01Y2-20 BRIDES 06-20-20.p1

BRIDES
A PUBLICATION FROM THE N’WEST IOWA REVIEW
& B O U Q U E T S
Historic village serves as
ideal location for wedding
Their relationship rolls
with required changes
Couple turn church into
beautiful ceremony venue
SUMMER 2020

H appily Ever After Starts Here!
2 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020
908 8th Street, Orange City, IA • (712) 707-5900 • www.prairiewindseventcenter.com

BRIDES
& B O U Q U E T S
ON THE COVER
13
8
IN THIS ISSUE
SUMMER 2020
4
On a roll
Couple rolls with the punches of their
relationship and wedding ceremony.
8
The Great Hall of Royal
The bride will feel like a queen in this
newly refurbished wedding venue.
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Village venue
The barn at Heritage Village provides
the bride’s dream wedding setting.
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Planning and the pandemic
Vendors who cater to weddings are
feeling the impact of the coronavirus.
SUMMER 2020 | BRIDES & BOUQUETS 3

STORY AND PHOTOS BY KATIE ANDERSON
NICK & AMANDA
On a roll
4 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020

Rolling with the
punches is kind of the
relationship Nick and
Amanda Dittmer of
Akron have had since
they began dating two years ago.
Planning a wedding scheduled
in the thick of the coronavirus
pandemic seemed fitting for
these two lovebirds.
Nick, 32, and Amanda, 35, and already had everything
paid for anyway.
“We knew no matter what we were keeping the
date the same, we just didn’t know if anyone would
be able to attend,” said the former Amanda Lloyd.
The first impact of COVID-19 was on the venue.
“Originally, the location of our wedding was to be
at a beautiful red old barn in Quimby but two weeks
before the wedding the DNR that manages the barn
called and said due to COVID-19 restrictions and
the multiple mandates, we weren’t able to have the
wedding there,” Amanda said.
Instead, their Saturday, May 30, 2020, wedding
took place on the father-of-the-bride’s farmland
near Westfield.
A reception and dance followed. Chubs in Akron
prepared the food for the reception, Piece of Cake in
LeMars made the wedding cake and mini cupcakes
for guests, Moment in Time in Boyden helped decorate
and made the couples flavored mints and A-1
Entertainment out of Vermillion, SD, took care of
the music.
“It worked out perfectly,” Amanda said. “While
Elizabeth, Amanda, Nick and Paul enjoying their
happily ever after once the vows were compete
Saturday, May 30, in Westfield.
it was all hectic, stressful
and seemed like it
wouldn’t come together,
it did because of those
companies, my husband,
our bridal party and our
folks.”
Nature included a
moment of fun that day
also.
“The thing I most remember
about the day is
the slight rain that produced
a perfect rainbow
the morning I woke up,”
Amanda said. “I remember
thinking how lucky I
was to find someone to love me as much as I love
him.”
Information from their pastor brought about another
silver lining in having to change their venue.
“We were having our final marriage counseling
with the pastor who wedded us and he said whichever
county we are married in is where the marriage
certificate needed to come from,” Amanda said. “So,
that helped us solidify being married on my father’s
land.”
The couple surprised their wedding guests at the
reception with the announcement that they were
SUMMER 2020 | BRIDES & BOUQUETS 5

“ I remember
thinking how
lucky I was to
find someone
to love me
as much as I
love him.”
AMANDA DITTMER
expecting a baby — another punch the
newlyweds just rolled with and are excited
about.
“I was at the doctor’s office in the middle
of March and I told him I wanted to
get pregnant on or soon after the wedding,”
Amanda said. “He recommended
I remove my birth control and said it
would usually take three to four months
to conceive. Fast-forward a month and
we got pregnant. Our due date is Feb.
21.”
Nick is excited about being a first-time
biological dad. However, he has taken
on the father role already as Amanda has
two children, Elizabeth, 12, and Paul, 3.
“I was afraid of getting hurt again as
both fathers to my children abandoned
us,” Amanda said. “Nick tells me the first
time he spent the night and Paul was
so excited to see him the next morning
that it just ‘did him in’ and he was in
love with my children. In fact, he often
says how he can’t believe anyone could
abandon such wonderful children. I love
him.”
United in marriage, on a farm, with
chickens, goats and a swing set, in the
middle of a pandemic while pregnant —
one thing is certain for Nick and Amanda
— love has no limits and no rules as
long as you are willing to roll through
life together. •
6 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020

