GREAT FALLS — With COVID-19 spreading, some couples have had to make very difficult adjustments to their fairy-tale love story.
Dave Snuggs, Great Falls Wedding and Event Center director, says this is something he's never seen before, “In my 25 years of doing events this has really been a double whammy and here’s why not only are we dealing with everyone being sick but then we are having to deal with people who spent years planning their special day. Brides who are calling you up in tears saying that their wedding is ruined and what we are trying to provide is hope.”
One of those couples is Ian and Britney, who were supposed to have their wedding at the venue on Saturday night, but made changes and had it at their home Friday night.
“We are able to accommodate the six-foot distance in our backyard, so everyone is spaced out perfectly," says Brittney.
“We went from about 80 people that we were potentially going to have, to the 10 that are going to be this afternoon. So, we decided to move it up to today with the lock down going into effect today at midnight,” says Ian Daniels, the groom.
The Great Falls Wedding and Event center has a plan in place for the couples that have had to cancel or postpone. “What we have done here at the Great Falls Event Center, is we have been speaking to our brides and postponed their dates that were scheduled for March and April and early June and moving them to dates in the fall,” says Snuggs.
Many couples have had to find different solutions during this pandemic of COVID-19. Snuggs added, “Most have been completely understanding of what’s going on, it's something they have no control over, they know we don’t either. So usually when they first call it's that slight pause of, well, who would have thought this.”
However, these trying times did not stop Ian and Brittney from staying optimistic for their big day. “I’m excited even though all the plans we have made, they're just kinda of up in the air. I don’t know, I think it’s going to be great. Small, but we hang out with our family all the time anyway,” says Brittney.
“Because hope is powerful at this time, so what we have been doing is trying to get weddings moved to later on in the fall,” says Snuggs.
Wedding venues typically have a policy where you pay a deposit and you don’t get it back if you cancel, but the Great Falls Wedding and Event Center are doing the exact opposite by giving people a full refund or the option to move their date. If you have any questions on your deposit, you should contact your wedding venue as soon as possible.
As of Saturday morning (March 28), there are 129 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Montana, and one death. There are no confirmed reports at this time about the number of patients who have recovered. Public health officials know that the number of cases is likely substantially higher than the number of confirmed cases. As of Saturday morning, the public health laboratory in Helena has completed 3,385 tests.
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