Leopold’s Mississippi Gardens

Wedding Day

Wedding

Reception

Covid-19 Information

Update as of August 10th, 2021

Visit&nbsp;the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/prevention.html">Minnesota Department of Health</a>&nbsp;page for the most up-to-date information on protecting yourselves and others.We strongly encourage&nbsp;all guest be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus&nbsp;prior to attending our wedding celebration.&nbsp;

Our Story

Our Wedding

"I Love You More"

The Night We Met

Alex and Lauren met on Halloween night in 2015 as young, 19-year-old college students at the University of Minnesota. It was the night of the big gopher football game against Michigan, and Lauren being the freeze baby that she is, decided on the warmest costume she could think of to wear to the game - giraffe onesie/footie pajamas along with her matching stuffed animal as her sidekick. Her friend Sarah, who accompanied her as “Where’s Waldo,” brought up that she and her roommates would be throwing a Halloween costume party later that night and that Lauren should come.&nbsp;Lauren was a bit wary of this at first as she wasn’t a huge fan of parties and she had a big exam coming up the next week for which she still needed to study. Nonetheless after the heartbreaking gopher loss at the half yard line followed by what were supposed to be celebratory fireworks, Lauren reminded herself that Halloween was, in fact, her favorite holiday and had made up her mind; she was going to that party. Little did she know, that one small decision would change her life for the better.&nbsp;

Alex has been at the big game as well, but in a different atmosphere than most other fans; while Lauren was up in the student section cheering on the team, Alex was working behind the scenes as an operations supervisor at TCF Bank Stadium. He was also looking forward to a fun evening following the game.&nbsp;Earlier that week, one of his good friends, Joy, who lived on the same floor as him in the dorms his freshmen year sat next to him in his art history lib-ed class. She too mentioned to Alex about a Halloween party at her Marshall apartment on Halloween night, and that it would be awesome if Alex could stop by. Alex took this opportunity to dress up as 3-of-a-kind with two of his best friends, Bobby and Matt, with the “sexiest costumes they could find” at the Halloween store. After much contemplation, a decision was made on three “Sassy French Maid” costumes, complete with mini dresses&nbsp;and fish-net stockings. They were definitely a sight to be seen.&nbsp;

Later that Halloween night, Alex and Lauren both found themselves at same dinkytown Halloween party. While Lauren had changed from her warm giraffe onesie to a more dancing-comfortable flapper outfit, Alex and his two friends did not disappoint with their full ensemble. Lauren noticed the three out of the corner of her eye and couldn’t help but giggle while thinking, “what are they wearing?!” While drinking a juice pouch, she made her way over to Alex and made a comment on how hilarious his getup was with his friends. They chatted for a while and suddenly when he noticed what Lauren was drinking, he exclaimed, “Woah, I like juice pouches too!”



~ And the rest is history ~""

Exploring Life Together

Throughout the years, Alex and Lauren&nbsp;have gone on many adventures and&nbsp;hit numerous&nbsp;milestones together, all while supporting each other along the way.&nbsp;They bonded over their love of sports and&nbsp;attended hundreds of gopher football and hockey games, as well as Twins games,&nbsp;together over the years.&nbsp;Alex and Lauren also grew closer&nbsp;throughout their relationship&nbsp;over their&nbsp;love of travel,&nbsp;and have accompanied&nbsp;each other on trips ranging from visiting various states across the&nbsp;continental US&nbsp;to exploring foreign European&nbsp;countries, as well as going on countless trips up to Alexandria and Park Rapids for relaxing lake leisure time.

They both graduated from the University of Minnesota with their dream degrees,&nbsp;Alex in Finance and Lauren in Biomedical Engineering, and landed full-time&nbsp;jobs following their graduations.&nbsp;Once they were done with school,&nbsp; and learning how to face the "adult world" together,&nbsp;Alex and Lauren found a cute&nbsp;rental&nbsp;townhouse to call home and&nbsp;a&nbsp;few months later, they were an engaged couple! Shortly after, they&nbsp;brought home a sweet&nbsp;little&nbsp;golden retriever puppy, Maverick, who quickly&nbsp;became the joy and light of their lives.&nbsp;The three of them then moved into their dream home together and are continuing to journey through life, one adventure at a time.

The Proposal

One of Alex and Lauren’s favorite summer traditions is exploring the MN state fair multiple times each year, so it was only fitting that this is where Alex popped the question!

It was a Friday afternoon on August 30th, 2019, and both Alex and Lauren decided to take a half day off of work so that they could spend more time enjoying the excitement of the fair. Lauren could tell something was a bit “off” with Alex before they left, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Nonetheless, they spent the early afternoon doing their usual fair endeavors, including getting cheese curds at the food building, petting the cute pups at the pet center, seeing the baby piglets at the miracle of birth center, watching horse competitions at the coliseum, etc., etc. A few hours in, Lauren’s mom messaged them asking if they would meet them at the Bailey house to see their family bricks and make their way around the rest of the fair together; the four of them had planned earlier that day&nbsp;on meeting up at the fair at some point, so Lauren didn’t think much of it. Little did she know, Alex had something up his sleeve for this endeavor. 

Shortly after, they met up with Shari and Dan (Lauren’s parents), and Shari mentions, “I want to get a picture of you two, it’s such a pretty view!” Alex then said, “yeah, where are your family bricks again? We should take a picture near those.” Lauren led him under the little gazebo just outside the Bailey house and as she started pointing down to the two bricks, Alex took her hand and got down on one knee! Of course Dan and Shari were in on the plan, as they had their cameras out and ready to capture the special moment. As you all can guess, Lauren said, “YES!!” 

Alex and Lauren cannot wait until the day they can finally say “I do!”

Our Story 1

Guest Accommodations

Photos

Wedding Registry

Sarah Mehrkens

Bobby Klabunde

Darla Wendt

Lauren's good friend from the jr. high and high school Nordic&nbsp;ski team

Sidney Polich

Sam Peterson

Cody Horman

Lauren's good friend from childhood and traveling soccer

Ari Elfenbein

Jaden Marks

MaryPat Thune

Audrey Durdin

Scott Durdin

Ashley Cook

Tyler Larson

Allie Eisenrich and Mark Hoffman

Alex's good friend since rooming together their freshman year of college

Ryan Quinn

Kathy Hoffman

Drew Larson

A good friend from the resort to which Lauren's family has been traveling since 2002

Derek Peterson

Alex and Lauren's puppy and the “goodest” of all good boys

Maverick

Wedding Party

Q + A

For your convenience, a block of rooms has been reserved at the <a href="https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/mspbphx-hampton-brooklyn-park/?SEO_id=GMB-HP-MSPBPHX" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hampton Inn Brooklyn Park</a> for the evenings of September 24th and 25th, 2021.The Hampton Inn offers complementary, hot breakfast each morning and free, on-site parking.For information on the hotel's amenities, please <a href="https://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/minnesota/hampton-inn-brooklyn-park-MSPBPHX/about/amenities.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click here</a>. The last day to book at the group rate is September 10th, 2021.Room Rates:Double Queen Room: $109Traditional King Room: $109 To book by phone, please call (763) 567-7990 and ask for the Durdin Larson wedding block.To book online, please click "Book a Room" below.

Hampton Inn Brooklyn Park

Leopold's Mississippi Gardens offers an on-site parking lot just across the street from the venue (highlighted in purple) and handicap parking on the side of the building (highlighted in red). Cars may be left in the lot overnight and picked up anytime the next day, as needed.

Lauren & Alex

Lauren & Alex

Wedding Party