Micro-Wedding at Emerson Fields
Hello, I am Amelia, the owner of Emerson Fields wedding venue and this is my collection of thoughts surrounding my niece’s Covid micro-wedding. I’m also sharing from her personal blog, tons of amazing photos from the day and a little background to set the stage.
Where to begin…
It happened in 1995 in a hospital room in St. Joseph, Missouri, my niece Shelby Lane was born. I was there beside my sister’s bed the entire day offering ice chips and awaiting my niece’s first cry. And since that day, there’s never been a day that she didn’t feel like she was [also] mine.
Flash forward to December 2019…
It happened in one of the community rooms at our church during a Christmas party, my niece Shelby Lane got engaged. Her fiance, LeRoy, popped the question in front of the staff, which are also some of their best friends. LeRoy had secretly planned a fake, staff Christmas party with a gift exchange to be able to ask Shelby to marry him with some of their closest people present. He then, thoughtfully, let Shelby’s parents and I know when it would be happening so we could “crash” the party, and we did.
Cue the wedding planning squeals of joy…
The big day was set for April 25, 2020, at 5:00pm with 300 of their family and friends at Emerson Fields. Shelby’s plans included 6 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid, 6 groomsmen, wedding singer and pianist, two-tier wedding cake, 5 sheet cakes, delicious punch, mauve, black, gold, white and lots of greenery. A clean, elegant, garden-inspired wedding. It would be gorgeous!
Early March 2020 you would find me (Amelia) wringing my hands with worry but trying desperately to put my hands together in prayer as Covid-19 become a common household word…
I had the unfortunate job of informing all of our spring and summer brides that we would likely only be able to host weddings for up to 50 people due to the coronavirus.
The call I had to make to my own niece, bride-to-be Shelby, was the toughest one for me. Asking her to trim their guest list from 300 to 50…wow! Knowing she (and I) had been planning her dream wedding, at the venue we built for her (family joke), and now THIS! Her and LeRoy brainstormed other options but as foster parents already, and juggling two separate households until they were married, they decided it would be best to keep the date of April 25th no matter what.
Cue more Covid-19 madness…
After they had whittled the guest list down, formed the “50 Elite” Facebook group to communicate the alternative wedding day plans and let out all the crying (or so we thought), I had to call them back. A wedding with only 10 people was the absolute only option for the April 25th date as our state was shut down for gatherings of more than ten due to Covid-19.
Thus began the Covid-19 wedding planning…
They moved forward planning a micro-wedding for only them and their parents, photographer, officiant, and myself on their original wedding date, April 25th.
And this was the result….
THE MOST MEANINGFUL UNION OF TWO PEOPLE I HAVE EVER WITNESSED at Emerson Fields.
For the remainder of the blog, here’s what you need to know:
Shelby had been living temporarily with her parents while raising a foster baby, that she picked up as a newborn from the hospital, and working and wedding planning - all while being engaged to a church worship pastor, LeRoy.
LeRoy had been raising a teenage foster son while still juggling his new position at the church and supporting his mother who was battling cancer for the second time.
My niece calls me “Aunt Amy”- family nickname for Amelia- and at the very end of this blog I’ll share a great surprise that my friend Cindy Scott conspired with me to do ON the wedding day!
I can’t show you photos of the foster children they are raising but LeRoy and Shelby did get to visit and celebrate with them following the ceremony.
Shelby is the bomb and has her own blog. There is no way I can describe this micro-wedding day without using her own words.
This is her blog story…
On April 25, 2020, I woke up in my bed at my parents' house to our foster baby cooing in his crib waiting for his 7:00a.m. bottle - just like I had woken up for the last two months. I texted my bridesmaids - "What do brides do on their wedding day?" It felt so weird to be by myself with my parents instead of with my bridesmaids going to eat breakfast like I had planned. I fed the baby and watched the Little Mermaid and waited for my parents to wake up. The movie came and went and I decided to give the baby a bath and shave my legs again - why not? I painted my nails and packed my bags.
I texted LeRoy to remind him that we were getting married - just to be sure - and drove to my grandma's to print off LeRoy's groomsmen notes to put in a book. While I was at grandma's he responded and told me not to panic... what a great message to get on your wedding day... his suit had gotten lost in the mail - but "don't worry" he would figure it out. Picture this: sitting in my grandma's 1,000 degree kitchen trying to get her virus-ridden laptop to access and print emails from the groomsmen (one of which decided to send a picture of his hand-written serial killer note that I had to decode and get typed up - thanks Cody), the wifi is not working, Google docs decides my password isn't right, AND THEN he texts me that his suit is missing. COOL. I did some deep breaths, got the notes printed and stapled together, and went back to my parents to get the baby and my packed bags.
