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Friends and family, bears and moose and shoppers were all witness to the wedding of Angela Kerchner and Donald (Donnie) Carl. The ceremony was held on the main floor of Cabela’s in Hamburg on Friday evening, Nov. 4, at the base of the store’s Conservation Mountain.

Guests greeted each other with hugs, passed around a ceramic pumpkin “guest book” to sign and listened while Donnie’s son strummed “Brown Eyed Girl” on the guitar. Curious shoppers paused when the ceremony began, and store employees lined the overhead balcony to watch as the couple spoke personal vowels. After he placed the ring on her finger, Donnie kissed Angela’s hand.

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“I am excited and happy for them,” said wedding guest Peggy Sterner, an aunt to Angela. “I think it’s great since they met here.”

The couple faced difficulties in the days leading up to the wedding. A week before the ceremony, Donnie suffered a stroke and the couple were uncertain if their wedding plans would work.

“I didn’t know if I would be able to make it,” Donnie said. “I couldn’t walk, I was paralyzed on one side.”

“They wanted him to do rehab for two to three months to learn to walk,” Angela explained, “but he ended up walking out of the hospital in a few days.”

The couple was determined to stay with their anticipated wedding date, Nov. 4, as it is the birthday of Donnie’s father, a Korean war veteran. He passed away 40 years ago when Donnie was a child.

Both Donnie and Angela felt the Cabela’s site would please his father, as the store is known for honoring veterans. In fact, they said their vows near a display honoring veterans, set up for the store’s anticipated event for active and former military personnel the following day.

Cabela’s is also an important part of Donnie and Angela’s love story.

Angela was living in Leesport and Ronnie in Hegins, Pa., when they connected through an online dating service about two and a half years ago. They began talking via Facebook and eventually on the phone.

“The first time we got to talk, we wound up on the phone for six hours,” Angela recalled.

A few months later, they decided to meet in person. They wanted to avoid typically date spots like movies or restaurants, looking instead for a place they could continue talking, and picked Cabela’s as convenient midway point.

“Yes, I met her at Cabela’s,” Ronnie said of their very first face-to-face meeting. “We sat in the parking lot until 3 o’clock in the morning and nobody bothered us. We often joked that if we got married, we’d get married at Cabela’s.”

The following February, the couple was engaged. As they had continued to meet at the store throughout their courtship, they inquired if getting married there was possible. They connected with Ron Leh, retail marketing manager at the Hamburg store.

“When we first opened the store, we did quite a few weddings,” Leh explained, noting that most were for larger wedding parties and were held in the morning before the store opened.

As he heard Donnie and Angela’s story, Ron was happy to help them organize the first Cabela’s wedding in several years. Due to the smaller guest list, he happily adjusted the time frame to Friday evening.

With Leh’s help, Angela and Donnie planned an informal ceremony, with guests invited via social media and encouraged to dress casually. The groom wore jeans with a dress shirt and leather vest, the bride wore a lace-covered gray dress, her long brown hair in waves.

Donnie and Angela specifically selected the base of Conservation Mountain, near a fish pond. This allowed them to acknowledge Donnie’s close friend, Randy, who recently passed away. Randy worked at a fish hatchery. His mother was expected to attend the November 4 wedding.

“We thought we could wait awhile to get married but decided not to wait,” Angela explained, noting that parents and other family members have health issues right now.

“We want the closest family to be there,” Donnie added. “You’re not guaranteed tomorrow.”

“I love Angela because we grew up the same, we work hard, and we didn’t find the right love until now,” Donnie said of his bride. “She’s everything I wanted.”

“I love not only how he treats me and loves me, but I see how he treats and loves other people,” Angela added. “Donnie has the most loyal heart I’ve ever seen.”

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Carl plan to continue their life as a married couple in the Hegins, Pa., area.

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