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SUMMER 2020 | BRIDES & BOUQUETS 7

THE GREAT HALL OF ROYAL
A Royal
wedding
When Matt and Sara Ricke
decided to find a location
to open a wedding
venue they had thought
about purchasing an
acreage and building something from the
ground up.
They had no idea the perfect location
was waiting and in its former life, actually
played host to a number of weddings.
After about a year of renovations, St.
Louis Catholic Church in Royal has been
resurrected. It has a new name but a similar
mission.
The Great Hall of Royal seeks to give
people a place to come together to celebrate
the special moments in life from
weddings to birthdays to baby showers
and Christmas parties.
According to the couple, it was a story
about perfect timing.
“We lived in Sioux City for 19 years and
then a couple of years ago, Matt took a
job at Ag Partners at their Sutherland and
Calumet locations. Our last kid graduated
from high school in 2019,” Sara said.
“That previous year we started looking at
acreages and other places and honestly it
was just perfect timing.”
The Rickes purchased the property in
2018.
“The church was closing and we were
looking to move closer to the Spencer
area,” Sara said. “It was such a beautiful
space. The structure itself was beautiful
and the main area has a really cool ceiling.
We did this walk-through and it was just
too beautiful not to have a use. We wanted
8 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020

STORY BY KATE HARLOW |
PHOTOS BY MATT AND SARA RICKE AND TAYLOR GEISINGER OF TG PHOTOGRAPHY OF SPENCER
to be a part of this good second use
for it.”
After purchasing the property, the
work began.
They re-envisioned and updated
the church, which was built in 1969.
“We jackhammered the floors
and did all the plumbing as well as
reconfigured the spaces,” Sara said.
Most of the church spaces have
been repurposed.
The old sanctuary has become the
main venue space and they named it
The Great Hall. It can seat 200 people.
There is a bridal suite that includes
a large makeup station and lounging
area.
There also is a groom suite and a
game room with a pool table and
large-screen TV.
The IX space features a catering
kitchen space, a bar area and some
additional seating space.
Another space they renovated was
especially important.
“I know this is going to sound
silly, but the women’s bathroom was
really important. We took something
that was a classroom and then even
bumped that out 10 feet. We made
sure that there were lots of lights
and mirrors and there is a backdoor
access to that room that comes to the
bride’s room,” Sara said.
The couple lives in the former
parish offices and the priest’s living
quarters that they remodeled into a
house for their family.
“It’s awesome living on site. We
don’t have little kids and it works
for us. It’s perfect. We go through
the door and down a hall and you’re
right in the venue,” Sara said.
“ We want to help make
whatever their event is easy
and let them focus on what
they are there for.”
— MATT RICKE
SUMMER 2020 | BRIDES & BOUQUETS 9

They finished up
their renovations
in 2019 and hosted
their first reception
there in July while
they were just doing
finishing touches.
So far they have
held two receptions
and one wedding at
The Great Royal Hall.
The Great Hall served as the reception space and
an outdoor space behind the building can be set up
for outdoor ceremonies.
For 2020, they have three more weddings booked
and they already have two scheduled to take place in
2021.
Whether the space is rented out for a wedding, a
bridal shower or another kind of event, Matt and
Sara enjoy making it as easy as possible for their
guests.
“We don’t treat this as just a space for rental, we
treat everything as a hosted event. Sara is always here
and I’m usually here and we bring in additional
staff,” Matt said. “We want to help make whatever
their event is easy and let them focus on what they
are there for.”
Helping people create these wonderful memories
and doing it in a way to make it as easy as possible
for them, is what Sara really enjoys.
“I have worked in different areas but it has always
been something with a customer service focus and
I love that. I love the planning and all the craziness
that goes with planning events. To me, that is fun,”
Sara said.
“I also have a varied food service background and
the idea of doing a venue and helping people navigate
the many different layers of people, vendors,
timing of food and such that go into events — I love
all that.”
They have not been able to host any events for
the past few months, but they have been enjoying
showing brides the space recently and easing a future
bride’s worries has been Sara’s favorite part of
this entire journey so far.
“It’s been so fun to have the brides who are looking
to book their wedding come through the door
just so overwhelmed and after doing a walk through
of the space and really talking about the space and
answering their questions you can see them relax,”
Sara said.
“When we do the second walk-through they are
already seeing their wedding and seeing that there
is a place for everything. You can watch them absolutely
relax within an hour or so. That has been
really fun.” •
At a Glance:
VENUE: THE GREAT HALL OF ROYAL
OWNERS: MATT AND SARA RICKE
ADDRESS: 300 FIRST AVE., ROYAL
PHONE: 712-223-0025
ONLINE: WWW.GREATHALLOFROYAL.COM
10 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020

