This time of year is normally big business for Kathy Monte, who normally sees around 35 weddings per year. In 2020, however, 15 of those 'I do's' have already been canceled.
So, the owner of Vows Wedding and Event Planning and Floral Design in Mechanicsburg decided to log online to see if anyone could help her small business survive.
Turns out, a pizza shop owner would answer her call.
"Because of the pandemic all of my weddings in April, May, and now June and probably the rest of the summer have been either canceled or rescheduled," said Monte.
Monte decided to use her skills as an event planner and floral designer to offer bouquets for sale to the community. The day after her online post, she woke up to 182 messages offering to help including one from the owner of Cedar Cliff Pizza in Lower Allen Township.
"The owner of this store (Cedar Cliff Pizza) was kind enough to purchase some and say, hey Kath, we'd love to sell some at the store for you. So, let me take some orders. And, I thought, okay, maybe it'd be 20, 10, 15, 20 (orders). And, that blew up," said Monte.
In fact, the pizza shop was able to take 53 orders for Monte. Word of mouth continued across town, which brought Monte's total number of bouquet orders to 215 on Friday.
"It's the power of small business helping small business," said Monte, who later added, "my brides have been so affected by this. And, walking them through that process to cancel has been heartwrenching. To stay busy like this, it means everything. It means everything."
As Monte arrived at Cedar Cliff Pizza Friday, she met owner Melissa Dalton for the first time.
"This woman, she's really hurting right now," said Dalton. "Her business doors are closed and we're fortunate enough to still be able to be open."
"I tell her that when we're allowed to hug again that will be the first thing I do. Come into this store and give her the biggest hug," said Monte.
Monte plans to pay it forward on Sunday:
This Sunday, she will offer free flowers to help people who cannot afford bouquets for Mother's Day. The flowers will be available at 11 am at a peace garden on 1422 Market Street. She plans to offer the flowers on the anniversary of the death of Ned Smith, a community advocate who assisted the Allison Hill community in Harrisburg.