A Mankato couple ties the knot with an impromptu wedding

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - On March 23, the Courtyard by Marriott held a community open house in its newly renovated event center... as planned.

The theme was ‘wedding,’ to show off the potential of the facility.

So, the perfect venue was in place-

And in that moment, a thought struck assistant general manager Maria Keough: why not get married right now?

“The chairs were set up, and it was ready to go,” bride & hotel assistant general manager Maria Keough said. “And it didn’t require any work from us. So that’s why I wanted to do it.”

Keough and her fiancé, German Aquino, met each other on the job at the Marriott in Mankato eight years ago.

With three kids and one on the way, the couple always knew they were going to elope... someday.

When Keough looked down this beautiful aisle, she knew she could say “I do” today!

“We wanted something very spontaneous,” Keough said. “It just happened to fall together.”

“At first, I thought she was kidding,” groom and hotel employee German Aquino explained. “Then, I got the message of like ‘yeah, we’re actually doing this.’ I was like, ‘oh, okay. Well, let’s do it.’”

With only five hours to find a dress, a minister, and invite wedding guests, this couple and hotel staff eagerly got to work.

Luckily for the couple, their coworker happened to be ordained:

“Maria came to me and said, ‘you’re a minister. Can you marry us?’,” wedding officiary and hotel chief engineer Robert Iddings explained. “And I said, ‘yeah, when do you want to do it?’ ‘In a few hours.’ So, I said, ‘when?’ She said, ‘how about 7:30 tonight?’ And I said, ‘let’s go.’ You know, let’s do it.”

As for the dress, Keough bought one right from Facebook marketplace:

“Super last minute- the lady that sold it showed up here at the hotel and helped me actually put it on,” Keough said.

And guests came in their own formal attire, too.

Even though the wedding invites came out just a few hours before the vows, family and staff filled the seats.

“When I came around the corner tonight, I’m like, wow, that’s a lot of people- and that’s quick! So, that’s that’s a sign of a great following,” Iddings said.

“It feels really comforting to know that we can be surrounded by family,” Keough added.

And the wedding was on-

Right at 7:30 p.m., Maria and her kids walked down the aisle as family, staff, and friends watched.

And all German could think was...

“This is happening- this is really happening,” German finished.

The couple says this wedding was a reality because of the support of their second family: the hotel staff.

“When you’re in the hospitality business, you get to know everybody,” Iddings said. “You get to be one big family. I hope everybody enjoyed themselves tonight.”

“Our employees are great,” Keough praised. “And I love that they just pulled it all together with us and said, ‘yes, let’s do this.’”

As for honeymoon plans, the newly weds don’t have anything planned- but that seems to be this couple’s style.

Their only goal is to have their kids join them on a trip.

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