‘We were really lucky:’ Saints lineman Will Clapp among the last grooms to wed before coronavirus restrictions

While Will Clapp picked up his tuxedo, Lizzie Cousins was at the Loews New Orleans.

They’ll never forget it. 

On March 13, the two were roughly 24 hours removed from their wedding, and then Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards canceled all gatherings of more than 250 people due to the coronavirus epidemic.

“That’s when we realized this was for real, and we were gonna have to change some stuff,” Clapp, an offensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints, said Wednesday.

The couple had been paying attention to the news, but up until that point, New Orleans hadn’t yet started implementing many restrictions, other than the cancellation of the St. Patrick’s Day parades.

After Edwards’ proclamation, Clapp and Cousins’ weekend became all the more chaotic.

One reason for that: the guest list. Three hundred people had RSVP’d for their wedding, and now they had 24 hours to trim attendance to 250 or below.

Instead of making decisions for people, many guests took it upon themselves to back out. 

Cousins, who has since taken Clapp’s last name, said many of the older folks decided to not attend, saying they’d rather be safe than sorry. The pair also had several friends whose flights had already been canceled.

One of their friends, former Saints tight end Dan Arnold, was a few weeks out from his own wedding and didn’t want to get stuck in New Orleans, so he also was a last-minute cancellation. 

Will’s best man was fellow former LSU football player K.J. Malone, and Malone’s family was too invited to the wedding, but they — including his dad, Karl Malone — backed out due to their recent travel.

The wedding went on — just with fewer guests than originally intended — with the ceremony held at Our Lady of the Rosary Church and the reception at the Pavilion of the Two Sisters. 

“It was hectic for us, but we were really lucky,” Clapp said, noting the 10-person restriction for events that was instituted just days later.

That 10-person limit came from the White House on March 16, just two days after their wedding, which meant that their union was one of the last celebrations in New Orleans before the wider restrictions hit. Since then, thousands of weddings have been canceled nationwide, including one for Saints kicker Wil Lutz and one for Arnold.

But the most stressful part of the whole ordeal was their honeymoon. 

They were bound for St. Lucia on March 16, worried slightly about potentially getting stranded. Calling Delta to confirm their flights were still on as scheduled alleviated their fears.

“We figured as long as our flights were still on, we were good to go,” Clapp said.

The couple checked in with Delta and their families every day to assess the situation back home in Louisiana, but they felt safer in St. Lucia than in New Orleans.

The first confirmed coronavirus case in St. Lucia was announced on March 13, and then closed its borders on March 23 — the same day the Clapps returned to Louisiana.

Lizzie remembers just how quiet the last three days of their honeymoon were and how most of the restaurants had closed due to the dwindling number of tourists remaining at their resort.

“We got up at at like 10 o’clock and went out to the beach,” Will said. “We were the only ones there.”

Since returning stateside, Lizzie has resumed working at Ochsner Baptist as a nurse in the mother/baby unit, and Will has been waiting for whatever the future holds with the NFL offseason.

And they know just how fortunate they are.

“Was it a little stressful? Yes, but at the same time I just kept telling people we’re going to take it as it comes,” Lizzie said. “I described it as like the eye of the hurricane. We were calm in the middle but it was crazy around us.

“But all that mattered was that we were able to do it and whether it be with 50 people or whether it be with 250, it was all going to work out.”