Kelly + Devin

A winter wedding in Minnesota might not be every couple’s first choice, but it’s always been Kelly’s dream. She grew up attending Mass on Christmas Eve at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. For her, the church elaborately decorated with beautiful poinsettias seemed the perfect setting for a romantic wedding ceremony. “Ever since I can remember, I said I would get married in that church during the Christmas season,” she says.

These high school sweethearts stayed together through two years of long-distance dating before they both ended up in Moorhead for college. Kelly studied nutrition and dietetics while playing softball at Concordia College and Devin studied exercise science and played football at MSUM. In January of 2019, the couple celebrated the holidays in California with Devin’s family and took a day trip to Disneyland. Sleeping Beauty’s castle decorated in red and gold Christmas decorations made for the perfect photo backdrop, and surprise proposal spot. Devin dropped to one knee and Kelly happily said “yes!”

A Disneyland proposal and Kelly’s dream of a church dressed in red poinsettias gave them the perfect theme — classic Christmas meets Beauty and the Beast. They started planning an early January wedding with a red and gold color scheme featuring their favorite colors. Of course, changing rules due to COVID-19 meant the couple had to continually adapt their plans right up until the wedding day. “With the help and creativity of family and friends, we tried to find ways to incorporate what we felt were the most important aspects of the wedding into our day,” Kelly says.

The church was decorated just as beautifully as Kelly dreamed and every tree outside was frosted in white as Devin and Kelly’s wedding day arrived. Moderate winter temperatures with little wind made for a magical January day. The couple was able to have all of their invited guests at the ceremony. Because of reception restrictions, they decided to share their first dance and cake cutting with all the guests by doing them immediately following the ceremony at the back of the church while guests remained seated in their pews. They also celebrated the mother-son dance and fatherdaughter dance in the same way. The newlywed couple donned masks to great guests one by one as they got ready to leave the church. Devin says this was his favorite part of the wedding. “The ability to still have such an intimate wedding with all of our guests during this pandemic, and being able to still have everyone present for the ceremony, dances and cake, was so special.”

Those closest to the couple bundled up in warm winter gear and headed to the nearby Spitfire restaurant for an outdoor reception on the patio. “We knew that outdoor dining was still allowed, so as hardy Minnesotans we decided to have an outdoor wedding reception for our close family and friends,” the couple says. Warm fires and chicken wild rice soup kept everyone toasty. The intimate dinner with a small group meant the reception was stress free for the couple and they could enjoy that time with their closest family and friends. “It was amazing to have such a memorable dinner with everyone bundled up near the fireplaces on the patio,” says Kelly when asked about her favorite part. “It definitely was never in my wedding day vision, but I could not have asked for anything better!”

The next day, Devin and Kelly left for a weeklong honeymoon in Duluth where they stayed on the shoreline of Lake Superior, went hiking, and explored the area. In the past year, the couple has moved back to their hometown of Windom, Minnesota, bought their first home, and are now expecting a baby girl in late February. Looking back, they advise couples planning their own weddings to try not to stress so much during the planning process. “It rarely will turn out exactly how you picture it in your mind, but it will turn out how it’s supposed to. At the end of the day, it is about you two and the new road ahead of you.” And they graciously offer their sincere thanks to everyone involved in making their wedding day so special. “Our day would not have turned out as magical as it did if not for our amazing support system, and we are super grateful for them.”