Maria Lea served as the maid of honor during the wedding. Karlie Einck, Abby Baker, Allison Hartly, Courtney Howe and Carly Steere served as bridesmaids — Laura Druecker was chosen as a junior bridesmaid. Dylan Flanagan served as best man during the wedding. Jake Hudson, Drew Knese, Logan Zacharias, Seth G and Keagen Einch served as groomsmen. Caitlyn Druecker and Jada Vanden Brink were selected as personal attendants, and ushers were Logan Flanagan and Zach Wegmann. (Photo by Kim Andera Photography)
(Photo by Kim Andera Photography)
Conner and Marissa Ariss briefly crossed paths while taking the same college course in early 2020. Classes moved to an online format within a matter of weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the two met again that fall, and a relationship eventually grew from there — they married in November of 2024.
Marissa, daughter of Loren and JoEllen Foels, grew up in Postville and attended Upper Iowa University in Fayette after graduating from Decorah High School. Conner, the son of Michelle and Rob Ariss, attended Dubuque Senior High before he too was led to Upper Iowa University. The two happened to enroll in the same section of an anatomy and physiology course in January of 2020 — neither imagining their future spouse was seated just a few feet away.
“I asked him what he scored on his first lab practical, and he told me what he scored, and I immediately walked away — I actually didn’t share my score with him until after we were married this fall,” she said with a laugh. “I did that much worse.”
Classes were dismissed for spring break after about eight weeks, and classes resumed under a remote learning model. Marissa and Conner met each other again thanks to a mutual friend the next semester, and the two began connecting through social media. They planned to have their first date in February of 2021, but that outing had to be put on hold. Marissa was working part time with the Allamakee 4-H program, and a grapefruit freeze elsewhere in the country threatened to put a damper on the service club’s annual fruit fundraiser — a situation Marissa had to address quickly.
“We still hung out, but it wasn’t like our first date,” she said.
She and Conner later marked their first official date at Leo’s Italian Restaurant in Oelwein.
Today, Marissa is employed by the South Winneshiek School District, and Conner works at Wellington Place Nursing Home in Decorah. He said thoughts of marriage were already on his mind while he was attending nursing school.
“Then we ended up finding a house, so then I said ‘Well, if we’re going to buy the house, we might as well just get engaged the same day,’” he said.
Marissa said Conner had joked he would propose to her the same day they closed on their house, but she didn’t believe he would do it — Conner indicated that was part of his plan.
“I just kept talking about it, knowing the more that I talked about doing it, the more she wouldn’t actually believe it would happen,” he said.
They closed on the house in early November of 2023 and, as they were taking some celebratory photos, Conner pretended to drop the keys to their new home before presenting Marissa with an engagement ring — at first, the ruse worked too well, and Marissa kept her eyes on the camera until both their mothers told her to look down at her soon-to-be fiancé.
The couple decided on their wedding date the next week and, with about a year to plan, they went about arranging the details. Marissa said she was already familiar with many aspects of planning a wedding, noting her mother owns Country Garden Flowers and Gifts in Decorah.
“Since I could walk and talk, I was in my mom’s store,” she said. “Just being in that industry, I’ve seen so many things over the years. When I was younger, I obviously didn’t do a whole lot with weddings, but I remember my mom meeting with brides and talking about what kind of flowers they’d want.”
She went on to say many young girls dream of what their wedding day will be like, and she said her years of observation helped her know what to expect during the planning stages.
“For me it was probably easier than the typical bride, because not everybody is as in tune to the wedding industry,” she said. “The biggest thing to me was it was our day.”
Conner said he trusted Marissa and her mother’s experience, and he had strong opinions on only three aspects of their big day — the cake, the wedding colors and the time of year.
“My caveat was, if we’re going to wear full tuxes, it’s got to be a little cooler outside,” he said. “I’ve been in a lot of summer weddings in all-black tuxes.”
And cooler weather suited Marissa just fine. She said she’d always wanted a late winter wedding, but she also knew blizzards or ice storms could spell disaster for attendance if the wedding was too late in the year. So they opted for a woodland theme during the late fall.
“The time that we picked in November is kind of in that transition period between late fall and early winter, so we still used a lot of rich fall colors, but then we also included greenery like the pine and cedar and kind of brought that in,” she said.
The two held their rehearsal dinner at Mabe’s Pizza in Decorah and were married at Decorah Lutheran Church, with a reception in the Community Building at the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds. Conner said he was impressed by seeing the wide open reception space transform into what he called a bright and elegant venue.
Both he and his wife said one of the best memories from their wedding day was seeing the various friends and family who came to celebrate the couple as they began their next chapter together. Marissa credited their hosts and hostesses with the idea of directing guests passed the head table during the evening’s meal, allowing the newly weds to chat with their each of their guests.
“Since we’re not from big families, seeing all the family, friends and people that showed up to support us and be there for us — it was a cool experience,” Conner said.
Find more photos from the Ariss wedding and more in the Driftless Weddings special edition – week 1.
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