High School Sweethearts Fall in Love on The Court

An orange ball drew Lucas and Brooke (Smith) Lorenzen together during high school. At the time, Lucas was a junior at Okoboji and Brooke a junior at Spirit Lake and both were passionate about basketball.

A mutual friend suggested the two should connect, so Lucas first reached out via social media in September 2020, when he sent a random Snapchat to Brooke. “He asked if I wanted to ‘start a streak’ with him!” Brooke said with a laugh. The two began talking that Sunday and the next weekend the two Dickinson County schools played each other in football for Spirit Lake’s Homecoming game. “We didn’t end up seeing each other that night but it was kind of ironic how we played each other the week we started talking,” she added. “I was attracted to Lucas because he played basketball, was tall, cute, athletic, and seemed like a great guy!”

After talking more on social media, they began to learn about each other and wanted to hang out in person. Lucas scheduled a “date” to go bowling with another couple, but when the time came, it ended up being just the two of them. “We played three rounds, which Lucas won them all! Then we drove around and had a great conversation,” Brooke shared. “Two days later, he met my family at my house and the rest is history!”

The bowling date stood out to Lucas in the sense he wanted to get to know Brooke better. “I was attracted to Brooke because of her ‘cute smile” and really how competitive she was while we were bowling!”

The two continued to date and get to know each other, finding commonality in Okoboji summers and their love of basketball. After high school graduation, they went on to attend Dordt University in Sioux Center, where they both played basketball for the Defenders.

The Special Question

When a boy and girl from the Iowa Great Lakes fall in love, everything special about the area becomes a part of their life. On the day of their engagement, Brooke was completely unaware and enjoyed a girl’s day with her friends, going down to Arnolds Park for the Farmers Market, swimming at the pool and out for dinner.

At the same time, Lucas was using that girls’ day to prepare for a special question. On the evening of June 1, 2024, Lucas met Brooke at the door of her home and walked her through her backyard to a beautiful set up. He hired photographer Georgia Van Essen and videographer Drew Devries to capture their special moment, both who also captured their wedding day. He purchased the radiant cut with hidden halo and gold diamond ring from Gunderson’s in Sioux Falls.

“We had looked at rings a couple of times so I had an idea of what Brooke liked,” Lucas said. “I was nervous because I was surprising her but she knew it was coming at some point. I was excited to make that next step in our lives.”

Brooke added, “It was such an exciting moment! After I said ‘yes,’ both of our families and my girlfriends came out and surprised me.”

Wedding Planning

Brooke immediately went into wedding planning mode, especially with bigger decisions. She had the assistance of her mother Lori and Lucas’ mother Tracie. “I got a lot of my ideas from Pinterest, and other weddings we had gone to recently.”

They booked the Roof Garden for their wedding and reception, and Brooke desired a classy and timeless wedding theme. She loved the elegant feel of a wedding, so also wanted this to be a part of their special day. Black and white were their main colors, along with sage green accents.

“I thought black and white were timeless, and I love sage green and felt it would fit well with our ambiance,” Brooke explained. “I also wanted to make sure my bridesmaids felt confident in their dresses so I went with black dresses over sage green.”

One big decision is to find the perfect wedding dress. Brooke visited multiple wedding boutiques before finally finding “the one” at Kalon Bridal Studio in Des Moines, IA. The dress was “Em” by Vagabond Bridal and was a strapless, plain white fitted wedding gown, tailored with a longer train and had detachable puffy sleeves.

“I fell in love with the dress! It was super comfortable and felt like my dress, also it fit the elegant theme of our wedding,” Brooke shared.

Lucas and the groomsmen found Black Slim Performance Wedding Suits by Michael Kors at Elegance. The suits were perfectly tailored to fit with a contemporary style and a slimming appearance.

The DAY!

With a Type A personality, Brooke had their wedding day planned down to the minute, and she said “we actually stayed right on schedule.” June 2, 2025 began with Brooke, her bridesmaids and both mothers getting ready at The Hair Team in Spirit Lake. Owner Tessa Klatt and her team worked hair magic on each one, with Brooke getting an elegant half up, half down style and flawless finger wave curls. Brooke’s good friend Carlie Jo Ahrenstorff of makeupbycarliejo did the makeup.

Brooke’s sister and sisters-in-law brought breakfast for everyone and ordered coffee. She was also surprised by a book of letters from each of them that will always remain special to her.

