Bride-To-Be Finds New Wedding Venue After Fire: 'Little Shocks Set In'
ESTES PARK, Colo. (CBS4) – A bride-to-be set to walk down the aisle at Marys Lake Lodge in July decided to visit a new venue Wednesday just days after a fire destroyed much of the historic business.
Marys Lake Lodge was set to host her wedding.
"Little shocks set in, 'Oh my god, what are we going to do? Oh my god,'" Twyla Ward thought to herself the day she learned about the fire. "It was very overwhelming on Sunday, lots of tears shed."
Ward started planning her wedding a year ago when she set her date at the Lodge. She remembers wanting to have her ceremony earlier in the summer on a Saturday between the her and her fiancé's birthdays.
"The fire actually happened five weeks before our wedding," she said. "The date of the fire was our first pick to have our wedding."
Guests are set to arrive from 12 different states, so keeping the same relative location was essential on that weekend.
A Facebook group created after the fire, helped clients find options at the last minute for their weddings. Ward got in contact with Trout Haven Resorts and finalized plans to move her ceremony to their venue without even visiting the site.
Staff say they've been approached by at least 10 other couples to use their location in place of the Lodge.
"We knew that. We can do this. We can make other plans," she said. "They were the only ones that responded that had our date."
Ward visited the new location with one of two "Best Women" for the wedding. She and her fiancé are both having two people important in their lives as part of the wedding party. Her future husband will have two "Best Men" himself.
"Been a widow for 20 years, never thought I would get married, let alone have a daughter," Ward said about her life since she lost her first husband.
She first got a call from one of her daughters on Sunday. She was relieved to find out that her family was safe, worried that the call would be about something much worse.
When she saw the photos of the Lodge an hour later, she realized that she would have to change her venue. Ward is grateful that there were not any injuries and says staff at the Lodge have been accommodating throughout her entire wedding planning process.
The cost of the damage is estimated at $5 million. The Lodge is working with other couples to help them keep their wedding dates at that venue.
Ward says the lesson for future brides or anyone in middle of the wedding process is to remember the logistics of the ceremony are not as important as the other person in the wedding.
"In the end you're marrying your best friend and that's what matters," she said.
Shawn Chitnis reports weeknights for CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Email him story ideas at smchitnis@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter or Facebook.