On my way to the venue I noticed that the butterflies in my belly were going wild! And then my gas light came on. After the episode at my grandma's, I was still worked up, and the gas light sent me over the edge. This was the car we were supposed to drive to St. Louis for our honeymoon and it wouldn't even make it to the next town from the venue. I called my cousin, Madyson, and panic-vented to her. Not being the bride, she was all calm and said to come on out to the venue and her husband would go fill up the car. I got to the venue, dropped off the baby with my cousins, and went to get my makeup done.
As I was unpacking my getting ready bag, I saw the baby's fancy outfit was left behind... I just stood there and shook my head. How weird is it that my bag has both baby clothes and wedding gear? As a bride, I never pictured my wedding day to have kids - but here we were. Two people juggling our amazing foster kiddos around so that our wedding day could happen - so strange - but that's kind of how our life goes... never like we imagined or planned - ha!
While I was getting ready, the reality of our COVID wedding set in. I was in a room with the photographer and my cousin who was doing my makeup. It wasn't bustling with my bridesmaids snacking and laughing. It was calm - probably just what I needed. We put on my Disney playlist, she got out the palest makeup she could find, and she got to work. I took that time by ourselves to breathe and get excited about the upcoming ceremony. My hairdresser, Christy showed up about the same time that my mom and mother-in-laws got there. My mom got snacks and juice - my favorites.
Right when my hair was up in pinned curls, I heard yelling outside the balcony - my bridesmaids! They came up into the balcony all wearing matching t-shirts that said "Quarantine Bridesmaid" and a hashtag "#allbuttonedupwithnowheretogo." They had brought my favorite Sonic pop - Vanilla Sprite with Cranberry and a bag filled with pictures of them in their dresses and notes from each of them. I could've cried you guys. It was so strange to not spend the day with them, but I felt so special that they surprised me.
I finished getting ready while I pretended to not notice them writing all over our car outside the window. The photographer asked me to write a note to LeRoy and he write one to me - of course another thing I forgot to do ;). They voice recorded us reading them out loud and then videoed us when we read each other’s notes. I would've cried, but I was too excited. We took the final "getting ready" pictures and my Aunt Amy came up the balcony to get me. HERE WE GO!
I carefully made my way down the balcony stairs and around the corner to a parking lot of my favorite people in their cars - I think this was one of my favorite parts of the day. They were all honking and yelling out their windows. I loved that they got to see me before LeRoy... it felt like we were all in on a secret together. I went in the front doors to the venue to do a first look with my dad - who cried more than expected. I did some of my sarcastic comments to stop the tears and we took our signature picture with one arm on the wall, hip popped out, and looking over our shoulders. It wasn't long before I heard "A Million Dreams" piano version start to play - this meant the live feed had started on Facebook and our parents were about to make their way down the aisle.
Check out the Buttone’s wedding playlist here.
I was separated from the rest of them so that LeRoy couldn't see me. My dad and I waited by the slidey door for Aunt Amy to come cue us, but she never did. Apparently she decided last minute to escort my mom down the aisle since we couldn't have ushers and she was alone. We opened the slidey door after I heard the spot in the music that I had remembered and walked out into the open venue room. As we walked it was quiet and shockingly empty as we could only have our parents and the pastor in the room with us (10 person limit). We rounded the corner and I saw LeRoy crying at the end of the aisle. COME ON. Every girl secretly dreams of this moment - the moment your groom is so overwhelmed by you that he overflows. I got that. We got to the end of the aisle just seconds after the song ended - pretty good timing if I do say so myself. My dad gave me away and LeRoy and I climbed the stairs to begin worship.
Worship was my favorite part of the ceremony. We had originally planned on our friend, Kiaira, singing at the ceremony but she would have been over our 10 person limit and she was pregnant so her being around people was not encouraged. LeRoy and I decided the week before our wedding that we would just do it together. Everyone knows how talented LeRoy is, but I didn't want him to feel like he had to "perform" on our day so I decided we would do it together. I am not a singer you guys... nope nope. I enjoy it, but I do not have an Adele voice by any means. For some reason though, the acoustics in that room gave me all the confidence I needed. We had only practiced one and a half times before the wedding so there was one bobble, but we both felt like we were truly able to worship and get God at the forefront of our minds - just what we needed.
