Helena and Dylan Jesse will certainly have a story to tell about their wedding day.
The couple from Jeannette didn’t allow the craziness of the hundreds of cars and thousands of people traveling along Hulton Road in Oakmont to stall their plans.
They went ahead with getting married at 2 p.m. Friday in the midst of the second day of the U.S. Open at nearby Oakmont Country Club.
“Everyone in the world could have told her not to have the wedding during the U.S. Open, but she wasn’t going to change her mind,” said Dylan Jesse as he smiled at his new wife, Helena (Rugg) Jesse.
Helena chose the date because it was a Friday the 13th and there weren’t many of those available after they got engaged and chose a date in 2023.
The wedding and reception were held at Dylan’s parents’ home on Hulton Road in Oakmont. The house, built in 1905 with a similar architectural style as the nearby country club, which opened in 1903, provided the perfect setting.
The spacious front lawn was able to accommodate the 100 guests, including some of Helena’s relatives who came from Connellsville on a rented bus.
“We told them this was the same week as the (U.S.) Open,” said Dylan’s dad, Sven Jesse.
He and his wife, Michelle, and Helena’s mom, Cassandra McGuire, talked to the couple about all the expected traffic. Sven and Michelle Jesse were living in the home the last time the U.S Open came to Oakmont in 2016, so they knew about the traffic.
But they also knew it was Helena and Dylan’s day, which was more important than anything else.
“Everybody is happy,” Sven said. “In these situations, the parents worry more than the kids. We were more stressed out than them. It all worked out.”
The couple met at Sven’s company, Jesse Dental Fusion in Verona. Dylan said his dad knew his new bride before he did. Sven knew she was the perfect match for his son because the dad knew of her work ethic, Dylan said.
Everyone also knows Helena loves Halloween and spring — which was evident by the large skeleton in the backyard decorated in flowers.
“I love Halloween and spring time,” said Helena, who was wearing a stunning dress by Flora & Lane. “I wanted a Friday the 13th, so this date in June was perfect.”
Despite the major hullabaloo just down the road at the golf course, they made it work. They reserved the yard for cars with a sign saying it was reserved for a private wedding because many people’s yards along Hulton Road and elsewhere in Oakmont are being used for tournament parking.
“What was most important is that we got married,” Helena said.
The wedding theme was appropriate because Dylan proposed in Salem, Mass., at Witch Pix, a witch costume photo studio. Helena was dressed as a witch and Dylan as a wizard during the proposal.
Some golf fans walked by the yard, at times stopping to take a look, possibly at a skeleton in the backyard being up nowhere near Halloween.
“This was a spooky spring wedding,” said Helena, who pointed out they made the centerpieces with floral arrangements and artistic skull heads as vases. “It was amazing and it went smoothly.”
Dylan’s sister, Olivia Jesse, and a friend who goes by the name Jaye, sang the song “Die With A Smile,” by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars to the couple.
“This was their special day,” said Olivia, who lives in Atlanta. “I wanted this date for their wedding because it’s the date that they wanted. This day is about them.”
Delila Keller of Pittsburgh’s North Side, a friend of the couple, said she arrived two hours early to make sure she was on time. When she told people she was going to a wedding in Oakmont, they said maybe the wedding would be canceled.
“I said, ‘The U.S. Open will be canceled before this wedding,” Keller said. “They are an adorable couple and so much in love that nothing was going to stop them from getting married.”
Not even a horde of golf fans.