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Small-town support, friends and family help put together Plan B for a wedding in a week.

May 24, 2019

3 Min Read
wedding table settings and centerpiece
VENUE RELOAD: With Mississippi River flooding creating a problem at our original wedding venue, we had a week to find a new one.Mindy Ward

“We need to start looking at Plan B,” my sister-in-law said. The only problem, there was no Plan B.

My youngest daughter’s wedding was scheduled for May 11 in Clarksville, Mo., at the iconic Apple Shed. But here we were May 2 with the Mississippi River rising and water inundating the town. The venue was dry, but we could not access it because the roads were underwater.

So, the family began forming Plan B.

Stepping up

We made phone calls to various wedding locations. Many could not hold our guest list. Others were booked. Some were closed. Then one of those closed locations — Oak Ridge Estate in nearby Bowling Green, Mo. — heard our plea and decided to open, just for my daughter.

With a new venue came the email, phone calls and Facebook messaging of guests explaining the dilemma and change in wedding location.

3 men arranging canned beverages

ALL HANDS: It took a crew of family and friends to pull off our daughter’s wedding. Here, my son-in-law (front), brother-in-law (right) and husband fill stock tanks painted by my eldest daughter full of soda and water.

Suppliers and vendors also were called and rerouted. We rented tables, chairs and linens from Rodgers Rental in Centralia, Mo. I’ll never forget what the lady on the other end of the phone said before hanging up, “Don’t worry. We will be there. We won’t let you down.”

I almost lost it. I am just another customer. She doesn’t know me or my daughter. Yet this small-town rental place was willing to walk with me through this. She provided the assurance I needed to tackle what was to come next.

Adapting to change

A new venue meant new decorations — no glass, no fire. Out were the centerpieces of glass votive candles. Then my daughter who lives in Ohio shows up. She created new centerpieces, painted old water troughs for sodas and water bottles and even found time to monogram them. She stayed by my side the entire week. The love I have for her knows no bounds.

Still other challenges were on the horizon. There was no kitchen at the new location, so meal preparation changed. Bowling Green Pizza Hut made and delivered 71 large pizzas and 43 family-style pastas. (Yep, your read that right, pizza). After a quick assessment, we decided just to line the back table with pizza boxes and create a self-serve buffet. Hokie? Maybe. Necessity? Absolutely.

Cassidy Ward and Jared Kilpack wedding photo

BEST ENDING: Despite all the changes and challenges, the day ended well with my girl Cassidy Ward marrying Jared Kilpack.

Still the pasta and salad needed to be assembled and put in plastic bowls on the table. My family and friends were here for a wedding, but they ended up mixing salad out of the back end of a storage trailer and transferring pasta to plastic bowls on the tailgate of a pickup truck.

That was not their job, but they chose to leave their seats and help us. We are so unworthy of such an outpouring of support and love.

While it appears like total mayhem, my daughter’s wedding day turned out perfect, just the way God intended — floodwaters and all. It truly reminded me of what makes small towns, farm friends and family the greatest people to celebrate a new marriage, shoot, any occasion with. They can roll with Plan B.

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