Lucas Kramer proposed to his high school sweetheart, Sofia Blair, last September. He popped the question in the middle of Blair’s family’s cornfield.

Planning a wedding can sometimes be stressful and full of issues.

But, for one Blue Earth couple, things have been going pretty smoothly.

Perhaps that is because they met when he was in eighth grade, and she was in seventh grade.

“Yes, we first met each other in an independent reading class at Blue Earth Area,” Sofia Blair recalls with a smile.

“That’s right,” Lucas Kramer confirms. “And that summer I asked her to come to my parents’ house for a bonfire.”

After that, Lucas asked her out, she said yes, and they dated all through high school – and beyond.

“I went to college at South Dakota State University in Brookings,” Lucas says. “After college I came home to Blue Earth in 2021 and I work in a commodity brokerage with my father.”

Sofia, who also goes by Sofie, says she went to college at SDSU for one year, then returned to Blue Earth and finished her nursing degree at Rasmussen College in Mankato in March of 2022.

“I got a job at UHD as a surgical nurse,” she adds. “And then, in April of 2022 we bought a house together.”

Six months later, Lucas decided it was time to pop the big question. After all, he reasoned, they had been together for basically 10 years.

He bought the ring in September and decided that a very romantic setting to ask Sofie to marry him was obvious.

“It was in the middle of a cornfield,” Sofia says. “And it really was very romantic.”

Lucas does some farming work with Sofia’s father and grandfather. And corn harvest was in full swing.

“I was driving a tractor pulling a grain cart,” Lucas says. “Sofie came out after work to ride with me in the tractor.”

Lucas had hidden the ring box behind the driver’s seat, and under the tractor instruction manual.

After a while, Sofie got bored and reached over and pulled out the manual to read.

“I couldn’t believe it. I was sweating bullets she would find it,” Lucas says. “But eventually she just put the manual back.”

But then, Sofie says she started rummaging around the tractor cab looking for snacks.

“I had worked my shift at the hospital and I was hungry, what can I say?” she explains. She never found the ring box.

Then the harvest crew took a break. That included Sofia’s dad and mom, Josh and Tara Blair, her grandpa and also her grandma. Next, Lucas’s parents showed up and had brought supper with them.

“I just thought, well, that is sure nice of them,” Sofie says. “But it was October 26, and it was pretty cold out.”

Then, the ring appeared, Lucas dropped to a knee, being careful to not stab his knee with a corn stalk, and popped the question. Sofia said yes and there were big smiles all around.

And then the wedding planning began.

“We started with looking for a venue,” Sofie says. “This was at the end of 2022 and we learned there were a lot of places already booked for 2023.”

She wanted a summer wedding, because spring and fall are busy for farmers, and she does not like winter.

So, summer of 2024 was the best selection.

“We were really not in a big hurry to get married,” Lucas says. “So we were OK with waiting a year.”

They eventually found a place that they really liked and felt it suited them. It is called Country View Acres and is in Joice, Iowa.

“It is 8-10 miles south of the Diamond Jo Casino,” Lucas says. “We will all be staying at the hotel at the casino.”

The date they picked was July 20. Lucas’s parents, Scott and Amy Kramer, have their anniversary date earlier in July.

With the venue and the date settled on, they went on to other necessary choices.

Picking an officiant was the easiest one.

“My grandma, Kathy Blair, is a pastor, and she has done several of my cousins’ weddings and she will be our officiant,” Sophia says. “I am so happy about that.”

Then it was on to the many other items on the list.

They found a wedding photographer from Des Moines, Iowa.

“I really like her photos,” Sofie says. “They are not just all posed shots.”

They lined up a videographer from Fairmont, and a DJ from Mankato.

“It is Kern Brothers DJ,” Sofie says. “They have been at several weddings of our friends, and we really liked them.”

Then there is the food. They created a list of possible caterers and finally selected one. It is Littendale Catering Company out of Littendale, Iowa.

They traveled to Littendale where the company had a room with a table set up.

“It was not easy to choose what we should have,” Lucas says. “We did a lot of taste testing.”

In fact, Sofia adds that they had seen the menu ahead of time, but ended up selecting something different than what they first thought they would like.

Then came the most important item. The dress.

“I went to the Silhouette in Easton,” Sofia says. “I had gotten my prom dress there. I had no clue what kind of wedding dress I wanted, but they are so good at their job they brought out the perfect dress for me.”

Lucas adds he went to Nancy Hanevik’s The Perfect Gentleman and chose his and his groomsmen’s tuxedos.

“I did it in 2023, so I had to go find out if they were still going to be available in 2024,” he says.

Speaking of groomsmen, and bridesmaids, the couple say that was the easiest and quickest decision they had to make.

“We did that a while ago,” Sofie says. “I am the oldest of four girls and so I have three sisters and also three lifelong best friends, so I had my six bridesmaids.”

Lucas says he has his brother, Zach, as his best man and it was easy to select the other five groomsmen.

Next up for the couple was to send out “Save the Date” cards after working on creating a guest list.

“We also put all of our wedding information on a website called ‘The Knot.'” Lucas says. “Well, Sophie did that, actually.”

As far as a bachelor and bachelorette party, both are still in the planning stages, but they have a good idea of what that might be. The best man, groomsmen and bridesmaids are in charge of that planning.

One thing the couple has not done yet is plan any kind of honeymoon trip.

“We have thought about a ‘mini-moon,’ a quick getaway after the wedding,” Sofie says. “Then plan a longer honeymoon trip for a later date.”

Finding a date to do that might be a little difficult for them in 2024.

“We have nine other weddings we have been invited to this year,” Sofie says. “And we plan on getting to all nine.”

In fact, they are actually both in one of the weddings.

“It is just that a lot of our friends are at the point of getting married now, too,” Sofie says. “I guess you could call it ‘The Summer of Weddings,’ at least for us and many of our friends.”