Wyoming + Decorah celebrations are the right combination for Sean Brown and Annika Vande Krol of Decorah. (Photos by Mo Speer Photography)
By Roz Weis,
Wyoming + Decorah celebrations are the right combination for Sean Brown and Annika Vande Krol of Decorah. (Photos by Mo Speer Photography)
Set against the stunning mountain views of Wyoming, the destination wedding of Sean Brown and Annika Vande Krol of Decorah was a dream come true.
Many community members know the couple as the owners of Impact Coffee in downtown Decorah – where they hosted a hometown reception a couple months after their Wyoming ceremony.
A sweet combination of sentimental details and western charm filled the day during the couple’s June 29, 2024, wedding. They exchanged hand-written vows under a canopy of sprawling trees surrounded by stunning views at the bride’s grandparents’ cabin in Wyoming.
Their story
Annika is the daughter of Scott and Kris Vande Krol, and Sean is the son of Jeff and Anja Brown, all of Decorah. Both are Decorah High school graduates – Sean in 2009 and Annika in 2015. They both went on to study at Luther College. Sean earned his degree in 2013 and Annika graduated in 2019. After college, Sean began working with his dad to start a coffee shop in town, and he is now sole owner of Impact Coffee. After her graduation from Luther, Annika traveled to Minneapolis to “try something new.”
“I worked at a little café,” she said, “but soon missed Decorah. I figured I could move back in with my parents, work at a coffee shop and save up some money. That’s when Sean and I finally met, when I applied to work at Impact.”
When the COVID pandemic hit, the couple knew they needed to keep their circles small.
“Since we all worked together, the
Impact team hung out together outside of work, and ultimately Sean and I got closer as friends,” Annika said. “We quickly learned our similar interests and values. We also discovered all of our mutual friends and even that our grandparents were friends and had gone on vacations with each other. Just the little age gap was enough for us to never cross paths.”
After a few years of dating, the couple went on their annual trip to her grandparent’s cabin in the Big Horn Mountains — the couple said this was the place they had first said the words “I love you.”
“We invited Sean’s parents to join my family,” Annika said, “so I suspected something could happen. The first day it rained all day, so I knew nothing was going to happen that day. As we discussed what to do the next day, I suggested my favorite hike, anticipating that he might do it there. The hike is only a mile long and leads to this beautiful waterfall, Porcupine Falls. Once we got to the bottom, I suggested we take our usual photo by the fall. That’s when Sean got down on one knee. He had already told my parents the plan, but his parents and no idea and neither did my brother and his girlfriend. It all happened so quickly my brother didn’t even see it. After all the excitement, we had to hike back up to the top. It was so fun asking Sean all the questions about how he planned it or where he hid the ring. When we got to the top, my parents surprised us with a bottle of champagne. It was all so perfect.”
After the proposal, they started talking about their vision for the wedding.
“We were sitting on the front porch and Sean was like ‘Why don’t we just do it here?’ We both wanted something small, but being from a small town, running a small business with a lot of connections and having lots of family in town, we thought it would be impossible to do something small in Decorah,” Annika said. “The more we talked about it, the more we could envision it at the cabin. It quickly became my mom’s passion project. She helped us every step of the way and thought of things that we never would have. I knew I wanted simplicity with a touch of elegance while still incorporating the nature around us. We worked with one local rental company, Powder River Party Rentals, to supply tables, chairs and whiskey barrels. And we used Whirly Girl, a local florist, for my flowers. We chose her smallest package with just my bouquet, Sean’s boutonniere and a few larger arrangements to use at the ceremony and on the dinner table. I figured, since there are so many wildflowers, I would just use those for most of the flowers. Everything else we did and supplied ourselves. Everyone played a role at our wedding too. My uncle married us. My aunts decorated, helped make the food with my mom and even served the food. My brother played music during our ceremony. My brother’s girlfriend made the cake. My best friend did my hair and makeup. My cousins decorated, were the welcomers/parking guides at the ceremony, and also helped serve dinner. Overall, it took a lot of spreadsheets from my mom and organization with packing and getting everything out there.”
Whiskey saves the day
Annika and Sean both said they liked the idea of an outdoor wedding.
“I suppose it was our only option with choosing the cabin as our wedding location,” Annika said.
But the couple also realized the risk of Mother Nature spoiling an outdoor ceremony. Their back-up plan was simple – everyone would just run and pile into the cabin, where the ceremony could be performed in front of the fireplace.
“We had tents ready to pop up on the porch to get a little more space, but luckily, we were blessed with no rain,” Annika said. “Funny story – my mom had read about a southern tradition about burying a bottle of bourbon a month before the ceremony to ward off any rain. The more we joked about it, the more we were like, ‘Wait, it might not be a bad idea to go out a month early to drop a few things off and plan a little on site.’ So, we did. And once our ceremony was over, we dug it up and each took a swig.”
Wedding Day
The morning of their wedding dawned, and the couple rose early to write their wedding vows. Following a traditional breakfast of eggs, sausage and toast on the porch, they started off on a group hike.