After the fun of getting ready, Brooke rushed back to The Inn Hotel amongst backed up summer traffic to get dressed for details photos. With the help of her mother, she put on her beautiful gown, enjoyed some detail photos and headed outside the hotel to meet her dad for a first look.

Lucas and Brooke’s first look took place at a nearby nature location and they exchanged private vows with each other. “It was special to share a time where we poured out our love and commitments to one another before the ceremony,” the couple shared. “It allowed us to make our vows more personal to each other without saying them in front of everyone!”

The rest of the wedding party joined the couple for pictures, followed with family photos. Photographer Georgia Van Essen and videographer Drew Devries kept everything on schedule, even allowing time for photos at The Inn Hotel and followed with more family photos at the Roof Garden.

“Our photographer and videographer remained positive and were so helpful all day,” Brooke shared. “All of our vendors were amazing in making sure everything was so special.”

The couple were thankful that the wedding ceremony and reception took place at the same location. They found the Roof Garden to be one of the few locations in the area that was ideal for their guest count.

“I’m so glad we choose the Roof Garden because no one had to drive and find parking and everyone could relax with appetizers and drinks during the cocktail hour,” Brooke shared. “I also liked having the ceremony there because it fit our wedding, classy vibe.”

Brooke also really appreciated the day-of-coordinator at the Roof Garden, who made sure everything was set up and people were where they needed to be.

Another vendor Brooke felt so blessed by was Tina Edwards of Elements Design Studio in Arnolds Park. Brooke had changed her bouquets a few weeks prior and Tina adjusted the arrangements to include white floral like hydrangeas, white roses, babies breath, and carnations. “I’m so happy I changed them – I absolutely loved them,” Brooke added. “She also got everything set up, including all of the candles and the décor was everything I had dreamed of. It was incredibly beautiful!”

There were several memorable moments throughout the day that brings chuckles now. Lucas would say, “Make sure you have your suit ready to go when you wake up and don’t put your mom or grandma in charge of it or else you might end up with the wrong suit.”

Brooke said she totally forgot Lucas’ ring at the hotel during their first look, while also forgetting the marriage license. “We had an amazing family member run quickly back to the hotel and grab them on the way to the ceremony.”

After the ceremony, which was officiated by Pastor Greg Jorgensen of Downtown Church, the couple signed their marriage license and the bridal party took a detour across the street for nutty bars from The Nutty Bar Stand. Then Lucas and Brooke really enjoyed cocktail hour where they had extra time to mingle with their guests. The grand entrance into the reception led into prayer and an amazing dinner catered by Lidderdale Country Store Catering. The cake and cupcakes were created by a family friend Kim Butler, cheesecakes came from Lake Park and cookies were from The Sugar Shack Bakery out of Sioux City.

They loved their DJ Jesse Swanson of djchaosproductions and had their first dance to “Bones (wedding version)” by Russel Disckerson. The competitive couple even included a game that involved the entire wedding and were able to sneak out a couple of times for pictures in front of the sunset and during the Saturday Night Live Fireworks.

Most of all, they said enjoy the day because it goes by so fast, “One thing that stood out to us was how much love and support we had on our day! I was so fun to have everyone we love in the same room celebrating our love together!”

Because of Lucas’ basketball schedule, the couple waited until August to go on their honeymoon at Secrets Playa Blanca Costa Mujeres in Cancún.

Their biggest advice they’d give to couples is to put Christ at the center of the relationship. “Growing our relationship with the Lord individually truly strengthened us as a couple and brought us so much closer. We wouldn’t be where we are today without God's love and grace in our relationship,” they said. “The closer you are to the Lord, the closer you will be as a couple and the better you can serve each other in the way Christ intends us to. Forgive as Christ forgave you. You will never be the perfect spouse or find the perfect ‘one.’ It’s a daily decision to choose to love and serve your partner.”

Lucas added, “Put your wife first before everything else!”

The couple now resides in Macomb, IL, where Lucas is finishing out his degree at Western Illinois University, majoring in general studies and also starting for the Leatherneck’s Men’s Basketball team. He will graduate in May, and if the opportunity arises, he aspires to play professional basketball, then go into ministry and potentially sports psychology. Brooke is finishing her Business Entrepreneurship Degree through Dordt University Online and will also graduate in May. She is also currently working on her certification as a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, where she desires to help individuals with gut, hormone, and disease-like symptoms through functional lab testing and developing bio-individualized protocols.

“We have no idea where we will be at next year or what we will be doing, but trusting in the Lord’s timing and plan for our lives,” the couple shared. “We are thankful for this community!”