WORTHINGTON — Travis Schumann and Sarah Nystrom’s relationship blossomed during autumn’s peak apple season, but it’s what was at the core of their souls that capped their love match.
“Travis is so kind-hearted — and persistent,” said Sarah. “He’s very caring, and at his core he’s very loyal and a protector. And I love the way he loves other people.”
“Sarah will have my back in any situation,” Travis said, “and she has a real love and respect for me.”
Sarah, the daughter of Jean and the late Marv Nystrom, was raised on the family’s farm south of Worthington. She graduated from Worthington High School in 2001.
In Round Lake, only a few miles to the east, Travis grew up and graduated from Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster High School in 1998. His parents are Rosemary and the late David Schumann.
“We never knew each other previously,” said Sarah.
Chimed in Travis, “We had no idea.”
After high school, Travis spent a couple of years working for farmers in the Round Lake area before accepting a job at Bedford Industries, where he has 22 years of employment to his credit.
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Meanwhile, Sarah earned an elementary education degree at the University of Minnesota-Morris, before moving to Maryland, where she taught middle school science for 14 years.
In the intervening period, each explored the dating scene. Respectively, they were involved in a few relationships that always ended in break-ups for one reason or another.
Fast forward to the summer of 2020, mid-pandemic.
“I didn’t like online teaching and was looking for something new,” Sarah said. “So I moved back to Worthington to be closer to family.”
Now the curriculum coordinator for ISD 518, Sarah also dug in to help at Nystrom Orchard (operated by her brother Aaron Nystrom and his wife Kia) during the busy fall season.
There she was, ringing up customers’ purchases of apples and fresh-baked pies last September when Travis arrived at the orchard with his mother and brother.
The spirited Sarah caught Travis’ eye. He surreptitiously glanced at her hand, looking for a wedding ring. Upon departing the orchard, Travis immediately began reconnaissance, asking a friend who knew the Nystrom family who she was. He was told, “Aaron’s sister — and I think she’s single.”
“Oh, that’s pretty cool,” Travis remembered saying. “And that was my cue.”
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“They bought a pie and some apples that Saturday,” said Sarah, “and then he came back around 10 a.m. every Saturday for the rest of the season.
“At first we just thought he loved the pies.”
“And they are good,” Travis affirmed, “but I had another purpose.”
Sarah’s girlfriends have since joked that it all unfolded like a romantic Hallmark movie, with the most pivotal scenes all occurring at the apple orchard.
“We met at the orchard, he proposed to me at the orchard and we got married at the orchard,” she detailed.
From first date to lifelong mate
First things first; a first date is vital, and Travis had the good sense to reach out just as the apple season wound down.
“We went to Forbidden Barrel on Nov. 12, 2021,” Sarah recalled.
Their second date, at the Round Lake Winery, followed soon after. They ended up closing down the place.
“It was a six-hour event for us,” chuckled Travis.
“We were there for the wine-tasting but then everyone else left,” said Sarah. “We basically stayed until they kicked us out.”
Added Travis, “I asked them, ‘Can we just sit here and talk?’ And we did.”
The pair found their past relationship histories helpful in that they had greater clarity about what they believed was essential in a marital partner.
“I knew what I wanted, but I waited for her to figure it out,” said Travis.
Said Sarah, “For me, it was when we went on a trip to Mille Lacs Lake and did some hiking on a trail called Hell’s Gate, where there was a rock and waterfall formation.
“He was leery about it, but he did it because I wanted to — and that’s when I knew I wanted to marry him, because he was willing to go to Hell’s Gate and back for me.”
Photo courtesy Kia Nystrom
As the calendar pages turned, Travis and Sarah saw more and more of each other. Soon it was September again — time for the orchard to set the scene.
“I was prepping for a tasting event when Kia asked me to go out and help her fix some lights that weren’t working,” said Sarah.
When Sarah arrived at the spot, there was Travis. Kneeling on a blanket, Travis proposed to Sarah on Sept. 9.
“And then I asked Kia, ‘Wait, do the lights actually work?’” Sarah laughed. “No, they didn’t, but it was a nice moment and then we celebrated at the tasting event.”
The couple sprang into action, planning a wedding in just four weeks because they wanted to be married at the orchard but didn’t want to wait another year to begin their life together.
“And we both wanted an outdoor wedding,” said Travis.
Kia, who snapped the engagement photo, grabbed pen and paper and jotted down the ideas that began flowing forth.
“We chose Oct. 8 because it was a free weekend at the orchard,” said Sarah. “And it worked.”
Sarah purchased her dress from David’s Bridal, but otherwise the couple leaned heavily on friends, family and local vendors to make their orchard wedding a reality in delightful — and short — order.
“I am so thankful for all the family and friends who jumped in and helped,” said Sarah. “And thank goodness for Amazon; I was ordering packages up until a few days beforehand, but we made it work.
“Nothing was too extravagant, and it was beautiful in its simplicity.”
That included unique spins like using a collection of blue Ball jars Sarah had insisted on saving when her grandma’s house was torn down years earlier.
“They held the flowers for the table centerpieces,” said Sarah. “And some old windows I’d kept from the house became part of the reception decor.”
Pastor Scott Barber officiated at the afternoon ceremony, which was attended by about 100 guests. Two of Sarah’s friends from Maryland were readers, and the young children of Sarah’s brother Aaron and sister Rachel served as “flower kids.”
“The temperature got up to the 60s,” said Sarah, “and it was a little cooler in the evening but we had patio heaters inside the (reception) tent.
“The high temperature the day before was only in the 30s, but then the wind shifted and our day was very nice.”
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With flowers from Seed & Stem 12:27, photography by LO Photography, guitar and piano music performed by Gabe Fueston and hair styled by Megan Gerken of Tristate Curls Co., Sarah was set.
Kia Nystrom and her sister, Tae Nordby, were invaluable to executing the whole affair, Sarah attests.
“Travis and his brother Tyler smoked the pork butt, and Kia and Tae made garlic mashed potatoes, green beans and scalloped apples that were Kia’s grandmother’s recipe,” shared Sarah.
“And they put together a cheese table with crackers and dips and served cider with champagne — one of my all-time favorite things — for the social hour.
“Everything was great.”
Megan Powers prepared a cake for the couple to cut, while Stacy Wiebersch concocted cupcakes for the guests.
“We had three cupcake flavors — vanilla, salted caramel chocolate and apple cider with brown sugar buttercream,” said Sarah. “They were all delicious.”
And the rings?
“My mom had offered me her engagement ring a couple of years ago, and I joked then that I wasn’t going to get married so I’d probably use it as a necklace or repurpose the diamond, but thankfully I never got around to it,” said Sarah. “That’s the ring Travis proposed to me with — and my dad purchased it in Japan when he was in the Navy. It happened to fit me perfectly.”
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They bought wedding bands from Johnson Jewelry and soldered the meaningful engagement ring to Sarah’s diamond-studded wedding band.
“A lot of the day had meaningful, sentimental touches like that,” she said.
Also special were the late-night bonfires for toasting s’mores — and a hot chocolate bar that was the brainchild of Sarah’s niece Cort.
Sarah’s brother and uncle surprised them with fireworks, which lit up the night and provided the perfect sparkly Hallmark-worthy ending to a beautiful day.
“And now we’re just ready to sit at home by the fire and relax,” said Travis.
Munching on their favorite apples, no doubt — Fireside for Travis, and Sweetango or Regent for Sarah — ensuring a fruitful beginning to a long and happy married life.
