Gov't Shutdown Docks Wedding Plans For N. Dakota Couple
TAYLORS FALLS, Minn. (WCCO) -- David and Kristianne met three years ago in North Dakota. For their wedding on Friday, they picked a Taylors Falls river cruise for the venue. His family came in from Poland, hers from the Dakotas. But plans changed fast.
As they walked up to each other Friday in wedding attire, Kristianne Neeser joked, "Should we get married?" David Boroski smiled and said: "Sure. Why not?"
But getting to the wedding got complicated this past Wednesday.
"I was worried about rain," Kristianne said. "Never thought I had to worry about a river closing."
Amy Froshmon with Wild Mountain, which runs the river cruises on the St. Croix, had to tell the North Dakota couple that the company's mobile leaf watching ceremony wasn't going anywhere.
"When we found out the news, we closed the company, and now we're like, 'OK, now we've got to figure out damage control,'" Froshmon said.
Because the National Park Service oversees the cruise company's tour path, the government shut them down. They've had to cancel public tours, even a party for 120 people, refunding all the money.
"I never thought it would impact us," Kristianne said. "It did, a premature lesson in matrimonial compromise."
Compromise meant they would still get married on the boat, it just had to be docked.
"We were hoping the leaves would be perfect, now we'll just have a different view," Kristianne said.
She added, laughing: "This is just a story we'll be able to tell for 50 years."
At the end of the day, the knot was still tied. The ceremony wrapped up before 5 p.m.
Private boaters can move up and down the waterway, but businesses like the Taylors Falls Princess are shut down.
