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.

The historic Hegeler Carus Mansion made a fabulous photo backdrop for Sarah Mann’s outdoor wedding in 2020.

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED/ KENDRA POOLE AT KP PHOTOGRAPHY

Pandemic

FROM PAGE 8

ones who stood beside us in our four-person bridal party.”

The couple had originally planned that their large reception would take place the month following the wedding. The reception, scheduled for Sept. 26, 2020, was canceled.

“We then went a whole different route with planning a ceremony at Hegeler Carus Mansion, where we could social distance guests outdoors,” she said. “Our ceremony was outside where our guests were masked and social distanced. We only had a few who declined on our dinner afterwards. We were able to have Garzanelli’s give us the use of their entire restaurant.”

The reception ended up being completely shelved because of COVID.

“We never got to have a reception. Our family had a small, COVID-friendly cookout for us instead,” she said.

Another aspect of planning her wedding that was different than it would be for a traditional bride was ordering dresses for herself and her two bridesmaids.

“A hard part of planning was getting dresses. We had to order everything online, including my dress, in hopes it all fit and matched. We didn’t get to have dress appointments to try on,” Sarah said.

One of her bridesmaids, Baily Schank of Ottawa, agreed the dress ordering process was difficult.

“I would have to say the most challenging part was getting the dresses. Fortunately, she had only two bridesmaids to find dresses for,” Schank said. “I couldn’t imagine having more dresses to match. Finding the right color online was tricky just looking at a picture and hoping the color description and reviews matched what we needed.”

Sarah’s maid of honor, Donna Turczyn of Peru, felt a lot of the stress, too, as she tried taking some of the pressure off of Sarah.

“It was definitely kind of hectic, lots of planning and replanning, and keeping Sarah calm and convincing her that the day she’s waited forever for would still be beautiful no matter the outcome,” Turczyn said.

Turczyn recalled how stressful the wedding invitation process was.

“I also made all of her invitations, which was an issue itself, because Sarah understandably didn’t want to send them until she knew what was going on and where the wedding was going to be,” she said. “So, every week, we were constantly watching the numbers and crossing our fingers. When the deadline for sending the invitations came, Sarah decided that the risk of a bigger wedding and reception wasn’t worth it and chose to do a smaller one.”

TheDay YouHaveBeenDreaming g Of

• Outdoor Wedding Pergola • Receptions & Showers • Seating Up to 350 • Across FromBeautiful

Lake Mendota

Create your • Custom Options • Top Brands • Design Team style for less! • Low Price Guarantee • Convenient Credit

MendotaCivicCenter M

1901 19 Tom MerwinDr. Mendota,Illinois 815-539-3411 81 • info@mendotaciviccenter.com mendot me aciviccenteril.com

SM-PR1846353

OTTAWA: Rt. 23 (N. LaSalle St.) & Jefferson St. 815.433.8875

LASALLE: Corner of Joliet & 2nd St. 815.224.8875 TURKFURNITURE.COM

But, for Turczyn, the worst part was the toll the turmoil had on Sarah.

“I think the most challenging part was watching my best friend stress every single day over what was going to happen, how many people she’d be able to have, who would she cut from the list, or wonder if she would even be able to get married,” she said. “Her sadness and worry was something I couldn’t help her with, and that was the hard part. I knew nothing I said would make her feel better, and I knew that the outcome was completely out of both of our hands.”

For Sarah, having to alter all her plans and give up her dreams of how she wanted her special day to be was hard.

“At first, I was heartbroken. I didn’t get to have a bridal shower. We didn’t get bachelor or bachelorette parties. I didn’t get to dance with my husband or my dad,” she said.

While nothing went according to plan, Sarah learned to adjust her expectations and focus on what really mattered. Her husband, Nicholas, liked the smaller ceremony because he wasn’t a fan of having a big production.

And while she didn’t get the huge reception she wanted, Sarah was grateful for all the support she received.

“Our families came together and did everything possible to give us the best day ever,” she said. “I wouldn’t have changed a thing, except more guests, of course. My husband and I were able to get married and have some important people in our lives witness.”

She and her husband were so appreciative of the help and understanding their loved ones gave them.

“The support we had from family, friends, and co-workers was amazing. Everyone was so understanding. Those that helped plan worked as hard as they could to make my husband and I happy,” Sarah said.

Despite the ongoing stress and uncertainty surrounding the wedding, the ceremony was beautiful, Schank said.

“I thought the wedding and ceremony were great,” she said. “I am all about the small micro-weddings. I know that it wasn’t what Sarah had originally planned for, but many important people in her life were able to attend. That’s what I think matters the most in the end.”

Turczyn agreed the whole wedding day was amazing.

“Everyone really pulled together and made it the sweetest ceremony I’ve ever seen. And Sarah blew everyone away with how beautiful she looked,” she said. “Was it what we thought it would be? No. But at the end of the day, I got to watch my best friend marry her best friend and start her new life with the man of her dreams. And that’s something not even a pandemic could stop.”

Tradition. Only Better.

• Event & decor rentals • Design services • Event planning • For all occasions • Professional setup for yourevent • Fresh, out of the box ideas • Covid customizedpackages • Safely plan yourevent from home • To best serve ourclients weoffer unlimited communications and free design services with rental of our decor

Nomatter what stageof planning you are in, bring us your ideas and let’s see what we can do. 2206 4thStreet • Peru | eventprosboutique.com 815-780-2204 | eventprosboutique@yahoo.com