By DAVID COLBURN

Staff writer

The only sweat that broke out Saturday on the brow of new groom Michael Woelk of Goessel came as he set up chairs in near 100-degree temperatures for an outdoor wedding at Marion County Park and Lake.

“The night we come out here it was a little more cloudy than this, around sunset, and it looked nice, really beautiful scenery,” Woelk said.

Two months ago Woelk and his fiancé, Krysta Yutzy, thought everything was set to have the wedding at Meadow Lakes Nazarene Camp near Walton. Then they received word the camp had been sold, and the new owner didn’t want to host the ceremony.

“We had everything planned out, how we were going to set everything up,” Yutzy said. “Then it went to the wayside and we had to come up with a completely new plan. It wasn’t completely last-minute, but it was still hectic.”

They drove to Marion the day they got the notice from the camp, and knew when they saw the earthen pier stretching out into the lake between the swimming beach and boat ramp that they had found a perfect alternative.

“The setup was nice,” Woelk said. “It’s close to the reception, nobody has to drive, people can just walk up the hill, it’s easy setup, easy cleanup.”

“I’m quite the gardener,” Yutzy said, “so seeing the little gardens there and how it was set up, looking out on the lake, it seemed like the perfect place to have the wedding.”

While the lake has numerous picturesque spots couples could choose from, weddings aren’t common at the lake.

“On average, about one a year,” lake superintendent Steve Hudson said. “We had one earlier in June off pier point. Some years we’ll have a couple, others not any.”

Hudson said the only charge for an outdoor wedding would be if someone wanted to rent the lake hall for the reception.

It was nearing sunset as Woelk watched his new bride posing for pictures by the lake, and he remarked how the weather had cooperated.

“It turned out perfect,” Woelk said. “The wind came up a little bit, it cooled down a little bit, so it was perfect.

“Got a nice cool one to stand up there,” he laughed.