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12 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020

STORY BY RENEE WIELENGA |
PHOTOS BY AESTHETIC ESSENCE PHOTOGRAPHY OF ORANGE CITY
LYLE & HANNAH
Village venue
SUMMER 2020 | BRIDES & BOUQUETS 13

Hannah Freeman always wanted her
wedding in or at a barn setting.
Although the coronavirus pandemic
changed her wedding date and the
number of people who could attend,
her dream setting came true Friday, May 15, 2020,
when the Colorado Springs native married Lyle
Wielenga of Hull at Heritage Village in Sioux Center.
Having grown up on the farm, Lyle was on board
with such a setting for their wedding.
“I have always enjoyed Heritage Village as a kid as
history and especially farming history has always interested
me,” he said. “My family and Hannah, since
living here in Sioux Center, have tried to always go
at least once a year to Heritage Village, especially for
the famous rhubarb toss.”
The couple also were in favor of an outdoor wedding
ceremony.
“It seemed like the perfect location with the rustic
barn setting, plenty of room for outdoor seating
and lots of photo opportunities around the village
buildings and trees,” Hannah said. “We ended up
sticking with the setting after coronavirus as it still
met all our needs and the inside of the barn would
accommodate the 10 of us for supper after the ceremony.”
Their wedding guest list included their two sets of
parents, their maid-of-honor, best man, pastor and
photographer.
“It was quite different from what we had in mind
as we had invited about 170 people,” Lyle said. “As
the virus hit the area, we started making plans for 30
and the ultimately it had to be 10. We made tiers of
a plan, knowing no matter what we still wanted to
get married.”
They agreed they had to overcome some sadness
about the change.
“It was hard,” Hannah said. “Being from Colorado
I had family coming and friends who were going
to road trip down. Not being able to include them
made me sad but I came to the conclusion that the
Lord has worked through our relationship so much.
We had to trust in Him in what His plan was and
when it boils down to it, us getting married really
was the most important part.”
Their original date was Saturday, May 16, but
they moved it up a day as everyone was available
and, with just 10 people coming, the couple felt a
rehearsal was not needed.
“Our pastor had a great idea of how the ceremony
would go, we went over a it a bit before the ceremony
and then had our wedding,” Lyle said. “We
wanted to go ahead with the wedding, too, because
that worked well with our summer plans.”
Lyle just complete his second year at Iowa State
University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames.
He had an internship lined up to start the first week
of June.
Hannah graduated from Dordt University in
Sioux Center on May 8 with a major in elementary
education and a middle school endorsement in
math and science.
They had and kept plans to move to Ames together
the last week of
May where they live
near the ISU veterinary
campus.
“We wanted a time
in between our graduation
and move so
that was definitely
another reason to keep
our wedding plans,”
Hannah said. “It just
worked out better to
move our date up a
day. It’s all an interesting
story, our story, to
share some day of how our wedding came to be.”
The couple met at Dordt while Lyle completed is
pre-veterinary studies at the college.
“We knew each other through mutual friends
and Swing club,” Lyle said, noting he asked her out
during his last year at Dordt.
“We both knew at that point he was probably
going to be accepted into vet school and that our relationship
would be mostly long distance,” Hannah
said.
Lyle proposed Nov. 27, 2019, the day before
Thanksgiving.
Hannah said she had her suspicions when she
realized the evening’s activities were a repeat of their
first date almost a year before.
“He was really sweet about it,” she said. “We went
out to eat at the Sioux County Livestock Co. for
supper, then went to the Maurice slide and drove
around looking at Christmas lights. The twist was
we went to Falls Park [in Sioux Falls, SD], which we
did not do on our first
date.
“At that point I
knew something was
up. We stopped by my
apartment before going
to Sioux Falls because
I wasn’t dressed
warm enough. I ran
inside, told my roommate
I thought I was
getting engaged and
that I’d wake her up when I got back if it happened.”
Her guess was right.
Aspects that remained the same for their wedding
include the venue, the couple making some of their
own decorations for the reception and the 4 p.m.
time.
“My mom was really happy about that,” Hannah
said. “She told me after that she and my dad got
14 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020

