Among a myriad of postponements and cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, one engaged couple in Monroe County found a way to still have their wedding day.
Briana John, formerly Briana Tomlinson, and Garrick John told the IDS in March that they considered postponing their April 4 wedding until July. Instead, they decided to elope on their original date.
Briana said they decided to elope after they found out they could not have their wedding at their venue with their original guest list of 114 people. They planned to do an elopement ceremony with about 40 guests, but that fell through as well.
Their solution was a smaller ceremony in their neighbors' backyard with about 14 attendees, including parents, the officiant and a few other relatives. Briana said they also made the decision because they still wanted to get married on April 4.
"It was still our special day," Briana said. "It was more just for us."
Their officiant was Garrick’s long-time best friend, Logan Moscrip, who said they have known each other since they were about seven or eight.
He said Garrick asked him to officiate for the original wedding on the day of the proposal.
“I was more than grateful to do it,” Moscrip said. “Having the honor to marry them and kind of help on their journey to do all this, I thought that was pretty amazing.”
Moscrip said despite the trimmed guest list, the ceremony went well.
"It was still outside and very beautiful," he said. "Either way, it was pretty good."
Briana said she loved the way the wedding turned out.
“It was actually the most fun, blooper-filled, genuine time ever,” she said.
She the yard had a small, beautiful pond. They decorated the area with rose-gold-painted wine bottles with flowers in them. There was an arch adorned with eucalyptus and curtains. They set up an aisle with a sheer aisle runner, but it was too windy for either the arch or aisle to stay down by themselves.
“I guess my parents put it down, and it started flying away, and they started throwing my bottles on top of it,” Briana said of the makeshift aisle.
They suspected there would be rain because it started sprinkling that morning, she said.
“The sun actually popped out right for the ceremony and all of the pictures,” she said. “It was really nice and warm.”
The couple planned for the elopement ceremony to be casual, but Briana decided to surprise everyone.
“I kind of had my first bridezilla moment just because I was a little sad I wasn’t going to get to wear my dress,” she said. “I ended up actually wearing my dress and surprising all the parents with it.”
Garrick did not expect the dress either.
“I was really happy to see her,” he said. “She was really, really pretty in the dress.”
Garrick said they were concerned about inviting people during the pandemic, but they asked their guests if they had felt sick in the past 14 days. Everyone they asked did not show symptoms, Briana said.
Briana said they plan to do a mock ceremony and gathering for other family members and friends when possible.
Even though the ceremony was not what was expected and the couple had limited guests, she said it was fun.
“Given the circumstances, I was actually really okay that it turned out the way it did,” she said.
Briana said now that they are married, they are excited for the next chapter. Garrick said married life has been awesome so far.
“I love being married,” he said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
