Most couples that contact us are looking to plan their wedding in advance. They choose a date, make a guest list, choose a caterer and then count the days until the BIG day. But on Friday, November 9, 2018, we received a call at around 10:30 a.m. from a groom looking for a wedding venue for that afternoon.
Tianna and Nick Sondgeroth just celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary. They met while attending Cal Lutheran University, fell in love, and got engaged while on a trip to Seville, Spain.
(You can read the complete story of their adventure which was published in the April, 2019, edition of the Cal Lutheran Magazine.)
Over the next year they began planning a beautiful wedding at Los Robles Greens Golf Course in Thousand Oaks. Every detail was confirmed: flowers, cake, music, and catering. In the days leading up to the wedding, family and friends began arriving from out of town. But all their plans were about to unravel because of circumstances beyond their control.
The Borderline Bar mass shooting took place on Wednesday, November 7 and then on Thursday, November 8 the Woolsey Fire broke out. Both events sent the Conejo Valley into a tailspin. On Friday morning the Los Robles Greens was evacuated, and Tianna & Nick’s wedding was cancelled.
They began to wonder if their wedding was going to take place that day. Nick was not ready to give up. His father had been ordained to be able to perform the ceremony, they had their vows and a license. Nick told Tianna he would take over the planning, and they would get married on that day, as planned. Tianna gladly agreed to his offer.
The wedding party knew they had to get away from the fire that was impacting their area. The wedding party drove down the Conejo Grade searching for options. On the advice of friends, they decided on a “Hail Mary”, and Nick called the Poinsettia Pavilion.
Only a year before, Ventura County had been hit by the devastating Thomas Fire and the fire burnt right up to our front doors. And after hearing their situation, we knew we wanted to help this young couple on what had to be the worst day of their lives. We looked at our calendar, and there was a small window of opportunity between our scheduled events for them to have a ceremony and a brief reception. We told them we would be happy to help, and at no charge.
Fortunately, their vendors were able to accommodate the change of venue. The flowers and cake arrived, chairs and décor were all set up. At 3:30 p.m. the bride walked down the aisle and there was not a dry eye in the room. Immediately following the ceremony, we moved the chairs to make room for dancing.
Although their wedding day did not unfold in the way that they had hoped, it was a special day full of sweet memories that they will cherish for the rest of their lives.
Everyone, from vendors to family to friends, stepped up to help make this wedding happen. Even with all the chaos, over half of their guests were able to attend.
It was an unusual event, but one that we will also remember fondly. It is our great pleasure to serve our community in moments of need.
The Sondgeroths are eternally grateful to the Pavilion for coming through in the clutch and recently returned for a visit to express their appreciation to Margarida and her staff.
RICH SPRAGUE
Rich is responsible for the Pavilion marketing. He created our business rebrand, including the design of our new logo, the production of our marketing materials, and the development of our new website. He is extremely passionate towards the complete marketing and sales process. In addition to his Master’s Degree in Web Design & New Media, he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and has been writing articles since high school. Rich's email is rich@richsprague.com.
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