Wedding Goes Up In Smoke For Fitchburg Couple
St. Raphael Fire Leaves Many Without Site For Nuptials
Posted: 12:48 pm CST March 15, 2005Updated: 2:53 pm CST March 15, 2005
FITCHBURG, Wis. -- Brenden DeRouin and Tacy Young have been planning their wedding for more than a year now. They are in the final homestretch -- the last three months before the big day, which was supposed to be at St. Raphael Cathedral.
The 150-year-old cathedral was destroyed by fire Monday.Young wanted a traditional Catholic wedding, and St. Raphael fit perfectly into those dreams."I have always dreamed of walking down the aisle, and it would be beautiful," Young said. "Brenden has some friends that were in the UW Band. They'll play trumpets. And the huge choir loft … we were just totally taken by it the first time we were there."The church also gave the couple a chance to show off Madison -- the city where they fell in love -- to their family, with a wedding and reception downtown. The couple was also encouraging family to check out the Farmers Market and State Street."I saw the fire on TV and I was just sick to my stomach," Young said. "Then I was thinking, (firefighters) got there right away, it will be fixed. I have two months … "There were tears and panicked phone calls to family, but the couple is in remarkably good spirits, considering they're back to square one for planning with only a few months to go.
"We started calling around, and we haven't heard from the church obviously, but they may have some sort of contingency plan," DeRouin said. "We really have no idea, but we're just looking for a place to have our wedding.""It was a lot of effort to get into places a year and a half ago -- to think like two months now -- I don't even know where to begin," Young said. "Obviously, it's going to have to work out , but nothing is going to compare to even half of what it would have been having been there -- so that's tough."On a positive note, the bride said she was going to order her wedding invitations on Saturday, but ran out of time. Now she realizes that was a blessing in disguise -- they don't have to reorder and pay for new invitations with a new location on them.
The 150-year-old cathedral was destroyed by fire Monday.Young wanted a traditional Catholic wedding, and St. Raphael fit perfectly into those dreams."I have always dreamed of walking down the aisle, and it would be beautiful," Young said. "Brenden has some friends that were in the UW Band. They'll play trumpets. And the huge choir loft … we were just totally taken by it the first time we were there."The church also gave the couple a chance to show off Madison -- the city where they fell in love -- to their family, with a wedding and reception downtown. The couple was also encouraging family to check out the Farmers Market and State Street."I saw the fire on TV and I was just sick to my stomach," Young said. "Then I was thinking, (firefighters) got there right away, it will be fixed. I have two months … "There were tears and panicked phone calls to family, but the couple is in remarkably good spirits, considering they're back to square one for planning with only a few months to go."We started calling around, and we haven't heard from the church obviously, but they may have some sort of contingency plan," DeRouin said. "We really have no idea, but we're just looking for a place to have our wedding.""It was a lot of effort to get into places a year and a half ago -- to think like two months now -- I don't even know where to begin," Young said. "Obviously, it's going to have to work out , but nothing is going to compare to even half of what it would have been having been there -- so that's tough."On a positive note, the bride said she was going to order her wedding invitations on Saturday, but ran out of time. Now she realizes that was a blessing in disguise -- they don't have to reorder and pay for new invitations with a new location on them.Copyright 2005 by Channel 3000. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
