Planning Ahead for Thayer County Wedding

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Clerk Magistrate Vicki L. Jarchow said, “I do” when asked if she could perform a wedding ceremony during the height of the Coronavirus and Nebraska’s Directed Health Measures. Jarchow worked with Thayer County Officials to provide the bride and groom a lovely wedding venue and ceremony while ensuring the safety of everyone involved. 

Jarchow took the call from the bride and immediately coordinated with her county clerk’s office. The couple mailed the paperwork to the County Clerk ahead of the wedding date, ensuring that the license would be ready on time. The Clerk’s office held the license in their office until the day of the wedding so the paperwork did not have to leave the building. 

On the day of the wedding, the County Clerk took a clipboard with the marriage license outside to the bride and groom for their review and signatures. The County Clerk then took the paperwork back inside the building.  

Jarchow found two volunteers from the County Assessor’s Office to come outside of the closed courthouse to serve as witnesses. After donning her mask and robe, Jarchow and the witnesses located a pretty place on the courthouse lawn for the ceremony. 

Following the ceremony, the bride and groom waited outside while the witnesses and Jarchow went back into the building to sign the “keepsake” license, which was then taken back outside to the bride and groom. The couple was given instructions on how to contact the county clerk for copies of the actual license.

Jarchow noted, “It was definitely a first for all of us, but it worked really well!”

Family Wedding in Sherman County

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Armed with disinfectant wipes and individual pens for signing the marriage certificate, Sherman County Clerk Magistrate Janelle Mostek grabbed her gear and headed outdoors.

The bride and groom, along with their two witnesses, joined Mostek on the courthouse walkway, which is the site of many area weddings. The wedding was originally planned the month prior in a neighboring county, but COVID-19 became an obstacle when the couple’s home county courthouse wasn’t able to process the marriage license in time for the wedding.

Mostek performed a customized marriage ceremony that she created for the first wedding she officiated.

That first ceremony was for Mostek’s sister and, wanting to make it special, Mostek created her own ceremony, which she has used ever since.

This is Mostek’s second pandemic wedding ceremony. The first wedding was on St. Patrick’s Day; her third will be held at the end of June.

“I handled everything with kid gloves (I mean plastic gloves),” remarked Mostek.  “The pens used to sign the marriage license were put in a plastic bag by the witnesses themselves and sanitized when I brought them back into the office.  The bag was thrown away.”

Congratulations to the happy couples and to the county court clerk magistrates who make these special events happen.