By Roz Weis,
Augusta Casterton Roher was the first bride to say “Yes to the Dress!” at the Driftless area’s newest bridal shop, “The Dress by Morgan Lynn” on Water Street in downtown Decorah.
Since that day in 2020, more than 200 brides have found their dream dresses at the local shop.
Augusta, the daughter of Paul and Patty Casterton, said she had a wonderful experience selecting her dress.
“I had the best experience at The Dress by Morgan Lynn,” Augusta said. “She went above and beyond to make my dress dreams come true. I would recommend her and her amazing bridal experience to all area brides.”
“Augusta was amazing to work with,” said The Dress owner Morgan Bjerke. “She was the very first bride I had in the store.”
“Morgan gives a very personalized experience as she is open for appointments only, so the store and her attention are dedicated to the bride and her group. I had gone into dress shopping with some ideas including a fitted dress with sleeves, but I was open to anything Morgan had to offer,” Augusta said.
“She made sure that I was not overwhelmed and listened very intently to how I felt about the dresses as I tried them on. She had so many great ideas, which led us to customizing a gown to include the sleeves I had wished for originally. Morgan organized all the details with the designer, Casablanca, and was able to get a final sketch of the dress now named ‘The Augusta.’ The dress was everything I had hoped for and more with the addition of the gorgeous custom sleeves. Morgan was so gracious to allow me back into the store many times as we were finalizing these decisions and trying the exact gown on for the first time. Looking back there is nothing I would change about the experience, as it was so very personalized and very exciting.”
Augusta married Jacob Roher, son of Arla Stenseth and PD and Leslie Roher of
Decorah, on Nov. 20, 2021 at Decorah Lutheran Church. Their wedding reception followed at Pinter’s Reception Center west of town.
Their story
It was Jacob’s golden birthday in January 2015, and he was spending the night with friends. During the evening he received a “happy birthday” text from an unknown caller. He replied, “Thanks…Who is this again’?” The response came back to him, “This is Augusta Casterton.”
A memorable night of back-and-forth texting went on until the early hours of the morning. That was the first of many nights of texting and conversation in the three years of high school to follow.
“Those were typical nights for Gussie and I throughout our remaining three years of high school,” Jacob continued. “We learned so much about each other during those years.”
As their high school years ended, graduating from Decorah High School in 2018, they had some college decisions to make.
“After several college visits, we both concluded that the University of Northern Iowa was the right fit for us,” Jacob continued.
Ultimately, Augusta would travel from UNI to a medical course of study with Mayo Clinic for schooling and Jacob would transfer to the University of Iowa.
“We have both been chasing dreams the last two years,” he continued, “we ended up nearly 170 miles apart.”
They agreed, “That being said, our unwavering support of each other’s goals, and endless Facetime calls, helped see us through even on our toughest days (apart).”
“Distance is not for the fearful,” he continued, “it is for the bold. It is for those willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love.”
Their special day
They were surrounded by family and friends at their fall wedding at Decorah Lutheran Church. Augusta’s sister Audrey was her maid of honor. Bridesmaids were Maria Lea, Emily Womeldorf and Halle Yates (friends of the bride), and Tegan Gilbert and Kiley Gilbert (sisters of the groom). Friends of the couple, Alicia Sokol and Allison Cahill, were personal attendants. Best man was the groom’s brother, Cole Roher. Groomsmen were Brody Malone (cousin of the groom), Derek Weis, Spencer Weis and Andrew Bonelli (friends of the groom). Ushers were Cody Cook and Zackary Lane (cousins of the couple). Program attendants were Hailey, Carter and Hillary Cook.
Hosts and hostesses at the reception at Pinter’s were Kevin and Judy Lansing, Tom and Leslie Cook, and Dan and Kelly Roher.
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Special moments
The couple’s first look stands out as a very special time for the Roher’s on their wedding day.
“There were so many wonderful parts of our day, and it’s hard to pick just one,” August commented.
“But it was so special having that ‘first look’ time to ourselves, and just be in that moment prior to the photos and walking down the aisle in front of friends and family,” she reminisced. “That five minutes of time alone together let us really focus on just us, and taking each other in. This was a very emotional time for both of us, but it was such a relief to be together again … We had both expressed nerves before this moment, but after seeing one another we were ready to tackle the day.”
The Rohers said those around them were surprised by their ease as the day unfolded.
“We both knew that nothing else really mattered besides being together and joining our lives as one.”
Another special moment for the couple was their first kiss as husband and wife.
“In that moment, we felt an overwhelming amount of support from our family and friends, and it marked the beginning of life as Mr. and Mrs. Roher.”
Having her sister Audrey and dad Paul perform special music during the ceremony was another highlight of the day.
“I can honestly say that I have never heard my dad and sister perform so well, and it was incredibly special for them to be such a large part of our wedding day,” she said.
Memorable, heartfelt speeches given at the reception by maid of honor Audrey and best man Cole were other standouts moments for the couple.
“Both speeches were very emotional moments for everyone involved; but quickly after that the room was full of laughter as there were jokes scattered throughout both speeches,” Augusta said. “Audrey even had a mash-up of songs together tailored to our love story!”
And they could not forget their memorable donut and cake bar at the reception.
“Jacob loves Casey’s donuts so we had those for our dessert…a special cake made by my cousin Grace…and a custom cake topper was the perfect touch,” said Augusta.
The Rohers are now looking forward to being together fulltime and living their lives together. Both are on track for their dream jobs and the world awaits.
“We are actually still living apart at the moment,” Augusta said, “Jacob is finishing his schooling in pharmacy at the University and Iowa and I am living and working as a cardiac sonographer in Rochester…we have hopes to both live and work in Rochester in the future.”
They agreed they are thankful for the guidance and assistance they received from family, friends and the long list of local vendors who helped make their day one to remember.
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