Tying the knot pandemic-style COVID-19 led to a complete change in wedding plans for Ladd resident Sarah Mann By Shannon Serpette ll brides-to-be look forward to the moment when all the planning is done. They can sit back, take a breath, and wait for the big day to arrive. Sarah (Ratajczak) Mann of Ladd, who became engaged to Nicholas Mann in the fall of 2019, had reached that stage in early 2020. Then it all fell apart. “We had everything planned,” she said. “Then the end of March and COVID came, and our plans went out the window. The constant worry of when and if we would be able to even have a celebration lingered in our minds for eight months.” By the time of their wedding on Aug. 18, 2020, everything had changed for the Manns – the size of the wedding, the reception they were planning, and the location where it would all take place. “Originally, we were having a private ceremony with only 10 to 15 people. Our reception had 250 people planned,” Sarah said. “We had to change our private ceremony to a somewhat bigger ceremony (30 people) and give up the dream of a reception and big celebration.” That left a lot of people off the guest list that Sarah had been planning on including. “We had trouble planning a guest list due to attendance requirements. It’s so hard when you have a big family and want everyone to be a part of it, but knowing they can’t be,” she said. “We couldn’t invite co-workers for fear of spreading COVID within our employment. The only friends we had were the See Pandemic page 10
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED/KENDRA POOLE AT KP PHOTOGRAPHY
The raging coronavirus pandemic led to a complete change in wedding plans for Ladd couple Nicholas and Sarah Mann. Sarah was thankful she was able to hold a socially-distanced wedding at Hegeler Carus Mansion in LaSalle.
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