Royal Inland Hospital serves as alternative wedding venue for Kamloops nurses

“Getting married in a global pandemic during nursing week, during nursing year, and it’s two nurses on hospital grounds.”

The original plan was to get married on a family member’s farm in the Cultus Lake area. However, when gathering restrictions were enacted, Amanda says the pair decided to look for another option.

“The hospital location started out as a joke in the emergency break room one day,” recalls Amanda, “One of the nurses had found a white tent in the ambulance bay and just joked that they could set it up in the parking lot for us to get married under.”

As the pandemic progressed, James and Amanda gave that break room joke some serious consideration and decided to hold the ceremony in the hospital roundabout.

“So it’ll be little clusters of people in suits staying far enough apart so that nothing can be spread,” explains James, “Because we’re just trying to do our best part for social distancing – that was the whole point of cancelling the (original) wedding plan in the first place.”

Rescheduling wasn’t something that the couple wanted to do. May 16 was an important date to keep, as Amanda’s grandmother and great-grandmother had been married on that day.

With a limited guest list, and grandparents unable to attend, videos and photos became even more important and Amanda says they’d hoped to have some sort of live stream available for certain family members to be able to see the ceremony.

“I would really like it for my grandma to take part in it,” she says, “I’m actually going to be wearing her wedding dress and we’re getting married on their anniversary so that would be really special for me if she was able to watch.”

Amanda in her grandmother’s wedding dress (Image Credit: Captured by Nicole Photography)

By the time the weekend came around, with help from hospital administration and staff, the couple were still able to have a memorable ceremony.

The bride walked down a nearby hospital staircase to make her entrance, while the groom and marriage commissioner stood in the centre of the roundabout. The scene was complimented by a distanced bridal party, limited family, and traffic control.

While it wasn’t the picturesque farm wedding they’d originally hoped for, the couple still wound up with an undeniably memorable day.

“The fact that we get at least some people – work friends, work family around us in a place that does have a lot of meaning to us was just super special for us in the end,” notes Futerko, “So definitely not disappointed that this is how it turned out.”

A physically distanced ceremony outside of Royal Inland Hospital (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

by Dylana Kneeshaw

Royal Inland Hospital serves as alternative wedding venue for Kamloops nurses

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