“A Whirlwind Wedding” -– Couple ties the knot two days after tornado tears through venue

By Nathan Vickers

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    EUREKA, Missouri (KMOV) — When a tornado interrupted a rehearsal at a Jefferson County Farm, a local couple thought their dream wedding was a bust.

But thanks to some quick fixes to Brookdale Farm’s event space and some adaptations by the venue, Kyle and Taylor O’Driscoll said “I do” Saturday evening as planned.

By the time their ceremony started it was hard to tell there had been any damage to the event space at all. They exchanged vows overlooking the farm’s scenic fields and hills with their family and friends.

Their officiant acknowledged the challenges of the week, saying “There were a few times we weren’t sure this was going to happen.”

Brookdale had brought in a team of roofers on Friday, however. By the end of the day, the hole in the roof was patched, and the event space had been reset.

Kyle and Taylor had been determined to move forward, regardless.

“Nothing was going to stop us,” Kyle said after the ceremony.

“We were always going to have a wedding, whether it was in a parking lot or a barn or a tent,” Taylor added.

James Vavak, the general manager of the farm, said the staff was determined to make the wedding work. They felt confident that they could prepare the ceremony as planned once a structural engineer signed off on the building’s integrity.

Another building at the farm, a storage shed near the event space, had taken the brunt of the storm. Vavak said the Brookdale is still assessing the damage there. He added that further repairs would be needed for the event space after this wedding.

But for the last two days, he said, he and his staff were solely focused on seeing the O’Driscoll wedding through to the end.

“The staff has said all week that we are all really vested in this. We feel like part of the family now,” he said.

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