SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A message to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce: At least two venues in Sioux Falls would like to host your wedding.
Social media has been buzzing since music celebrity Swift and National Football League player Travis Kelce announced their engagement on Tuesday. Sioux Falls is included in that buzz.
Since the couple got engaged in a garden, “it seems like this is where it should be,” Lori Sheldon said of the Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum in eastern Sioux Falls.
The arboretum and the Great Plains Zoo Buttefly House both used their Facebook accounts to invite Swift and Kelce to choose them as a wedding site. The invitations were extended in fun, but they also have serious motivation. A popular post can engage and inform an audience about their venues.
“It’s definitely gotten more (attention) than any other posts,” Sheldon said. The engagement is an opportunity, “Anything to get our name out there,” Sheldon said.
Even if the buttefly house invitation doesn’t reach the Swift and Kelce radar, “We will get on someone’s radar,” said Denise DePaolo, the public relations and marketing director for the zoo, butterfly house and aquarium.
Both sites are host sites for weddings and other activities,
Sheldon, an administrative assistant at the arboretum, said an average of 60 events are at the arboretum during the 3 1/2 month season.
The butterfly house can host “an intimate family wedding,” DePaolo said.
Sheldon said space for a reception at the arboretum fits about 100 guests but the grounds can hold more guests for a wedding. Overall, “it’s the perfect venue for weddings of 100 or less,” Sheldon said.
It’s an attractive spot, and even in winter, the wedding party can be surrounded by butterflies and nature, she said.
Sheldon also touted the natural beauty of the flowers, plants and waterfall at the arboretum.
There are a half dozen to a dozen events at the butterfly house each year, DePaolo said.
The wedding invitation post is part of the zoo’s overall goal to expand opportunities at the zoo, butterfly house and aquarium, DePaolo said.
“As we grow in the future, there will be more opportunities for events…,” DePaolo said.
Sheldon laughed when asked if Swift or Kelce had responded to the invitation; “We never know,” she said. In the meantime, she encourages people to consider the arboretum for a visit and an event.
