Couple rush to re-organize dream wedding after COVID-19 restrictions suddenly ease
CBC
When Julia Erridge and Ryan March were planning their wedding last year, they knew two things — it had to be in February, and they had to plan for under 50 guests due to COVID-19 public health restrictions.
The couple from Vancouver had everything booked. But then Omicron hit in December, sparking tighter restrictions that put an end to their Plan B, which was a reception after their wedding ceremony.
Naturally disappointed, they notified their family and friends, telling them that while their February wedding would go ahead, the reception would only include their parents, who would join them for dinner at a restaurant afterward.
Then, much to their surprise — and to many others planning events — restrictions lifted four days before their wedding date, so they got busy changing their plans again.
On Saturday, they got married in front of 44 people at The Falls Golf Course in Chilliwack, B.C.
"I am beamingly happy," said Erridge. "The day was perfect and magical."
The pair had resigned themselves to not being able to host their dream wedding — what they called the "Hail Mary" plan of an indoor reception that included an extended guest list and indoor dancing.
So they were floored on Tuesday when Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced that due to high vaccination rates in B.C., venues could go back to full capacity and that dancing would be allowed after nearly two years.
They weren't the only ones taken by surprise.
Their marriage officiant, Kristen Olynik, said she and her partner Brian "had a little dance party between the two of us" when they heard the news of lowered restrictions.
"It's just absolutely ecstatic for all couples in British Columbia that can actually have the wedding their way … couples want the reception and the dancing and all the bells and whistles," Olynik said.
Once Erridge and March got the news they quickly changed their plans, contacting the venue and messaging their guests. As Erridge told CBC's The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn before the wedding, her guests were totally on board with the change.
"Everyone has been making an effort to try to be there. And I think about my family, some of my aunts and uncles haven't seen each other in ages, and it's the first time in a long time that we can all be together," she said.
It also meant Erridge could look forward to the traditional father-daughter dance.
Flu cases across Canada are on the rise and may push hospitals to their limits over the holidays and into the new year, leading health officials in regions across the country to warn people not to visit emergency rooms unless it's absolutely necessary.
More than 30 years after Canada's military allowed women to serve in combat roles, it's now specifically designing uniforms and body armour to fit their bodies.
The holiday season has arrived in Thunder Bay, and that means reduced hours, or closures, for businesses, city offices, and other amenities.
As Toronto’s food scene continues to grow, some in the industry say the pool of professional chefs hasn’t kept up with demand.
Police have charged a truck driver from the Hamilton area in a hit-and-run crash that killed a tow truck operator who had been stopped while helping a driver on the side of Highway 401 outside Woodstock, Ont.
Power has been restored to most of Haines Junction after a problem earlier on Monday at the local generating station.
A 56-year-old man will return to court on Tuesday for a charge of second-degree murder, laid in a case London police have called an act of femicide.
The chairman of the committee leading Newfoundland and Labrador's independent review of the Churchill Falls memorandum of understanding with Quebec is backing the impartiality of his three-man team.
The province has taken a major step toward restarting its onshore natural gas industry.
Allan Legere, serving a life sentence at a maximum security prison in Alberta, has been denied a request for full parole.
Winnipeg’s Granite Curling Club has asked a judge to decide whether the City of Winnipeg can ignore a provincial decision about residential housing slated to rise next to the club.
A Saskatoon woman says she watched her neighbour's police standoff play out in real time on social media.
One person is dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, following an incident Friday at a building in Regina.