“ If anything, our
planning and wedding
was a test of our vows and
our faith, knowing God
is in control and He is
where our joy is.”
— HANNAH WIELENGA
Lyle Wielenga gets down on his knees to wash the feet of his bride, Hannah Freeman, during their
wedding ceremony held at 4 p.m. Friday, May 15, 2020, at historic Heritage Village in Sioux Center.
Hannah Freeman and Lyle Wielenga
kept their spring wedding plans, saying
their vows during a May 15 ceremony
at Heritage Village in Sioux
Center with just eight others present.
married at the same time as well. She was honored, even
though I didn’t know, which makes me happy as well.”
Their original reception location was going to be
Dordt’s Ag Stewardship Center. Instead, they set up some
tables and chairs in the barn that was the background for
their wedding ceremony. They enjoyed a catered meal
using Lyle’s mom’s dishes.
“There were so few of us she was so gracious in letting
us use real plates instead of paper, which added to the
special feeling,” Hannah said.
As a way to highlight just how different their wedding
ended up being, they brought a case of Corona beer to
the reception to enjoy.
“We just wanted to make light what could have been a
more stressful situation,” Hannah said. “If anything, our
planning and wedding was a test of our vows and our
faith, knowing God is in control and He is where our joy
is.” •
SUMMER 2020 | BRIDES & BOUQUETS 15

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16 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020

WEDDING VENDORS
STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID BECKER
Planning
and the
pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has been especially challenging
for wedding planning businesses.
Due to gathering restrictions and social distancing protocols,
many couples had to postpone their weddings and
even as regulations loosen, potential brides and grooms
are left with many uncertainties.
“For weddings with COVID, it’s been hard to help the brides plan,”
said Erica De Jong, the owner of The Floral Market in Orange City.
“The weddings I have done over COVID, everything is planned over
Facebook Messenger, everything is planned over the phone.
“There was no face-to-face, there was no ‘Hey, what do you think of
this ribbon?’ or walking into the cooler and saying ‘This is an example
of what this flower would look like.’ You don’t have any of that, so
you’re going completely based on pictures you have seen online.”
Couples also have been making changes to their weddings due to
the limitations of those who can attend.
“The ones that we’ve done, instead of having these centerpieces on
the table and all of this fancy stuff, they’re just saying, ‘Well, can we
just do the bridge and bouquet, and the groom’s boutonnière,’” De
SUMMER 2020 | BRIDES & BOUQUETS 17

Erica De Jong,
owner of The Floral
Market in Orange
City, arranges
a display of
candles.
Jong said. “So, for us, it was just more of a revenue
hit. They’re just scaling way back, so they
don’t want to spend the money.”
She said the pandemic took away “a good
chunk of our revenue.”
“Everybody took a hit,” De Jong said. “It was
just the events in general. It was the weddings
that were affected, it was funerals that were
affected, it was general events. ATLAS was going
to have this big fundraising event that we
were doing centerpieces for. That got canceled.
That’s a huge hit for me. That’s was more than
a wedding. The event industry in general, it
was painful for everybody.”
She said she only provided floral arrangements
for three weddings March-May. However,
she still is looking to the future.
“The community has been very supportive
and we appreciate everybody’s continued
support of our small business and to keep
coming back,” De Jong said. “There’s so many
fun things that are happening in the store, like
additions being added, new products all the
time and when you’re ready to have your big
wedding, come on in.”
Loren Mulder, the owner of Valley Bakery in
Rock Valley and Dutch Bakery in Orange City,
said weddings are an important part of his
business.
“From what I understand of the wedding
industry, it’s pretty much shut down,” Mulder
said. “Any wedding business we have had has
pretty much been erased.”
Jodi Anderson, owner of Something Special
in Rock Valley, said business has not been the
same.
“Of course, with all of the different COVID
rules for a while, a lot of weddings were put
on hold or uncertain because of all of the
limitations on guests and everything like that,”
Anderson said. “That would change what the
brides needed for the receptions or for their
bride’s bouquets. Things like that changed a
lot. It has changed the availability of flowers
too. Some of the flowers are harder to get, so
that’s been a little bit of a struggle.”
She said she has had to deal with plenty
changes because of the lack of weddings going
Jodi Anderson, owner of Something Special
in Rock Valley, handles a vase of flowers.
18 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020

