By Mike Kruzman / news@whmi.com


A Brighton native was determined not to let the coronavirus pandemic keep her from her big day.

Tegan Burkhardt, and her newlywed husband Nick, became engaged in March of 2019 and had set their sights on a spring time wedding, next month. The couple lives in Virginia, but thought a Memorial Day-weekend wedding in Brighton would give friends and her newly extended family the chance to see where she grew up. Tegan said they first became concerned in January when the outbreak hit northern Italy hard. The couple had planned for a honeymoon cruise from out of that very region. As time to the special day grew shorter and the list of restrictions grew longer, they were forced to make a difficult decision early this month.

On April 2nd, they made the call, communicating to loved ones that they could only have immediate family at the wedding. Tegan said it was heartbreaking, imagining getting married and not being able to look out and see their loved ones. But she knew that even if the disease stopped that day, people still wouldn’t be comfortable sitting in close proximity, or dancing together.

Wondering if they could even get legally married right now, she said they looked all over, from Livingston County, to hometown-Arlington, Virginia, to West Virginia and Washington DC, but nobody was processing marriage licenses. Eventually they found one that would, Fairfax County, in Virginia. The first person they found to officiate the wedding said they would do it behind a glass door, Not satisfied with this, Tegan and Nick found a colleague who could perform the ceremony, then found a place in the Virginia woods where there were few other people. It was there, on April 16th, before a couple best friends who filled all the maid-of-honor, best man, ring bearer and photographer roles, that they exchanged vows.

Tegan told WHMI that through the ordeal, friends and family were very understanding. She told WHMI, “Everybody has been extraordinarily supportive. As you can imagine, these are not easy decision. There were definitely tears by us and our parents. People have told us they’re proud of us for making this decision and will do their very best to be there when we have our larger celebration with more people.”

Tegan said they are still planning for an immediate family-only wedding at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Brighton on the date they originally planned, and then hope to have a big celebration and renewing of vows with all their loved ones next year.