Coronavirus is canceling spring weddings in Illinois. That hurts more than brides.
Coronavirus has forced many metro-east residents to cancel or postpone life’s monumental events, ranging from graduations to anniversary parties, proms to bar mitzvahs, baptisms to funerals.
It’s had a huge effect on the wedding industry, not to mention brides and grooms who have been planning for months or years. They’ve reserved venues and hotel rooms, bought dresses and decorations, booked catering and photography, hired D.J.s and florists.
“We were definitely really bummed about it at first,” said Michael Spangler, 30, of Maryville, who decided March 18 with his fiance Amie Hunt to cancel their April 4 wedding. That was before Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced his “shelter-in-place” order.
“What bothered us the most was all the work that our family and friends had put into it,” Spangler said. “But once we made the decision, and everyone was so supportive, we realized that it could have been much worse. People are losing their jobs and getting sick. Our wedding is insignificant compared to the bigger thing going on in the country right now. We’re trying to stay positive.”
Spangler and Hunt had planned to get married at Shiloh United Methodist Church, hold their reception at Scott Air Force Base Event Center and rent a party bus for bridesmaids and groomsmen.
All of the couple’s vendors have shown understanding and indicated that they won’t penalize them financially as long as they reschedule, which they plan to do.
But that decision may take time. It will affect not only Spangler and Hunt, but their 200 wedding guests, some of whom will be traveling from out of state or overseas. Hunt’s father is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel who lives in Germany, which closed its borders March 16 due to COVID-19, a respiratory illness that has been declared a pandemic.
“We haven’t picked a date yet,” said Spangler, a season ticket sales rep for the St. Louis Blues. “We’re just going to wait a few weeks and see where the world is at. We hope that we can do it this year, but it seems like the news is changing everyday.”
Unsaving the date
Spangler is working from home, but Hunt’s job as a graphic designer and floor manager for Rising Stars Monogram Boutique in Belleville is on hold. The business is temporarily closed due to Pritzker’s order, which is effective through April 7 but could be extended.
The couple notified friends and family of the wedding cancellation with an “unsave-the-date” notice featuring their cat, Marsha, and handwritten changes to their original “save-the-date” notice. They wanted people to know they were finding humor in a difficult situation.
“We’ve lived together for more than two years,” said Amie, 27. “We own a home together. We have a cat. Our lives are very much entwined without being married. The wedding was almost like a formality.”
Melody Evans and her fiance, Troy Isom, also are taking changes to their wedding plans in stride.
They had arranged to get married June 20 at Espenschied Chapel in Mascoutah. That’s three months away, and most people think the United States will recover from coronavirus by that time. But Evans and Isom are postponing the nuptials for a full year.
It’s a second marriage for both. They have parents and other family members in their 70s, 80s and 90s, some with medical problems. Doctors warn that older people and those with underlying health issues are at greater risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19.
“We’re just a little bit nervous about this situation,” said Evans, 57, of Mascoutah, a math teacher at Lebanon High School. “We think it’s best for everybody to stay put.”
Isom, 55, a first sergeant in the U.S. Army, is prohibited from leaving his military base in Kentucky until May.
The wedding postponement isn’t causing too many problems for the couple. They had invited only 40 guests. Evans planned to make food and decorations. She hadn’t ordered flowers or found a photographer. Her father, retired pastor Bob Edwards, volunteered to perform the ceremony.
“I have my dress,” Evans said. “Hopefully, in a year I’ll be about the same size. ... After teaching high school for 34 years, you’ve got to have a relaxed attitude.”
Cooler full of flowers
Eleven customers of Grimm & Gorly Flowers & Gifts in Belleville have canceled weddings, galas, auctions and anniversary parties from late March through early May, but all were able to reschedule for later in the year, according to co-owner Jeff Bair, who is providing floral arrangements.
On Friday morning, March 20, before Pritzker’s order, the business was still open, delivering flowers and offering carry-outs of food and drink at its adjoining coffee shop, Pour@322.
“It’s a terrible situation on all accounts,” Bair said. “But we all have to keep moving and hope for the best.”
Bair was trying to be upbeat, despite a cooler full of flowers that already had been delivered to the shop for a Friday night wedding that wasn’t happening. He sent them to longtime customers and shut-ins to provide “some joy in their lives.”
