Mary LaPlant of Barnhart had been looking forward to 2020 for a long time. Her elaborate, joyous wedding to Ryan Back had been meticulously planned and everything was shaping up well for the March ceremony.
And then….
Like so many couples, the coronavirus pandemic forced Ryan and Mary to modify, postpone, change venues, downsize, alter travel arrangements and postpone again until they finally threw their hands in the air and canceled completely.
The two were married in a tiny, private ceremony at the Sandy Creek Covered Bridge.
“We can always have a big party for our first anniversary,” Mary said.
We’d love to hear from other readers about how COVID-19 affected their plans for the Big Day.
Whether you were scheduled to get married, participate in a wedding, plan one for someone else or simply hope to attend one, we’d like to hear from you.
Dramatic, humorous, sad, hilarious, whatever your story, please share it with us so we can share it with our readers.
As many of the stories as space allows will be published in the Wedding Fair special section, slated to appear in the Feb. 4 issue of the paper.
There will be no real-life Wedding Fair this year, but the special section will showcase wedding vendors and their goods and services, as well as feature stories about topics of interest to those planning weddings or other special events.
One name will be selected at random from among all contest entries to receive a $200 cash prize.
The contest is open to all Jefferson County and Eureka residents. To enter, submit your story in 300 words or fewer and send a photo (or two).
■ Your name, phone number and town of residence must accompany all submissions.
Deadline to submit an entry is 5 p.m. Fri, Jan. 22. There are several options for submitting:
■ Email to news@leaderpublications.biz, subject line: “Wedding Fair contest.”
■ Bring to the Leader office at 503 N. Second in Festus.
■ Mail to the newspaper at P.O. Box 159, Festus, 63028.
For more information, call the Leader office at 636-931-7560.