Indianapolis wedding venue busy as couples emerge from COVID-19 limits
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Weddings planned for 2020 that were rescheduled due to the pandemic are making this year extra busy for places that cater to brides and grooms.
The Biltwell Event Center is nearly all booked for this year and has been for quite some time.
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Director Mark Mattingly said part of the reason is some couples made the decision to have two celebrations.
“We are seeing a lot of that, where they had a very small intimate ceremony, and now they’re ready to party. Now they’re ready to get everyone together because things are starting to get better,” said Mattingly.
He said the venue is hosting 12 weddings next month.
When the city began shutting down this time last year, Mattingly said staff at Biltwell got even busier. Because they weren’t welcoming wedding parties, they decided to give the building a facelift.
“We started doing every pipe, and every floor and every surface has been polished and painted this past year. We kind of used it as a breath of fresh year to kind of do the behind the scenes things,” said Mattingly.
While venues prepped and polished with the hopes of welcoming back guests, some couples were faced with difficult decisions.
“It wasn’t a ‘Well are we still going to get married, how are we going to do that?’ It was like, ‘OK, so what does plan B look like?’” said Nicole Anderson.
She and her husband Zane decided to get married despite their wedding being postponed. It was an intimate, backyard celebration with 15 guests.
“It was kind of a happy accident or happy coincidence the way it worked out because it was great,” said Zane Anderson.
The Andersons said although it was a perfect day for them, it didn’t feel right celebrating without many of their friends and family.
That’s why they made the decision to do the whole thing over again. This time at Tinker House, with at least 150 guests.
The couple said after all they went through last year, the vow renewal and reception feel more special.
“The original date of course was May 16, and the second, the kind of first reschedule was Aug. 8, and now the one-year celebration of marriage is May 8,” said Zane.
“There have been things that have been in the making for, gosh, two or three years now and to just finally get to do that. Wear the dress, have all of our friends and family together, see all of the details you planned,” said Nicole.
Mattingly said because of all of the upgrades to the Biltwell, there was plenty to do and the venue did not have to lay off any staff.