The show must go on: Couple gets married despite fire, COVID-19 delay
BLUE BELL, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- As a fire tore through the Normandy Hotel's carriage house in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania on Thursday night, bride-to-be Caitlin Kerezsi thought, "not again."
Kerezsi's wedding was initially scheduled for March 2020 but was postponed due to COVID-19.
She said a fire wouldn't stop her wedding again.
"Whether it be in the parking lot or a big ballroom, whether I have a dress or I'm in sweatpants, none of that stuff matters," said Kerezsi. "It's all nice and fun and exciting, but at the end of the day, the most important thing is me and my husband."
RELATED: Montco firefighters save couple's wedding day as flames rip through Normandy Farm Hotel
As she and her bridesmaids got ready on Friday morning, she said it was surreal to think that just 12 hours before, she was standing helplessly as she watched a fire burn, trapping her wedding dress, shoes, makeup - everything she needed for her wedding.
"My daughter Caitlin, the bride, kept saying, 'This can't be happening, this can't be happening,'" said Anne Marie Kerezsi, mother to the bride. "And I'm like, 'Well it is but you know, we're going to be okay because we're outside we aren't inside.'"
"And the other thing: the venue is here in this part of the building, so I knew well, 'If worst-case scenario, we'll still have the wedding because it wasn't in the carriage house,'" she continued.
Miraculously, the firefighters recovered everything safely.
Wedding planner Caitlin Kuchemba, who's not affiliated with the bride or venue and owns Clover Event Company, said an option for many couples is to buy wedding cancellation insurance.
"Which would help them in situations like this, situations that are completely out of their control," said Kuchemba. "So fires, natural disasters, illness, things they obviously couldn't foresee before the actual wedding date."
Kuchemba says it will always cost less than $1,000 and is separate from liability insurance but you can get both through your home or auto insurance company.
Unfortunately, for weddings postponed due to the pandemic, Kuchemba said insurance does not and will not cover that.
"They consider that a global pandemic, which is something that is affecting every single person internationally and not a specific instance that would be covered by insurance that was solely happening to the couple getting married," said Kuchemba.
The Kerezsi's said they're excited to celebrate on Friday night with their friends and family.
"We just decided we're going to have fun," said Anne Marie Kerezsi. "Caitlin called the DJ and said, 'Our new song walking in is, "We Didn't Start the Fire,"' so we just started laughing and said we're going to make the best of it."
Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze.
