ALEXANDRIA, Minn. - There are a few things that help define Randy and Michelle Thoennes as a couple.
"They love the lord, they love each other, and I think they live for the water," said John Taplin, pastor at New Life Christian Church in Alexandria.
That's why, when Taplin heard that the couple wanted to get married on Lake Darling, he was on board.
"I've probably done 500-1,000 weddings and this is the first one I've ever done on a pontoon boat," Taplin said.
For the bride and groom, their boat was the first venue that came to mind.
"Yep," said Randy Thoennes. "This is where everybody comes on vacation, so why leave this place?"
Randy and Michelle met in school, but their love began to grow three years ago thanks to plenty of time on the water. The two enjoy meeting up with neighbors on the lake and spending hours in the sun and the water throughout the summer.
Last fall, Randy took it a step further, proposing to Michelle along the Atlantic Ocean.
"It was actually on the coast of Maine," he said. "We were out on a sailboat, and I proposed to her then."
But an ocean engagement is nothing to the water wedding they decided to follow it up with.
"That was kind of a teamwork effort," Randy said.
The couple turned to friends Mike Diebold and Bob Barker to help with a pontoon wedding procession.
"We got set up here about 45 minutes before the wedding and anchored our boats," Diebold said. "To then create the anchor for all the other boats that came alongside, and tied up with us."
"We didn't have an aisle to walk down so we thought if we could get them both lined up in a sort of an aisle," Michelle said.
"It just was like she was walking down the aisle," Diebold said.
And after exchanging vows the wedding aisle turned into celebration island.
"Some (guests) were there in swimsuits, some went for a swim some accidentally fell in," Michelle said.
"Randy knew that, if they're going to do a wedding in the summer and it's a nice day, there better be boating or water or something involved because otherwise a lot of us wouldn't go," Diebold said, with a laugh. "Because we'd have to leave the lake."
That's also why you can probably guess, the destination for their honeymoon.
"We don't want to leave Minnesota in the summertime because this is what we live for," Randy said.
"This is our honeymoon right here," Michelle said.