Click here to see more photos from the wedding!
Published: Nov. 25, 2013
After Sparrow Caregivers Wil Slone and Rose Van Schoick got engaged on stage during the Caregiver Variety Show in March, they envisioned a wedding on the beach with friends and family.
Rose's mother's health took a turn though, so the couple continued to do things in an unexpected way - planning a wedding in just a week and holding it on Mothers' Day in her nursing home.
"I mentioned to Wil I would really like my mom to be there and see us getting married," said Rose, who serves as the financial secretary for Sparrow's UAW local 4911. "I asked him if he would ever consider getting married in a nursing home, and he said 'that would be awesome.'"
Rose and Wil, a plumber in the Engineering Department, along with friends and family, planned the "small and quaint" wedding within a week. Roses were handed out to nursing home residents, and the couple shared a cake topped with a tractor - representing the farm in Charlotte they bought three years ago.
"(My mom) was in tears, it was very heartfelt," said Rose. "She was so appreciative she was able to see it."
The couple met at Sparrow and has been together for more than eight years. When Wil decided to propose, he chose to surprise her in front of hundreds of friends, family and colleagues during the Caregiver Variety Show. He set up a fake door prize drawing, with only one possible winner. When her ticket number was called, Rose was coaxed on stage and Wil popped out of a prize box with a ring. Click here to watch the surprise proposal.
Rose's mom is doing well now, and recently celebrated her 95th birthday.
The couple is now focusing on new adventures - just returning from a honeymoon in Florida, and planning to open a U-Pick strawberry and raspberry farm where they also grow produce using organic principles.