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MANSFIELD — Leap Day will always have a special significance for Mike and Renea Zellner.
The Mansfield couple tied the knot during an intimate wedding ceremony Thursday, making this Leap Day one they’ll always remember.
The Zellners met while attending Mansfield Senior High School.
“We dated for a short time, then kind of went our separate ways through college. We remained friends and hung out here and there and then got back together,” said Renea, who graduated from Mansfield Senior in 2010.
“In August, we’re celebrating eight years together.”
The couple got engaged three years ago, but their path to the alter wasn’t easy. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult to plan a wedding. Around the time they got engaged, Renea was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
“I’m doing really good,” Renea said. “I haven’t had a single relapse since my initial diagnosis.”
After clearing those hurdles, the couple planned a big wedding for May 2024. Then another surprise came — but this time, it was a happy one.
“We found out that we are expecting our first child and she’s due in June,” Renea said. “We were trying to decide what to do with our wedding planning. I thought that Leap Day would be really unique and different and romantic and Michael thought so, too.”
The Zellner’s Leap Day wedding was a more intimate affair in a special location — the caverns underneath Hudson & Essex.
As a part owner of The Warehouse Tavern, Mike said he’s happy for the chance to support downtown Mansfield’s small business community. But the location also has special significance for the newlyweds.
“It was always a dream, even when we were first wedding planning, but we really didn’t know if they would be up for having a wedding ceremony down there,” Renea said.
“We’ve been down there a couple of times for Valentine’s Day and when they first opened, and we just thought that it would be really, really sweet to do it down there.”
Restaurant manager Shawn Reinert said the Zellners are the first couple to get married in The Caverns, but he hopes they won’t be the last.
“We’ve had three proposals down there so far but this will be our first wedding,” Reinert said.
“We’re actually making an effort this year to promote it more as a small wedding venue. I don’t think you could get more unique than being 30 feet under ground being married in a cave.”
Reinert said the caverns can host up to 36 people, making it an ideal spot for intimate ceremonies, receptions and rehearsal dinners.
The Zellners decorated the space themselves with garlands of white flowers and candles.
“It truly was the most magical day – couldn’t have been any more perfect,” Renea said.
The couple said they’ll likely celebrate their anniversary every year on March 1 — but do something extra special every four years when Leap Day rolls around.
“Honestly, they’re an amazing couple. They’ve been together for quite a long time,” Reinert said. “They just seem like two of the happiest people that I know.”