Audrey Hepburn once said, “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” And that is just what one local couple decided to do. Nathan Eversole and Gabrielle Shupe joined their hearts and lives together on April 22, 2023, at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Lanesboro, Minn., officiated by Nathan’s pastor from the University of North Dakota. Standing up for them were Nathan’s best man Matthew Luck and Gabrielle’s co-matrons of honor Annalise Gibbs and Danielle O’Hare.
Their love story began about 9 1/2 years ago after Nathan’s friend Matt introduced them at the swimming pool in Preston, Minn. They spent that summer and fall getting to know each other and becoming friends. Then on January 9, 2014, everything changed. They went on their first date, which included attending the Lanesboro Memorial Ice Fishing Tournament, followed by a meal at Pedal Pushers and a movie at Nathan’s house. Gabrielle loved Nathan’s goofy and silly personality and how he could make her laugh. Nathan loved how Gabrielle could handle him, in his words, “being dumb,” and he also loved her personality and kindness. After graduation, Nathan went to the University of North Dakota to study commercial aviation and Gabrielle went to Saint Mary’s in Winona, Minn., to study biology. They didn’t want to hold each other back from anything, so their relationship was not a factor in where they attended college. It wasn’t always easy to be apart, but they knew they were meant to be together. They spent five years in a long-distance relationship communicating through texts, Skype and Snapchat. Gabrielle said they “had a lot of communication, honesty and trust for each other.” They also had a lot of support throughout their relationship from their families and friends.
Gabrielle said, “I always knew we would get married.” After they returned from college they were able to start their lives together. Gabrielle told how for several months before Nathan proposed she would keep her nails done and pretty so when the big day came her nails would be beautiful. However, that didn’t work. Nathan has a hard time surprising Gabrielle, so he had to enlist a friend to help him. They started planning a couples’ trip to Duluth, Minn. He had to be very sneaky. He sent texts to his friend about the trip and then delete them so his friend could send the same message back to him and make it look like it came from his friend. Gabrielle was suspicious, but she thought it was just a fun trip for couples. One day while on their trip they went hiking and to Canal Park. That night they stopped at a rest stop to take some pictures. That is when Nathan got down on one knee and proposed. Gabrielle always wanted pictures of the proposal. Nathan gave her everything she wanted. Except her nails, because she did not have them done before the trip. After the proposal, they called their parents to tell them the exciting news.
When they started planning their wedding, Nathan knew he didn’t want to get married when it was hot. So they chose April. They both thought it would be a beautiful time of year to get married. Planning had a lot of ups and downs. Gabrielle was not only planning their wedding, but she was also applying to graduate school. They didn’t disagree on much during the planning, but they did have some unexpected issues. The first issue they came across was losing their venue, however, the Lanesboro Community Center came through with a venue for their reception, and the guests were served a wonderful meal from Estelle’s Eatery & Bar in Harmony. Granny’s Liquor provided spirits for the happy couple and their guests. Preston Floral and Gifts furnished the beauty of flowers for the wedding. Then, the store where Nathan was going to get the tuxes for himself and his groomsmen closed. Gabrielle lost two makeup stylists, but again things fell into place when she was able to book The Shop a Cut Above the Rest to help make her perfect on the big day.
They were also working around senior year events and graduation for Nathan’s sister. But they didn’t get discouraged, they just took things as they came. And, things started to come together. Gabrielle’s sister came home from Virginia for six weeks to help plan, and make Nathan’s vest and the pocket squares for the groomsmen. They had some unconventional ideas for their wedding, including not having a traditional cake but having a cookie cake that was two tiers high, made by Kaila Erickson of Akio Cookie Co. of Harmony, and having a choreographed first dance.
They both agreed that both families were incredibly helpful with all the planning. Nathan was nervous to read his vows and Gabrielle was nervous to keep everything on schedule, but neither was nervous to be married to each other. They were both very excited for the reception to be surrounded by all the people they loved. And as Nathan said, “The food. I couldn’t wait for the food.” If they could offer any advice to anyone getting married, it would be to start early and be flexible, because things will go wrong in planning. But everything will work out. Gabrielle said, “The only thing I would have changed about the day is the weather, because it was chilly.”
The Eversoles were able to do a mini-moon in Chicago. And, they are looking forward to a longer honeymoon in the future. They will be living in Indianapolis for 1 1/2 years while Gabrielle is in graduate school. She is studying for her Master’s in Genetic Counseling and hopes to work for Mayo Clinic in the future. Nathan is doing graduate school online with the University of North Dakota and is getting his Master’s in Business Management to become a flight data analyst working in an airline safety department. Right now they are just enjoying being Mr. and Mrs. Eversole.
They would both like to move back to Minnesota in the future to be near their families and friends… and raise a family near where they grew up.
Leave a Reply