Chloe & Ryan Wedding Story

The Day We Said Yes

Saturday, June 11th, 2022

Our Love Story

We both Grew up in South Dakota and love the Black Hills. We liked the location of K Bar S in Keystone because of its all-natural beauty, history, and wildlife. And there are a ton of fun things to do around the Hills for our wedding guests!

How We Met

We met in Brookings in 2016. Ryan grew up in Brookings and I had just gone to SDSU the year prior for school. Our mutual friend introduced us, and we have been together ever since! It was truly love at first sight!

Planning Our Day

We included both parents in the planning process. My parents (Jeff and Darla Dekraai) helped with a lot of the planning since they live in the Black Hills. Jeff said a prayer at the beginning of the ceremony.  Ryan's dad (Robert Wessler) sang the Cherokee Morning song during the foot-washing ceremony. Robert also coordinated a peace pipe ceremony the night before on the wedding grounds. Erin Wessler commissioned a hand-painted portrait of us as a new couple. We had our siblings and cousins as part of our wedding party and aunts and uncles hosted.

Wedding Hint

We did an old-time photo shoot with our wedding party since we were in Keystone! It's one of my favorite wedding photos, and I will cherish it forever! It was so unique and fun to dress up with our bridesmaids and groomsmen. We went to Professor Samuel's Old-Time Photos in Keystone, and he was awesome!