The first time Alyssa Schram saw Kyle Churcher get out of his pickup truck on July 4, 2013, she fell in love.
So, seven years later, as their wedding drew near and a global pandemic threatened to ruin their plans, the couple decided to shed some light in “this crappy time.”
The Oil Springs pair tied the knot on April Fools Day, in the middle of a pandemic, making sure to closely follow all the physical distancing and crowd requirements in the days of COVID-19.
Alyssa grew up in Dresden and met Churcher on a warm summer afternoon while visiting with friends in Sarnia.
They became a couple and on Christmas 2018, Kyle proposed. They set their wedding date for May 2, 2020.
But by mid-March, they were getting worried.
“With everything that was happening, everyone kept asking us if we were going to postpone the wedding, but we kept planning as if it was going to happen,” says Alyssa.
But then, friends and family started sending back reply cards.
“Some of the invitations were coming back saying they wouldn’t be coming because of COVID-19,” says Kyle.
“Then one day everyone seemed to get laid off,” says Alyssa and all the vendors for their wedding started calling to put off their planned celebration at the Wilkesport Community Centre.
After a lot of calls and emails, the couple figured out they could be married on Aug. 29. The only thing that didn’t fall into place was the officiant -Jessica Hext was already booked for Aug. 29.
“We were sitting on the couch looking at each other and both of us didn’t want to wait,” says Alyssa. “We really didn’t want to put off getting married any longer.”
So, the couple talked to family and friends and decided to elope. They called the officiant and she was available on April Fools Day.
The couple met their best man and maid of honour and Hext at Greenhill Gardens in Wilkesport – the original venue – and got married on April 1 in a low key ceremony with everyone but the bride and groom standing six feet apart.
There was also a lot of hand sanitizer, gloves and masks to go around.
“Because we were in the middle of a pandemic and it was April 1, we had some fun with it.
Kyle says Alyssa’s grandfather didn’t believe they were married at first. It took a bit to convince him they were really man and wife.
The couple is glad they moved forward and Alyssa says it was wonderful to see that “even with all this going on, there are people out there willing to make our dreams come true, even if we had to alter our vision of them.”
The newlyweds plan to celebrate their wedding in August with family and friends.