Westwood Community Church

Wedding Day

Wedding

Minneapolis Golf Club

Reception

Our Wedding

Our friends&nbsp;proudly&nbsp;take credit for introducing&nbsp;us&nbsp;and the&nbsp;start of our relationship.&nbsp;Erik and I&nbsp;didn't know each other well before our sophomore year at Bethel University, when Erik (as he tells it) had seen me&nbsp;and wanted to get to know me&nbsp;better.&nbsp;In January of 2015, some of our best friends&nbsp;planned a trip to Minnehaha Falls so we could meet.&nbsp;It was a freezing cold day, but we all hiked the falls and went out for&nbsp;hot chocolate afterward.&nbsp;Erik made a lasting impression on me&nbsp;from the very beginning!

After that first outing, we began to spend lots of&nbsp;time with our group of friends, until Erik worked up the courage to ask me&nbsp;on our&nbsp;first date.&nbsp;We walked around Lake Como in St. Paul (one of our typical dates) and out to Snuffy's Malt Shop. He must have known ice cream is the key to my heart...because it worked, and we began dating shortly after!&nbsp;











We dated for the remainder of our time&nbsp;at Bethel. We currently are&nbsp;graduate students at&nbsp;the University of Minnesota, studying&nbsp;Law (Erik) and Physical Therapy (Morgan). Erik popped the question in August 2017!&nbsp;

How We Met

It was a pretty normal day for me last&nbsp;August 14. I had been in class during the day (I&nbsp;am attending the U of M&nbsp;for Physical Therapy school)&nbsp;and had gone to the gym afterwards. Erik's birthday was on&nbsp;Wednesday the 16th, and we had&nbsp;planned&nbsp;a party at my parents house&nbsp;to celebrate.&nbsp;&nbsp;It had been rainy,&nbsp;and my mom asked&nbsp;&nbsp;if I could come&nbsp;home and help move some of the outdoor furniture around at their house. I texted Erik, saying I&nbsp;was tired and would rather not drive home, but he encouraged me to go help, and that he would treat me to ice cream afterwards...so of course I agreed!

I&nbsp;picked him up at his house, and we drove to Minnetonka. Mind you, I am still in my workout clothes, hair in a ponytail, not expecting anything. Not your typical engagement day attire.&nbsp;As we're driving, Erik is casually texting my mom with updates on our location, without me suspecting anything. Honestly, I didn't think he'd be able to play it so cool, without me figuring him out.&nbsp;





Mom told us to come around the back of the house, since she had "recently waxed the hardwood&nbsp;and it was still wet". So, Erik took my hand and we walked around the back&nbsp;of the house, towards the lake.I noticed a blanket with some flowers and candles, however I had no thought&nbsp;it could&nbsp;be&nbsp;for us. I&nbsp;kept asking, "what is this?" and it took me until we were standing on the blanket together, and Erik saying&nbsp;"I think it's for us"&nbsp;to even register what was occurring. It finally dawned on me, and my immediate reaction was overwhelming tears of joy.&nbsp;





Erik asked me to marry him on bended knee, and I mustered up a "yes" under my&nbsp;tears. There was immediate celebration from the neighbors who were on their patio watching, as well as from&nbsp;Anna (who was taking pictures), Austin and Maddie (on video and audio) and my parents running to greet us&nbsp;from the house. Erik's family&nbsp;as well as some of our friends&nbsp;drove over to celebrate for the evening.&nbsp;Project surprise Morgan&nbsp;without having any idea:&nbsp;success. It was perfectly beautiful and I was absolutely overjoyed.

The Proposal - Her Perspective

It was a big week for me. Engagement, Baptism, Birthday. SO&nbsp;much fun.&nbsp;

My original plan was to propose&nbsp;at my birthday party, but the weather was looking sketchy. I was stressing out about it at work the morning of the 14th.&nbsp;Spur of the moment, I decided to do it that day.



There was a lot of planning still to be done. I quick called Anna to make sure she could take pictures and then Morgan's mom to plan how to surprise her. Morgan's mom was going to text Morgan&nbsp;to ask us to "come help move some furniture around" for the party. Morgan didn't want to go. I was caught in the middle of having to convince her to go and not make it seem like&nbsp;I wanted to go too much. I pulled it off. We decided to head over after work and school.&nbsp;



She picked me up at my house, but little did I&nbsp;know she had just worked out. Sweaty and in workout clothes for a proposal? Morgan was going to kill me. Play it cool. Play it cool. We got in the car and the ring was burning a hole in my pocket. We casually chatted for the 45 minute drive and&nbsp;I was trying act normal. We pulled into their driveway and walked around the side of the house to move the yard furniture in the back. Morgan's mom set up an unbelievable spread. It was hilarious because Morgan had no idea. Candles and flowers and a blanket in the backyard? Why not. After a little explanation it finally hit Morgan. Her hands went over her mouth and she took a step back and started to cry. That image will always be in my head. I got down on one knee and asked and she said an emphatic YES. It was wonderful. Everyone came out and started to cheer. Even Anna who was hiding in the bushes taking pictures.&nbsp;



My family and a few of our friends&nbsp;came later that night and we had a little celebration. It was such a great feeling knowing that I didn't have to keep a secret for any longer. Morgan and I could plan our wedding!&nbsp;

The Proposal - His Perspective

Our Story

Details

Photos

EJ Shannon

Ellie Hunstad

Maddie Wolf

Austin Wolf

TD Conway

Emma Conway

Erin Shannon

Andrew Thomas

Danny Jaderholm

Colette Jaeger

Katie Shannon

Katie Schmidt 

Annie Parten

Theodor Leuenberger

Anna Jeter

Maria Markoe

Wedding Party

Q + A

Registry

The Minneapolis Marriott West and the Marriott Courtyard West are adjacent hotel properties, located&nbsp;1.3 miles from the&nbsp;reception in St. Louis Park.&nbsp;Kindly make your reservation by August 3 to take advantage of discounted&nbsp;courtesy block room rates. ($119 Marriott/$109 Courtyard)&nbsp;Please use the following link to make your reservation:

<a href="http://www.marriott.com/meeting-event-hotels/group-corporate-travel/groupCorp.mi?resLinkData=Wolf%20and%20Shannon%20Wedding%20Room%20Block%5Emspsp%60wswwswa%60119.00%60USD%60false%604%60;mspcw%60wswwswa%7Cwswwswb%60109.00%60USD%60false%604%608/24/18%608/26/18%608/3/18&app=resvlink&stop_mobi=yes">http://www.marriott.com/meetin...</a>



To make a reservation by phone, please&nbsp;call (888) 887-1685 for the Marriott West or&nbsp;(844) 280-7855 for the Courtyard West, and mention the Wolf/ Shannon wedding room block.







The wedding ceremony will be held at Westwood Community Church in Excelsior, MN&nbsp;(15 miles from the reception venue.)&nbsp;If you prefer lodging closer to the ceremony, you may consider these options:















Oak Ridge Hotel & Conference Center&nbsp; Chaska, MN&nbsp; oakridgeminneapolis.com

















Holiday Inn Express & Suites&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Chanhassen, MN&nbsp; ihg.com

















Bird House Inn B&B Hotel&nbsp; &nbsp;Excelsior, MN&nbsp; &nbsp;birdhouseinn.com

















Country Inn & Suites&nbsp; Plymouth, MN&nbsp; &nbsp; countryinns.com

















Hotel Landing&nbsp; &nbsp;Wayzata, MN&nbsp; &nbsp; thehotellanding.com

















We look forward to seeing you and celebrating together!

Morgan & Erik

Morgan & Erik

Photos