“ The community has been very supportive
and we appreciate everybody’s
continued support of our small business
and to keep coming back.”
— ERICA DE JONG
Loren Mulder looks at a set of dough being heated at Valley Bakery in Rock Valley.
Mulder also owns Dutch Bakery in Orange City.
on.
“Some brides just postpone the whole reception
and hopefully you are doing them later,”
Anderson said. “I know that in the near future,
we have a wedding that we’re doing that was
supposed to occur in Michigan, but because of
the restrictions over there, they decided to move
it to Iowa.”
She does have hope for the near future for the
wedding industry.
“The restrictions are lessening, so the weddings
are able to continue closer to normal,”
Anderson said. “It’s made them a little more
challenging to plan and things like that, but
hopefully, as the restrictions lessen, things will
be a little more normal and a little easier.”
Lee Stover, a co-owner of S&E Entertainment
and owner of Stovetop Productions in Sheldon,
has seen more than just weddings get canceled.
“We’ve had two proms canceled, we’ve had
four move, we’ve had 10 events canceled, including
six weddings,” Stover said. “We’ve had
three other events that have moved or postponed.”
Weddings make up nearly 50 percent of his
revenue for his businesses.
“Those are our biggest events, so that has
been a pretty big hit,” Stover said.
He still is not sure what all of the regulations
will be at the weddings, such as dancing with
social distancing guidelines still being in place.
“That’s what we think is the best part of the
night,” Stover said. “There’s also way more to a
wedding than just the dance, so even without
there being a dance, we can still help in coordinating
the schedule, making announcements,
doing the introductions, communicating with
vendors at the
event to make
sure everyone
is doing what
they’re supposed
to do, keeping
the couple informed
about
what’s going on
and dinner music.
If they’re doing
any games,
kind of coordinate
the games.”
Stover did his
first wedding
since the pandemic
started on Friday, June 5.
In addition to weddings, Stover also was unable
to do St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo
parties due to the pandemic and social distancing
restrictions.
“It’s actually kind of weird timing because
March isn’t really that busy of a time for us, but
moving into April is when we start with proms
and weddings kind of start rolling,” Stover said.
“Outside of the events moving into June, we’ve
got one wedding and two events in July.”
He has not been at an event since March 7.
His partner Donnel Eaddy, also known as “DJ
Scruff,” the other co-founder of S&E Entertainment,
has not done an event since March 13.
While the pandemic has been stressful for
Stover, he knows things are going to get better.
“Probably within the first three weeks of everything
happening, we had booked an event
for October this year,” Stover said. “That was
kind of like ‘OK, this isn’t going to last forever.’
“Honestly, what kind of helped me stay
grounded and keep perspective was this was
something that was literally affecting everyone.
Any industry, our entire economy, pretty much
everything except your essential businesses. It
was hard to really feel bad for myself because it
wasn’t something that was just affecting us.”
Even though Stover has more events planned
through June and the rest of the year, he is interested
to see what the future brings.
“Me and my partner have said since about
a month in, we’re not even really focusing on
2020 anymore,” he said. “We’re trying to look
ahead in 2021. Fill our calendar up that way,
figure out what we can do advertisingwise and
kind of really flush out the value that we bring
to people in their events.
“We don’t just show up and push play, we’re
involved in the flow of the entire day.”•
Lee Stover, a coowner
of S&E
Entertainment and
owner of Stovetop
Productions, works
with his mobile
booth at his home
in Sheldon.
SUMMER 2020 | BRIDES & BOUQUETS 19

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20 BRIDES & BOUQUETS | SUMMER 2020