All of the disappointment of not having the wedding as planned, all of the stress of the day, all of the craziness of our lives, it all melted away. This day was about glorifying God - the one who scripted our lives - through our marriage. Our pastor, Matt, gave a succinct message about a Christ-led marriage, we had communion and prayed together, and then exchanged rings. We opted for traditional vows because we already had so much on our plate. We vowed to take care of each other forever and had our first kiss as a husband and wife. LeRoy still laughs about that kiss because it was such a small peck.
Matt announced us as Mr. and Mrs. Buttone and we went down the aisle (to a song from P.S. I love you) and outside to wave at the parking lot of cars. As soon as we went outside, Brock shut off the live Facebook feed. My brother helped usher the cars into a line and they went by us in a parade and we yelled our hellos and thank yous. I am so glad we chose to do the drive-thru piece! When we originally planned our wedding we were intentional about the people we were surrounding ourselves with. We wanted to begin our marriage surrounded by those that love, guide, and support us. When COVID took that away, we were devastated. Having some of our people waiting for us in the parking lot and being able to see their faces made it feel so much better!
After all the cars were gone, we decided our previous plans for the "reception" weren't the best so we changed the order of events. It turns out you can do that when there are only 10 people involved. We took pictures, came back and ate a home-cooked meal at a beautiful table, took some more pictures, then danced.
LeRoy had chosen our first dance song at my request. He chose "Heart" by one of our favorite artists, Sleeping at Last. When he first revealed his choice to me, I cried real hard. The words blew me away, and to soak in that he meant the words was overwhelming for my heart. We had our first dance and he told me how beautiful I was over and over. The dance was a bit awkward with only a few people in the room watching us, but it felt so good to soak in being married! At the end of the song, our parents asked my uncle to play the song again and told us to dance again. We were so confused until our dads started raining dollar bills all over us to substitute for the dollar dance that couples usually have at receptions. We cried laughing - it was so funny!
LeRoy chose to have a mother-son dance with his mom, Lisa, and his step-mom, Joyce. The songs he chose for them were so special. Lisa and LeRoy danced to the song "Son" by Sleeping at last and Joyce had the song "Mother" by Voices from Mars. Both of his moms are important to him, and we wanted them each to have their own moment. My dad and I danced to "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. Picking this song was a no brainer for me. My dad and I have a fun relationship so we needed a fun song, and he used to sing "Sweet Shelby Lane, buh buh buh.." to the tune when I was growing up.
After the dancing, we ate our cake made by grandma - both were to die for - and changed into our new t-shirts (so cute that said "Hubs" and "Wifey") and left for our COVID honeymoon in St. Louis! Having the drive to talk about our day and read the hundreds of comments and posts about our day was so fun! We left the venue filled up with love from our friends and family, excitement for being married, and gratitude for how smooth the day went for us!
Now for the surprise!!!
Cindy Scott, a friend and live wedding painter, and I (Amelia) conspired together ON THE MORNING OF THE WEDDING to surprise Shelby & LeRoy with her painting their wedding via a livestream video and a few photos- and it was SO fun to see the look on their faces when Cindy revealed the painting to them after dinner.
Cindy is a ROCKSTAR! She typically paints a first dance LIVE while guests can see her masterfully create a beautiful moment in time on canvas, but for the first time ever she painted from her house while watching our livestream video. Result: AMAZING! CUE ALL THE TEARS!
First official wedding gift; a live-streamed painting by Cindy Scott Artistry.
“A day that I thought would be laced with sadness and disappointment was saturated with love and closeness instead. I am thankful for our small wedding and the way we were able to include people near and far!”
Venue Emerson Fields near Macon, Missouri
Photography & Videography Team from Rivera Studios of St. Joseph
Floral Design & Decor Rentals from D-Zines Weddings of Macon
Linen & Charger Rentals from A.B. Helton Fine Linen Rentals of Macon
Bridal Gown from Stephanie’s Bridal Boutique of Kansas City
Groom’s Suit from C.A. Shoush & Co. of Macon (delivered in plenty of time)
Live Wedding Painting by Cindy Scott Artistry
Wedding Cake made by Grandma Lana of Macon
Family-Style Dinner made by Janie, friend from church
Officiant Matt Stieger of Crossroads Christian Church in Macon
02/09/2021 - Amelia Holder