Backyard Bride
Laurie Plante’s home becomes the impromptu site for daughter Jordan’s June wedding
“You know that honey-do list you were going to work on this summer? Well, we’ve got four weeks to get it all done,” said Laurie Plante, nurse at The Ghosh Center, to her husband Rich. They’d just agreed to hold their daughter Jordan’s wedding in their backyard. It’s the kind of story that’s become a sign of the times: the big 300-guest cathedral wedding that Jordan and her now-husband, Austin, were planning for June 20 had to be canceled in favor of a smaller gathering, to avoid a large crowd and the potential spread of coronavirus.
While this could have been disappointing, the couple and their families, with help from their Ghosh Center family, made the most out of the situation and created a truly magical day, demonstrating that the pandemic doesn’t cancel making beautiful memories.
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Jordan was doing a dietetics internship at Mercy Hospital last spring after graduating from Iowa State University with a degree in Human Sciences. When everything began shutting down in March, she was sent home to Ames to finish the internship online.
At that time, she mentioned to her mom, “Should I be worried about the wedding in June?” Laurie said, “It’s three months away, this is going to blow over, it will be fine.”
“It was so personal, it was just an emotional day. We really saw and felt the emotion in the whole ceremony. I don’t think we would have had that in a cathedral wedding.”
As mid-May approached, however, Jordan and Austin didn’t have a good feeling about continuing with the original plan, so Laurie began checking into other options. She inquired with their family church in Urbana that Jordan had grown up attending, but it was closed with no reopening date.
Finally, Laurie told Jordan that they just needed to make a decision. And off the cuff, Jordan said, “How about we have it at your place?”
Ultimately, Laurie and Rich agreed to hold the wedding at their rural Urbana home. “Did I ever think I’d have a wedding in my backyard? Is it set up for it? No! But we did it!” Laurie said.
A Tight Timeline
They had four weeks to turn the yard into a wedding venue. They needed to plan for potential rain, find a caterer on short notice, and finish a big list of yard and home projects, like restaining and adding skirting to their deck. Jordan and Austin came home from Ames every weekend to help.
“They wanted to get married by the willow tree, so we got an arbor, and tents since we didn’t know what the weather would be like,” said Laurie. “We made the back deck into a covered dance area. We literally moved all our furniture out of our living room and converted it into a reception hall.”
To decorate, they made centerpieces with lace doilies that belonged to Jordan’s “Gigi,” (great-grandma on Rich’s side), along with glassware and candles they already owned. They added “white lights galore” to create a beautiful ambiance.
All together, they planned for only around 20 people to attend, and most were immediate family -- and Ghosh Center family. Lauren, Jordan’s sister, who followed in her mom’s footsteps and is also a nurse at The Ghosh Center, served as maid of honor. Mindy, nurse practitioner at The Ghosh Center, stepped up to help as well, demonstrating how the staff are truly like family to each other. She brought her own succulents to use as some of the centerpieces, her daughter Raegan sang, and her husband Chad was the bartender.
A family friend did photography. Ruzicka’s, the same business that catered The Ghosh Center’s Celebration of Life picnic the last seven years, provided catering with only four weeks notice.
The Big Day
Leading up to June 20, the weather was perfect -- but it was raining that morning. Luckily, the sun came out around 3 p.m., just in time to take photos before the 5:30 ceremony.
The women all got ready downstairs, men upstairs. Jordan’s brother Christian performed the ceremony by the willow tree. Both Laurie and Austin’s mom did readings. The couple created their own vows. Neighbor kids who are friends of the family watched from a distant hill.
“It was so personal, it was just an emotional day,” Laurie said. “We really saw and felt the emotion in the whole ceremony. I don’t think we would have had that in a cathedral wedding.”
And, because they couldn’t have the big guest list they planned on, Laurie and Rich surprised the couple with a parade after the ceremony. Laurie had sent a message to close family and friends who live nearby to line up as the ceremony was ending, then the photographer lured them to the front of the house for a photo. Waiting for them were 15 or so cars filled with neighbors and friends to wish them well.
They went on to have the first dance, cutting of the cake, and father-daughter dance, like they would have with their original plan. They danced all night to a playlist created by the couple.
“It was just a perfect night,” Laurie said. “And to our surprise, around 9:30 p.m., fireworks started going off behind the creek. We found out later that a neighbor had seen the party from afar and set them off to help us celebrate.”
The couple ended the night in their “honeymoon suite:” a tent set up in the backyard.
Reflecting on something special
As Laurie talks about the day, it’s clear that the family created something special that they may not have otherwise experienced. There was an intimacy and closeness felt by everyone in attendance. Austin’s family had never been to the Plante home, and the two families grew closer and created a lasting bond. Just the last-minute nature of the event makes it a memorable occasion.
“And now,” Laurie said, “we have a free summer - all our projects are done!”
