In 1978, Howard and Donna Petersen with their two children moved to the property later to be called Chapel in the Pines. The property was not an operating farm when purchased and needed a lot of work as all of the buildings were 75 years old. In the past 44 years, they have transformed the property into a fairy tale setting which continues to this day.

While Chapel in the Pines marks the happiest day in the lives of countless couples, for Howard & Donna, it marks their happiest years together. When Howard constructed the chapel in 1994, it was not intended to be a place of matrimony so much as it was a 30th wedding anniversary gift for his wife. As time went on, however, Howard finished the last minute features and dozens of couples showed up at the chapel steps in hopes of exchanging vows.

Although Donna initially dreamt up the idea behind the chapel, it was Howard who arranged construction so that the chapel’s completion would fall in time for their 30th anniversary on April 27. Practically all by himself, Howard built the chapel from the ground up in his spare time; recycling materials from old churches and other buildings. Transforming what once existed as the origins of a dairy farm into a new era of wedding bliss.

The first wedding debuted on March 4, 1994, a day after the chapel was completed. Since then, Chapel in the Pines has hosted more than 2,500 ceremonies from all over the world. Howard Petersen says, “ I may have built it and own it, but it belongs to all the couples who have used it for their nuptials.” No matter their accomplishments, the two insist Chapel in the Pines has always been and will always be about the people who visit the property.