TORONTO -- A cross-border couple decided to have two weddings -- one in the U.S. and one in Canada -- so they could be together despite current COVID-19 travel restrictions.
New Brunswick resident Lauryn Sheehan and her American husband Anton Sheehan were able to stick to their original wedding date amid the coronavirus pandemic, tying the knot on July 25.
"The biggest thing is we really wanted to be able to start our lives together," Sheehan told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Monday.
"With the way things are going in New Brunswick, it made it possible with the regulations to be able to have a wedding and a reception."
The couple got married in Scoudouc, N.B. and followed provincial guidelines on public gatherings.
"We had to change (our plans) a bit… We had assigned seats, face masks (available), six-feet-apart seating and we cut down our guest list, but we're able to fall within the New Brunswick guidelines and it was a controlled venue so they were super good in helping organize it all for us."
However, the ceremony was actually the couple's second wedding. Sheehan and her husband legally got married nearly a month earlier, on June 30, at a lavender farm in Pennsylvania.
“I just flew over,” Sheehan said. Border officials asked Sheehan questions about the nature of her visit and they let her in. They had a small ceremony there with his mother, brother and an officiant.
"As a female you want your parents to be there … your dad to walk you down the aisle, so we wanted to have Canada as our main wedding."
The couple, who met a few years ago at a hockey game, learned early on in the pandemic that having their wedding in Canada was going to be a challenge.
On March 17, Canada announced it was shutting the border to international travellers in an effort to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus. The Canada-U.S. border was later closed on March 21, to all non-essential or "discretionary" travel. These travel restrictions currently remain in place.
Sheehan said she was inspired by other couples' stories, to get married in the United States so her husband could then return to Canada with her.
Sheehan was able to get across the border and the couple went ahead with their small, first wedding.
After their American ceremony, Sheehan said they drove back to New Brunswick and quarantined for the mandatory 14 days ahead of their Canadian wedding. They are now currently honeymooning in the province and following public health guidelines. They cannot travel to other provinces as Anton would have to quarantine for another 14 days upon entering, since he is a U.S. citizen.
While Sheehan acknowledged that they could have pushed back their wedding until next year, she said they did not want to put being together on hold.
"We didn't want to wait and keep pushing it, we wanted to start our lives together especially because we are cross-border…. So really, the only way for us to start our life together and start immigration is to get married," Sheehan said.
Her husband plans to immigrate to Canada.
It may not have been the wedding she originally envisioned, but Sheehan said she is happy that she and Anton are now able to move forward into the next chapter of their lives together.
“Brides spend months and months planning it so to have a wedding be turned upside down was pretty emotional for me… But it worked out," Sheehan said.
"I hope this story inspires others who feel without hope or chances."
