COVID-19 could not stop the wedding bells from ringing for one West Michigan couple

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

Melaine Bork and Bradley Wernette were not about to let COVID-19 prevent them from getting married. The couple tied the knot April 13 at Metro Health. (Supplied)

April is a big time for weddings and like many couples, Melanie Bork and Bradley Wernette were looking forward to their special day on April 17 in Petoskey, Mich. However, one uninvited guest — COVID-19 — crashed the party before it could even get started.

Both essential employees working at Metro Health – University of Michigan Health — Bork is a a nurse in the post-anesthesia recovery unit and Wernette is a physician assistant in neurosurgery — the couple faced long hours ahead on the front lines of battling the coronavirus. That and a governor’s executive order limiting gatherings met the Petoskey wedding was not going to happen.

But Bork and Wernette were not about to let anything stop them from getting hitched.

Metro Health chaplain John DeVries (center) officiated the ceremony. (Supplied)

“We can say that we’re more excited about the marriage than one day of a party and a wedding,” Bork said. “We’re more excited about the rest of our lives and a marriage.”

They picked a new venue, the place they happened to be at the most, Metro Health, and reached out to the hospital’s chaplain, John DeVries. DeVries has married other people at the hospital, but it is normally when a patient is too sick to have a wedding anywhere else, adding that this was a much nicer experience, despite the less-than-perfect venue.

“It is really nice to have a wedding to focus on and to show there are good things going on during this unprecedented time,” DeVries said.

Social distancing guidelines were followed for the April 13 wedding of Melaine Bork (second from right) and Bradley Wernette (right). (Supplied)

So a few days earlier from their original date, the couple tied the knot on Monday, April 13, with two co-workers as witnesses and DeVries officiating the ceremony, and of course, all social distancing guidelines being followed. Metro Health also was able to stream the ceremony for the couple’s family members to watch and enjoy the special union.

The couple is not alone. Across the country, there have been reports of couples finding ways to say their “I dos,” from one couple stepping outside for their “walk” to another having a drive-by wedding.

The couple, who reside in Hudsonville, hopes to have a party with the 110 friends and family who were planning to come to the Petoskey ceremony this summer to celebrate their nuptials as well as taking their postponed honeymoon to Hawaii.