Edmontonians Judy and Scott Slade said “I do” in their living room after the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to change their plans numerous times.
“Originally, we were going to go to Las Vegas to get married,” explained Judy. “We had 60 guests who were going to come.”
Then, the situation around the novel coronavirus began to change rapidly, and concerns were raised around international travel.
“We had planned a brunch the day after the wedding, and then the hotel called and said they were closing all the brunches,” said Judy about Las Vegas hotels shutting down their buffets.
The couple decided they would cancel their wedding and instead fly to Las Vegas alone.
“Then it got even worse. We knew we couldn’t travel to Vegas. We knew it wasn’t the best choice for us to go,” Scott said. “Judy was really upset about it. So, I said, ‘We’re going to make this work. You deserve to still have a wedding. We will have one in Edmonton.'”
Friends and family rallied around Scott and Judy, helping them plan an Edmonton wedding with 100 guests in just 10 days.
The third wedding attempt fell apart as COVID-19 cases in Alberta continued to grow and the province banned gatherings of more than 50 people.
“All I wanted was to be married to Scott. I got myself excited so many times. Every time I thought it would be so perfect, it just kept being taken away from us,” Judy said tearing up.
“I hated seeing Judy so upset. So, I asked her if she wanted me to find someone to officiate and we could just get married that day. She spent a few minutes thinking about it and agreed we should just do it, so I went out shopping,” Scott said.
In four hours, Scott gathered as many decorations as he could, picked up a bouquet and boutonniere, and called a couple friends to see if they could witness the wedding.
“It might have been in the living room of our house, but it was awesome,” said Scott. “We knew we were meant for each other and we’ve known for so long. We were ready to let the world know we were forever.”
“A marriage isn’t just a one-day party. It’s about getting through the hard times together. It’s really cool that we did go through some hard times and something so beautiful came out of it. I’m proud of us,” Judy said.
“I have such a good guy.”
The couple originally wanted to keep things a secret so as not to make anyone upset that they couldn’t come to the wedding. However, Judy and Scott found it tough to keep their excitement to themselves.
“On March 21, I woke up and we had been married for four days already. March 21 was our original wedding day, so that’s when we announced that we were married,” Judy said.
The couple said people have responded with an outpouring of support.
“We’ve been enjoying our quarantined honeymoon. It’s actually pretty awesome,” said Scott.
They said they will have a reception for family and friends at a later date.
“We’ll have a big celebration when all of this is over. We can’t wait to bring our families together,” said Judy.
So how did the final plan for the wedding turn out?
“It was very special. I mean… it was me and her, right? It was everything.”
“I’m very happy,” said Scott.