“Everyone wanting to join us hiked to Paradise Falls. At the end of the hike,” Annika said. “You find yourself on top of a waterfall where pools of water form before the falls. It creates a natural waterslide. As kids, we would do this almost every time we visited – if the water wasn’t too dangerous. I hadn’t done it in years. When we arrived, my friend Maddy Ihde was immediately ready to jump in. Soon enough, almost everyone had done it. It was such a great start to the day. The water was very cold since it was from snow melt, so it was like an ice bath to wake us up for our big day. While we were away, my parents and grandparents had started to set up for the ceremony. Once we got back, we helped set up all the final touches and started to get ready. Since the cabin is fairly small, we opted for a first look an hour before the ceremony. We met at our favorite spot to walk to take a look over the river. We shared our vows exactly where we had written them. Once we had a few minutes — just the two of us — we made our way back to do the final things before the ceremony started.”
The wedding ceremony was set in the front yard of the cabin. Wooden folding chairs were set up for the guests.
The ceremony itself was short and sweet, but the couple agreed that it felt very meaningful with lots of personal touches; such as Annika’s brother singing while she walked down the aisle.
Annika embraced the wedding recipe of “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”
Her something old was her great-grandma’s handkerchief around her bouquet and a brooch Sean’s grandmother had worn on her wedding day in Germany. The bride had purchased a Sølje hair pin for her something new on the wedding day. She borrowed earring belonging to Sean’s mother, and wore a turquoise ring gifted from her cousin to round out the rhyme.
Annika’s maternal grandfather Stan Finholt also gifted her a custom ring box he had crafted.
“We chose to do a ring warming ceremony, where we had our guests pass around our ring box to take a few moments to reflect, pray or infuse them with their love, blessings and well wishes,” Annika said. “Then we did a unity ceremony. My paternal grandfather Dan Vande Krol made us a custom wooden box with a carving of our favorite view of the mountain. We used the box as a symbol to unite us, the things we enjoy doing
together, and the adventures we look forward to in marriage. In the box, we put our vows, a bottle of whiskey, photos from our past, photos taken during the wedding day taken by our guests on Polaroids, and advice from our guests. During the ceremony we took a few photos with the Polaroid and added them to the box too.”
The couple celebrated by opening the once-buried bottle of whiskey to made old fashioneds. The couple drank from a custom ale bowl Annika’s mom had commissioned from a Luther classmate, James Miller, who designed, carved and painted it — in Norwegian tradition, an ale bowl was used at gatherings for weddings and funerals.
“Every year on our anniversary, we will open the box and be reminded of the beautiful day we had with our loved ones. We’ll open the bottle once again to share a drink and put it back on the shelf to be a constant reminder of our love and commitment to each other,” Annika shared.
After the ceremony, guests joined the couple for a cocktail hour. The self-serve bar was set up with recipe cards for those wanting to make their own old fashioneds or gin and tonics — the couple’s go-to choices. Guests transitioned to dinner, where long tables were set up for a family-style meal.
After dinner, the couple took off on a side-by-side and photographer Mo Speer captured more photos at locations near the cabin.
“When we came back, we continued to mingle with everyone and eventually transitioned to our first dance,” Annika said. “I had made a few playlists on my phone and just shuffled through the music after that. We brought out foam glow sticks to bring up the mood, and it worked. We danced all night outside. Once most of the guests left, we started to clean up — mainly just picking up food so we didn’t attract a bear.”
Decorah reception
The couple’s hometown reception in Decorah was held a couple months later. The Aug. 24 reception followed the simple and intimate theme embraced by the Browns. Guests gathered at the large event space at Impact Coffee in downtown Decorah.
“Two months later, we had our reception at home. After considering a few venues in Decorah, we thought what better place than our own? In reality, planning this was a lot easier than the wedding day in Wyoming. We had Trout River Catering do the food, hired two bartenders to serve the drinks. Built a photo booth for our guests to use. Ordered bulk flowers from Canoe Creek. I opted to wear my wedding dress but had it hemmed to be a little easier to get around in.”
Impact was open to the public that day until noon, and during their morning hours the bride, her mom and friends gathered in the basement to arrange the flowers. Once the coffee shop closed for the day, they began rearranging furniture and preparing for the reception.
“The goal was to open up the main floor and get more seating on the second floor,” Annika said. “We had lots of hands, including a lot of my parents’ friends and Sean’s family visiting from England. Once we felt the space was ready, we headed back to our house to get ready. I had the same friend, Karoline Johnson, do my makeup.”
Things quickly came together at Impact, the couple said.
“As the reception started, Sean and I stood at the front door to greet every guest,” Annika said.
The newlyweds mingled. Guests were encouraged to eat, use the photo booth and just have an all-around good time.
“We had photos printed from our Wyoming wedding and on display on the walls, as well as other memorabilia from our ceremony,” Annika said. “Including the ring box, unity box and ale bowl. “
After additional photos were captured throughout the building, the couple decided it was time to begin the dancing.
“We took the moment to grab the mic and thank everyone for joining us,” Annika said. “We then danced again to our first dance song and quickly switched it up to dance music and got our guests on the dance floor with us. The rest of the night, we continued dancing, mingling, running to the photo booth for a quick picture with friends; and then finally the classic Decorah wedding tradition – Mabe’s Pizza.”
Honeymoon
After a January wedding trip to the Hawaiian island of Kauai, where they hiked, explored and relaxed — in addition to visiting the Kauai Coffee Farm — they returned to Decorah to run Impact Coffee.
“We love being in town where we can easily get to the coffee shop at a moment’s notice or walk downtown to grab dinner,” Annika said. “We plan on continuing to run the coffee shop and maybe, one day, find a piece of land outside of town where our dogs can run, and we can live in our dream home.”
Find photos from the Brown wedding and more in week 3 of the ‘Driftless Weddings’ series.
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