Many people spend a lot of time and money planning their perfect wedding, but countless couples have been forced to delay or cancel grand festivities due to the coronavirus pandemic.
When Tyler and Melanie Tapajna of Parma, Ohio, realized they wouldn’t be able to host dozens of guests at their planned nuptials this summer, they canceled their formal reception and decided to put the money they’d spent on food to good use.
On July 1, after months of planning, the Tapajnas came to the conclusion that a big wedding during a pandemic was not for them. They were nervous about hosting 150 people at their original venue, The Lodge at Allardale, which was open — but only under very strict regulations.
“We had everything planned down to the linens,” Melanie Tapajna said.
Tapajna and her then-fiancé decided to plan an intimate ceremony for family and close friends on Aug. 15. They had already pre-ordered food from their favorite local food truck and caterer, Betty’s Bomb Ass Burgers, but instead of getting a full refund, they decided to do something unique.
The Tapajnas contacted Laura’s Home, a nonprofit that feeds and houses homeless women and children in Cleveland, and asked for permission to donate prepared food. Lena Brown, who owns Betty’s, then worked directly with the kitchen manager at Laura’s Home to figure out how best to serve the food on her menu in a cafeteria-style kitchen
.While Tapajna said she and her husband were happy to donate, their only request was that they could help serve the meal to residents on their big day.
Trickel said he was thrilled to welcome the couple into the shelter, which currently houses about 145 single women and several pairs of mothers and their children. Though the rest of the Tapajnas small wedding party could not come to the center due to COVID-19-related restrictions, residents were invited to come to eat — in socially distant groups — and celebrate the newlyweds.
Tapajna told TODAY that the money they had already paid Brown to cater their wedding covered the cost of so much prepared food that the shelter was able to feed its residents for several days after her wedding day.
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(Photo courtesy of Caroline Stoltzfus/The City Mission)
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