Dickinson, North Dakota - The New Vegas

By Annika Plummer, Staff Assistant, North Dakota Horizons

Life leads a person on an interesting road. Childhood to adulthood takes the road on bends and twists like pulling teeth, growing pains, starting school, friends, relationships, college, career, marriage, old age and much more. There are trials and there are triumphs.

One of life's major changes is getting married. In my estimation, there are three types of wedding ceremonies: elaborate, traditional and simple. Elaborate weddings involve a large guest list, fancy decorating and, undoubtedly, lots of stress. Traditional weddings are complete with just close friends and family sharing in the event. Simple ceremonies are those in which the couple decides to elope.

Most North Dakota Horizons readers may cite Las Vegas, Nevada, as the hot spot for couples to elope. But have you ever thought of Dickinson, North Dakota?

Prairie Outpost Park Museum in Dickinson, North Dakota, has a beautiful little church that is available for weddings and other ceremonies. The Ridgeway Lutheran Church has a rustic charm. The little church was built in 1915 about 15 miles north of Taylor, North Dakota. It was donated to the Stark County Historical Society after the congregation closed the church in 1976 and was moved to Prairie Outpost Park in 1981.

The church is quaint, and just perfect for a wedding ceremony! It was at the little Ridgeway Lutheran Church on Thursday, August 27, that I had my own small wedding. There were nine people total in the church for the wedding - the bride and groom, the two attendants, the photographer, the Justice of the Peace and three others, two of whom were under five years old. The Justice of the Peace performed a beautiful, simple and short ceremony. The wedding was focused on what matters most - a marriage between two people who love each other - not decorations, food, guests and a host of other things. And best of all - there was no stress! Everyone came happy and left happy. Of course, when the whole ceremony takes less than five minutes, that might not be hard to accomplish! :)

Elopement may not be for everyone, but it certainly was the right choice for me. Ryan Taylor, North Dakota legislator and North Dakota Horizons columnist, wrote to me and said, "Love the little museum church, Vegas better watch out--Dickinson will be the new elopement destination for couples!" Who knows? Maybe we'll start a trend!

Please share with me any simple wedding and/or elopement stories you have that took place at North Dakota destinations in the comments to this post.

Photos: (Top) The newly married couple, Annika and Tyler Plummer, in front of the Ridgeway Lutheran Church in Prairie Outpost Park Museum in Dickinson, North Dakota. (Bottom) All of the invitees to the wedding. There are only eight in the picture because the Justice of the Peace took the picture!

Comments

[Linda]

Congratulations! I noticed the new name right away.

Although I don't know of any North Dakota elopement stories, I do know that it may be simpler to have even a traditional wedding in North Dakota. My wedding had many guests, but the food was prepared by friends and served in the church assembly hall, rather than being a fancy catered affair. There aren't a lot of places where this happens any more, I suppose.

[Krissy Sparks]

Also noticed the name change right away. Just wanted to wish you both congratulations!

[Catherine Bergan]

How fun it was to read your story and to hear again about your wedding. No stress, I'm all for that. We were married 49 years ago, in a church in Wing, ND. It was about the size of the church in the picture. Our dinner and dance was at the school gym in Regan N.D. The dinner was prepared by the Homemakers club in Regan. We were married at 9:30 in the morning, so it was a whole day event. We had to go to Bismarck to have pictures taken after dinner,lunch. My mother made supper for out of town guests at our home. How busy shse must have been

[Robert Dennis]

Congrats Annika!

[Sylvia]

Hi Annika! I thought you might not know about our somewhat elopement - I did tell my parents in advance but they were not invited.

We got married on New Years Eve (mainly for income tax purposes). The last couple married in the old Presbyterian Church in Bismarck. (Incidently, Harold and Sheila Schafer were the first people married in the new church.)

The only people present were the minister, my sister Bonnie and her husband Jack. We later spent the evening with Freddie and Ellen Kist, Delton and Sharon Schultz, possibly Jim Bishop and Lowell Potter. Of these people, we are the only ones who are still alive and/or married! But it was almost 43 years ago. We're lucky to still be alive.

Best wishes and hope to see you soon - You don't have to bring baked goodies to come visit.

Love Aunt Sylvia

[Annika Plummer]

Tyler would have loved to get married on New Year's Eve. I'll have to tell him your story. He'll love it. :)

I think I had heard the story of your wedding before, Aunt Sylvia, but it's been a while. Isn't it great to have something so simple? And I hope to see you soon, too!

Thanks to all who are commenting! We are loving the commennts!

[Dick and Dee]

Congratulations. Everyone at Medora was so surprised but happy for you. We missed the card, so please know of our best wishes.
Dick and Dee Grosz

[Phyllis & Dennis Enger]

Congratulations, We are very happy for you. Be HAPPY
Phyllis & Dennis

[Phyllis & Dennis Enger]

After posting a note last night, I thought I should tell you about our wedding.
we were married 52 years ago. There was not much money in our pocket then.
My mother made the grooms supper - it was a hotdish. The wedding was at a small country church. The reception lunch was just a sandwich, cake and being Lutheran - red jello, all made by our mothers. When we left on our honeymoon we only had about $150 in our pocket, in fact thats about all we have in our pocket now.
The one thing about our wedding is I married my best friend, she is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life.
One bit of advice to you is NEVER go to be at night mad at each other.
We wish you the best - with all our love Phyllis & Dennis

[Dave and Renee Paasch]

Again, congratulations, Anika and Ty! We're a bit late in reading the blog. Been very busy and can't keep up with emails. You did it the right way. Come and see us sometime. You're welcome anytime.

[Dave and Renee Paasch]

Oh, great. Spelled your name wrong in the post, Annika. Sorry, we're old!

[Las Vegas Hotels]

Its a great post! really , it is. but and there always a but - i love vegas to much. me and my wife go there everytime we can. we always book everything via LMT and we always have a blast time!