up houses and what our future together would hold. When this farm house became Gathered Oaks, it was the perfect choice for our wedding.

The day after our vow renewal at Gathered Oaks, we canoed back to my parents house in my grandpa’s canoe. It was certainly the “calm after the storm” – clear blue skies and not even the smallest hint of wind.

QWhat was your favorite part of your wedding day?

AOur favorite part of our wedding day was learning to embrace all that life has for us. Leading up to our wedding, we had a lot of various things working against us. To name a few – Raapers restaurant, our caterer, started on fire and my dress got smoke damage (the shop I bought it from was nearby); our original photographer canceled on us 60 days before our wedding due to COVID-19; we had to uninvite people due to COVID-19; we had to make the hard decision to have two weddings due to COVID-19; and we got lots and lots of rain.

But, with each obstacle, it became more and more clear what truly mattered to us – each other and honoring our sweet little love story with a beautiful wedding, no matter what was thrown our way. Fire, wind and rain – there was no stopping us.

In the end, all of the things that at one point seemed as though they were working against us, turned out even more magical than either of us could have ever dreamed. Truthfully, it’s a lesson that we decided, at the altar, in the rain and to incorporate into our married life as well, “No matter the obstacle, no matter the peak or valley, it’s you and me forever.”

QWhat advice do you have for newly engaged couples?

ALife is full of so many seasons, and while you’re in the thick of the season, it sometimes feels like it’s never going to end. But then when you fast forward a couple of years, it feels like that season was so short.

Our advice for newly engaged couples is to just have fun while you plan your special day.

When you are standing at the altar with your love, all of the things that once caused you stress or fear about your wedding day really don’t matter. It’s almost like everything fades away and you get a little glimpse of heaven and everything just makes sense.