Matthew and Brooke Hussey posed for many of their wedding photos at locations around Blue Earth, including this one in front of the new mural in downtown Blue Earth.

We just wanted to have a wedding that would be just exactly us, our style,” says Blue Earth native Brooke Ziegler-Hussey. “And, I think we did it.”

Brooke Ziegler and Matthew Hussey, of Plymouth, Minnesota, were united in marriage on Nov. 28, 2015, in a small ceremony at the historic Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Blue Earth.

There were about 45 guests at the ceremony and at the reception afterwards, which was held at the Little Swan Lake Winery near Estherville, Iowa.

“We kept the wedding very small,” Brooke Hussey says. “We invited just close family and some friends that would be here over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.”

However, the couple is planning an outdoor reception this coming summer for all of their extended family members and friends.

The couple stands in front of the Faribault County Courthouse for a closeup.

“I also did not want to over plan the whole event,” Brooke says. “I wanted everything to be pretty natural and just happen.”

She adds she was pretty successful reaching that goal. Everything went very well, despite not doing very much planning or having much time for doing any serious, long-range planning, anyway.

“Matt proposed on Aug. 2, the day after my birthday,” Brooke says. “Then we spent some time discussing when to have the wedding.”

The issue was that her then future husband, Matt Hussey, was a professional hockey player and could possibly be hired during the winter months by a hockey team that could be located anywhere, including Europe. In fact, he had played for five years for teams in Germany.

“It is hard to set a definite wedding date when the groom might not be available on that day,” Brooke laughs. “We thought it was important he be there.”

Matt and Brooke pose for a photo at the ice hockey rink in Blue Earth – which made sense, Brooke says, because Matt is a professional hockey player.

The choices seemed to be to wait until June of 2016, or get married right away before the hockey season got into full swing over the winter.

“We decided to do it right away, and Thanksgiving seemed like a good time to do it,” Brooke said. “Because we had some family members who had to travel to Blue Earth.”

Serious planning for the wedding did not start until the end of September two months out from the chosen date.

“I did a lot of the planning during harvest, often calling vendors while I was in the combine,” Brooke explains. “Because I help my dad in the fall and it was the only time I could reach anyone.”

Her parents are Donald and Joyce Ziegler of Blue Earth and they farm between Blue Earth and Elmore.

The handsome couple in the historical Church of the Good Shepherd.

Brooke went to Elmore Elementary School until it closed and she then graduated from Blue Earth Area High School.

Her family attends Shiloh Lutheran Church in Elmore, but Brooke had a different idea for her wedding venue.

“We both love antiques and vintage style, so I thought about having the wedding at the historic West Delavan Church at the (Faribault County) fairgrounds,” she says. “Lorraine Arends (a member of the Faribault County Historical Society) showed us the church and we both liked it.”

But then Arends suggested the couple take a look at the Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church, which the historical society also owns and maintains.

“We said why not, and did,” Brooke says. “I remember singing Christmas carols there with the Madrigals choir group when I was in high school, but I didn’t really remember what it looked like.”

The minute they walked into the church, the couple were both “blown away,”

Brooke recalls and they knew it was the right spot for their wedding.

“I think the West Delavan Church would have been alright for a summer wedding, but the Church of the Good Shepherd was much better for a fall/winter one,” Brooke explains. “We are so glad Lorraine had us look at the other church.”

Then the couple looked at both the Wakefield House and the Etta C. Ross Museum, both owned by the historical society, as possible places for the reception.

“We also looked at the Amboy Cottage Cafe. All are gorgeous buildings that we loved and wanted everyone to see for themselves,” Brooke says. “But, we couldn’t possibly fit everyone into any one of them, even though we would only have 40 or so people.”

The Swan Lake Winery, where Brooke had seen her friend Makie Greimann and Greimann’s aunt Debbie Ankeny sing before, was the next choice and turned out to also be the perfect spot.

Next up on the list was the wedding dress. Brooke discovered she didn’t have enough time to search for one in stores and get the fitting and alterations all done in time.

“So, I just ordered one off the Internet,” she says. “And when it came, it was just what I wanted and it fit me perfectly. Again, it was just one more thing that fell into place perfectly.”

The wedding went off perfectly, too, despite not over planning everything.

“The church is nearly 150 years old and isn’t really heated so it was cold,” Brooke says. “But we had warned everyone of that and they all dressed warm.”

Before the ceremony Brooke and her pastor, Rev. Bob Roettger, of Shiloh Lutheran in Elmore, were in an unheated back room of the church.

“We could see our breath,” Brooke says with a laugh. “Pastor Roettger said this was going to be one of his most memorable wedding services or at least the coldest.”

The couple did not have a wedding party. Brandee Douglas, sister of the bride, was the reader. Flower girls were Tailor Douglas (daughter of Brandee and TJ Douglas of Blue Earth) and Harper and Brooklyn Chastain, daughters of Chad and Erin Chastain of Wilmette, Illinois.) Debbie Ankeny and Jolene Krussow provided the music.

The flowers were from Twisted Vine Floral, a new Blue Earth business that has not even officially opened its doors yet. “We added vintage touches to the decor and do-it-yourself decorations that fit our style,” Brooke says. My mom, sister, aunt Jeanette Fenske and family friend Dawn Siegling helped with the decor. And I used my grandma’s (former radio personality, the late Lillie Ziegler) vintage hats on the tables. And I wore one of her broaches in my hair.”

After the ceremony the entire wedding attendees all fit on a coach bus for the ride to the Little Swan Winery for the reception.

“The musician, Adam Layman Music (from Estherville) was amazing and played a variety of music,” Brooke says. “He even let my friend Makie (Greimann) sing with him for one song. We all danced and no one wanted to get back on the bus when it was announced it was time to go.”

The happy couple did not immediately depart on a honeymoon.

“We knew Matt might get a call to play hockey somewhere,” Brooke says. “And he did. We are now in Slovakia temporarily and doing some traveling in Europe. We are considering this our honeymoon, even though Matt is working, too.”

As far as how her wedding day turned out with the minimal amount of planning Brooke says she could not be happier.

“It all did work out perfectly,” she says. “With keeping the wedding small, we were able to spend time visiting with everyone, individually. With a bigger wedding, at the end of the night you are not sure if you even said ‘hello’ to everyone.”

It was a ‘comfortable wedding,’ for everyone, she adds.

“It was just exactly us,” she says again. “I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”