A canceled reception on Saturday, March 21, would have kicked off spring wedding season for Brock Elmore, owner of Let’s Celebrate D.J., videography and photo booth service. He had 12 jobs lined up from mid-March through end of April, including eight weddings, two proms and two corporate events. All have been rescheduled for later in the year.
“A lot of these postponements are going to be on Fridays or Sundays because venues are already booked on Saturdays,” said Elmore, 32, of Edwardsville. “There’s a possibility that I may be doing weddings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday over Labor Day weekend.”
Elmore isn’t penalizing customers who break contracts, even though he was counting on the part-time work to help pay for recent purchases of new camera and D.J. equipment.
“It’s definitely a loss in revenue,” he said. “But in the current landscape, I’m lucky. I’m fortunate because I have a day job. For some of these people, it’s their sole income.”
Elmore works full time for a company that installs and maintains surveillance cameras.
Venues offer refunds
The Wildey Theatre, owned by the city of Edwardsville, is rescheduling or giving full refunds to people who cancel events in its party rooms this spring due to coronavirus. Manager Al Canal noted that it can be tricky to coordinate dates with caterers and other vendors.
The venue also has canceled or postponed all concerts and other productions in its theater through April 15, as well as an April 30 performance by a Cream tribute band on an international tour that is sure to be affected by travel restrictions imposed by many countries to contain the pandemic. Decisions about other shows will be made on a case-by-case basis.
“It’s like everything in life,” Canal said. “You just deal with it.”
It’s still early in the rental season for Willoughby Farm in Collinsville because of cool and wet weather in March and April, but Event Manager Jerri McMillen has canceled or postponed several weddings and other events through May 4 in its barn, pavilion and picnic area.
Willoughby is operated by Collinsville Area Recreation District, which is offering to reschedule or give full refunds, like the Wildey.
“Everybody has been super nice, and they weren’t surprised (when we called to deliver the bad news),” McMillen said. “They know there’s nothing that can be done.”
Cancellations at Espenschied Chapel have included the Evans-Isom wedding, a birthday party, a memorial luncheon and a three-day art festival. Mascoutah Cemetery Chapel board president Jeanne Bullard expects more. The fate of a May 24 cemetery walk also is uncertain.
The board hasn’t met to determine policy on coronavirus-related changes, but Bullard expects it to be lenient, even though the nonprofit organization relies on rental fees to pay costs related to restoration, maintenance and a new addition.
“I guess I should be a little bit worried because we won’t have any income coming in,” she said. “But I feel so sorry for the people planning these events.”
Show must go on
While coronavirus has forced many weddings to be canceled this spring, a few metro-east brides and grooms are sticking to their plans, albeit with adjustments.
Twelve couples made appointments to get married at the Madison County Courthouse on Friday afternoon, March 20, shortly before Pritzker announced his order. Third Circuit Court Chief Judge William Mudge considered calling off the nuptials that morning to follow “social-distancing” recommendations and reduce the number of people inside the building.
Then Associate Judges Veronica Armouti, Barry Julian and Maureen Schuette volunteered to go outside and conduct ceremonies on the courthouse plaza.
“We didn’t want to turn (the couples) away when they were walking up to the courthouse hand in hand, wanting to get married,” Mudge said.
No more courthouse weddings or civil unions will take place in Madison County or St. Clair County for the next 30 days, by judicial order.
Dan Karban and his fiance, Amanda Frey, of Collinsville, hope to go through with their wedding on April 17, but it’s likely to be moved from WOW Furnishings and Event Center in Alton to Karban’s parents’ home. The guest list will be trimmed from more than 100 people to just parents and siblings.
The couple postponed their reception until June 12 so Karban, 32, a United Parcel Service driver, and Frey, 30, an ER nurse at Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis, can celebrate with extended family and friends.
They consider themselves lucky because most of their vendors were available to provide services on the new date. Frey gives Karban credit for keeping a level head during an intense, 48-hour decision-making process and helping her stay calm.
“I needed a couple of hours to let go of the idea of what our wedding was supposed to be and accept what it is going to be now,” she said.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 11:43 AM.
