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WEDDING
Parking Prelude MEETING BY CHANCE LEADS TO ROMANCE. BY PEG GILL · PHOTOS BY L.G. PATTERSON
M
ariola Klepadlo and Thaddeus Usovsky met by chance at a downtown parking garage July 31,
2017. They then decided to dine together and walked to Tellers. After a wonderful evening of conversation, they agreed to meet again the next morning for breakfast at Main Squeeze. Fast forward to their one-year dating anniversary, where the couple retraced the steps of their first date. Then Thaddeus took Mariola to Stephens Lake Park where he got down on one knee and proposed. She said, “Yes!” and, fittingly, they went to Main Squeeze the next morning. After planning a big wedding in St. Louis for July 10, 2020, with a reception in Columbia a day later, their grand plans were put in park by the pandemic. After several attempts to reschedule, the couple decided to hit the gas pedal and “I do” on their original date. Their reception was postponed to earlier this year. The wedding was held at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, known for one of the largest mosaic installations in the world. When Thaddeus first brought Mariola to the church, she was moved to tears. They knew this would be the place of their wedding. The bride wore a Milla Nova Azalea gown imported from Europe. It featured an A-silhouette and long train, with a V-neck bodice and long gauzy lace sleeves. The ivory lace dress had an azalea and branch pattern on its nude-shade ball skirt. Mariola’s
116 INSIDE COLUMBIA DECEMBER/JANUARY 2022
