COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — A wedding is a new beginning and a celebration of a couple's new life together. But after an EF-4 tornado tore through Coweta County last year, many "I do's" were put on hold when a wedding venue was left in shambles.
Ashley Bercich is proud of her venue, Lillian Gardens, an event space built in the 1800s.
"This is our ceremony lawn, it can seat up to 180 guests," she said.
Bercich said they get to be a part of a lot of good memories there. She bought the venue and renovated it five years ago, describing it as the perfect spot for people to join in matrimony.
Then, the tornado hit March 25, 2021.
"It looked like a bomb had gone off, so it took a month to just clean up before we could rebuild," she said.
There was a wedding scheduled the very next weekend and Bercich said she felt helpless.
"For the brides, this is their one special day, and I felt like I couldn't say, 'sorry, I can't help you.' So I think I took a lot of that on myself," the businesswoman said.
And like many business owners in the small community, her home was hit by the tornado as well.
"It was devastating," she said. "I felt like both of my worlds were crashing down."
She said piece by piece, she rebuilt her home, her venue, and in-turn, her community.
"It's now getting back to what it should be, so it's getting better, but it's taken a whole year to get to this point," she said.
Bercich said it's been hard for all of the businesses that were hit -- fighting with insurance, scheduling cleanup efforts, and trying to reclaim business that was lost. Then a year passed, and the emotions are still raw.
"I have been dreading this day, the one year anniversary, it's very emotional," she said.
"I think there will be a lot of emotions tied to it. You try to put it in the back of your mind and move forward, but I think a lot of people will relive it," said Joy Barnes, a Real Estate Agent in Newnan.
She supported Bercich as she rebuilt. Together, they decided that they would celebrate how far their town has come instead of mourning all it lost.
"As sad as it was, we need to make it a happy time for people. So we sat down and said, let's do a cook out," said Barnes.
They're hosting the Tornado Turnaround Community Event at Lillian Gardens Saturday afternoon, so that the town can come together and move forward -- even if it's still one piece at a time.
"The front porch will not be done, but we are still rebuilding, so it's OK," said Bercich.
She hopes the front porch will be finished by this summer so she can finally say her venue has not only recovered, but come back stronger.