Corpse flower stench crashes Madison couple’s wedding

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - While a Madison couple tied the knot, their wedding became part of history 12 years in the making.

‘Til death do us part for newlyweds Chad and Casey Larson.

“The back of our shirts, we went with the death star reference,” explains Casey.

The Star Wars loving couple always knew they’d get married on May the Fourth, Star Wars day, in Olbrich Botanical Gardens.

“May the fourth is taken off the key phrase that Jedi masters say, may the force be with you. Maybe we don’t go with the status quo all the time, and that’s why we had a Star Wars themed wedding,” says Casey.

But there was something this self proclaimed quirky couple didn’t know about their big day.

“One of the coordinators at Olbrich ran out and was like guys, guys I have news! It’s happening!”

An unexpected guest decided to show up one hour before Casey and Chad were set to say ‘I do,’

“It is legendary. This is a really rare occurrence,” explains Katy Nodolf from Olbrich Botanical Gardens.

The corpse flower at the conservatory only blooms once every decade or so, and that bloom only lasts for about 24-hours.

Casey and Chad now had a wedding part of Madison history.

“My first thought was yes! How awesome! How cool is that? Then I was like hmm, how bad is it going to be?” says Casey.

The catch; when the flower blooms, it comes with a putrid price.

“It definitely has a unique odor,” says Nodolf.

“It actually smells like rotten brussels sprouts,” explains Casey.

“When you take the trash out, and later you’re like, wooo! That week incubation after the rot,” explains Chad.

Casey even warned her mom to bring Kleenex to make artificial nose plugs because of the stench.

But for the out of this galaxy couple, they couldn’t be happier the death radiating plant did finally part for them.

“We told ourselves it was waiting for something special,” says Casey.

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