"My mom called Kenny a week before the wedding. ‘Are you sure? Are you sure? It’s forever—forever,’ she said to him," recalled Casey Chapman Caldwell, 23, a teacher in Hopewell.
"‘There’s no such thing as divorce,’ I told her," said Kenny Caldwell, 31, a foreman for Trafford Corporation. "Casey and I had been through a lot, especially going back and forth to her school Missouri Valley College 18 hours away."
"We were best friends from the first time we met, but because of the distance, we did break up several times," explained Casey.
It was at a calf-roping event in Mechanicsville where the two first talked to each other.
"He knew who I was because he had dated the girl across the street," laughed Casey.
Casey, the daughter of Jodi and Gary Chapman, and Kenny, son of Janice and Steve Caldwell, seemed destined to marry. "We have so much in common—we both love horses and rodeo," explained Casey, whose specialty is breakaway rope and barrel race. "March 15, 2010, we were at the Olive Garden Restaurant on S. Laburnum and Kenny proposed."
Both mothers had read about Colonial Downs’ Race to the Altar contest and encouraged them to enter. They lost, but they did get to meet Khaliyah Barakhyahu, organizer of the Elegance in Bridal Show on July 17—the popular expo that featured a Dream Wedding Contest.
"Khaliyah—and our moms—talked us into entering. There were, like, 120 couples. We made a video of Casey sitting on her horse and we said, ‘Should we win the contest?’ and the horse nodded his head up and down," laughed Kenny.
Despite their creativity, they came in first runner-up. But not for long.
"The original winners didn’t go through with the prize," said Kenny. "Instead, we got the Dream Wedding."
"The whole process was amazing," said Casey. "Everybody made it special, from wedding planners Rubies and Pearls to the beautiful Flowers by Mona Ray—and the cake, wow!"
Menfolk from both sides of the family proudly wore cowboy hats, including Casey’s brother Gary and Kenny’s brother Scott, who donned Casey’s hat. Kenny’s sister Lisa Davis joined in as maid-of-honor.
Leaves were falling and the sun was blazing brightly when Casey and Kenny tied the knot before 100 guests at the Sheraton Park South on Saturday, Nov. 20.
And where will the horse-lovers honeymoon?
"On Dec. 5, we’re going to Las Vegas," said Kenny.
"To watch the 2010 National Finals Rodeo," laughed Casey.
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