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Schools aren’t the only place where the H1N1 strain of the flu is prevalent. One local couple’s story caught our attention: a groom had to miss his own wedding reception because he was sick with the virus, also known as “swine flu.” KSMU’s Jennifer Moore spoke with his bride.
Stacia Skinner says she and her husband, Kevin Gehrig, eloped a month earlier to Eureka Springs to avoid the hassle and stress of a big wedding.
She says the couple did include the traditional phrase “in sickness and in health” while taking their vows, and that they thought it was funny then because Kevin had a cold that day.
A month later, they were planning a reception for about 100 family members and friends when Kevin got sick three days before the event. The doctor confirmed it was the H1N1 strain of the flu, and said that he couldn't be around people for awhile.
Since both bride and groom already had family members who had driven in from out of town, they decided to go ahead and have the reception—minus the groom.
“We got everything set up. I went home and changed, and I said ‘Baby, I love you, I’m sorry.’ And he looked so sad on the couch,” Stacia Skinner says, now laughing about the ordeal.
A friend’s husband brought a large picture of Kevin’s face to hold up in all of the photographs. For the cake-cutting moment, a friend held up the picture, and the bride got to smash cake into the photograph of her groom.
Stacia's husband, Kevin, is now feeling better, she said. The couple resides in Springfield.
For KSMU News, I’m Jennifer Moore.
