Paige Frazier & Ryan Zehnacker

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Paige Frazier was a freshman in high school when she met Ryan Zehnacker at the Millard Days Parade and Carnival.

Nine years later, Ryan proposed amid the holiday lights at Gene Leahy Mall in downtown Omaha. “He stopped in the middle of the bridge and asked me . . .”

She thought they were on their way to his office party. Instead, Ryan and Paige went by limo to Mahogany Prime Steakhouse for a romantic dinner at a table preset with a bouquet of roses for Paige.

After dinner, Ryan took Paige to the Fox and Hound, where friends and family were waiting to celebrate with the couple.

“I started crying when I saw everyone,” Paige recalls. “I was so happy that Ryan had taken the time to plan so many surprises.”

Huge Nebraska fans, Paige and Ryan initially picked Aug. 30, 2008, for their wedding. When Husker Coach Bo Pelini moved up the first game, they landed on 08.08.08. “We didn’t realize the significance of the date when we booked it,” Paige says.

The ceremony took place at West Hills Presbyterian Church in Omaha and was followed by a reception at the Omaha Hilton.

Paige took a bodice and skirt from different gowns and had them com bined into an original gown by a designer at Ellynne Bridal Gallery in Lincoln.

Her bridesmaids wore strapless floor-length chocolate taffeta dresses with champagne-colored sashes.

The four-tiered cake had various flavors with designs on every layer from swirls to hearts, with the couple’s monogram and fresh flowers at the top.

At candy stations, guests filled little brown bags with treats to take home as favors.

Paige and Ryan set the tone for a fun evening for their 440 guests by inviting groups to the center of the dance floor to drink from bottles of sangria. “People loved it,” the bride says. “It got people dancing.”

The newlyweds, in fact, never stopped dancing. “If people wanted to talk to us, they came onto the dance floor.”

The bridal party sat at a cluster of round tables instead of long tables so everyone could see each other and talk together. “Our entire wedding party was either dating, married or really good friends,” the bride said.

Paige and Ryan, who live in Omaha, spent their honeymoon in Aruba.