Just two sweet weeks away from our planned wedding date which we pick out together years in advance, all courthouses in Maryland close until further notice. Even if they opened right before our wedding date, there was a two day hold on obtaining the license. Not to mention the whole lot of people who were in a similar situation to us. Between getting an opportunity to get in and taken care of, there would most definitely be a long line ahead of us. Knowing this it was now or never if the two of us were planning to get married in 2020. Couldn't help but think the whole world was playing a sick joke deciding to fall apart the year we wanted to get married. Even so we did not let this dishearten us. We knew that marriage was something that was important to the two of us, our families, and God. Not only a commitment to each other but to God as well. That being the case we buckled down and decided we would not go to sleep until we found a way to get married before the world had completely shut down until who knows when. Pulling out the computer we searched high and low for rules guidelines and regulations. Since Maryland was starting to completely shut down we started to jump from state to state seeing what their requirements were. For some states you must be a resident of the state. For others, like Maryland there is a day or two hold to obtain the license. For other states there must be 3 people present as witness in order to officiate the marriage. Several hours of research later we landed upon West Virginia. Mineral County to be exact. We have gone to and from West Virginia for the past few years visiting friends and family. It was like a sign from the heavens and it just felt right. Looking into their requirements deeper we found that not only does West Virginia not require a two day hold, it also does not require us to be a resident, or even to have witnesses. It was as if it was written in the stars for us. Right after learning this information we called our parents immediately and brought them up to speed. We wanted to make sure it made sense to them and that we had their blessing to continue forward with this path. They asked us some clarifying questions and told us that we were good to pursue this plan of action. By the time we did all of our research and talked to our parents, all of the courthouses were closed for the day. All we could do now was wait till morning hoping and praying that there was a courthouse somewhere somehow that had the availability to take us in.

First thing in the morning we pulled back out the computer and gathered a list of courthouses in West Virginia closest to Maryland. Out of that list several we already closed or shut down. We managed to get at least 20 solid offices to give a call. Half of them didn't answer. A third of them sent the officiate away until further notice. One fifth of them stated that they may or may not have availability in a few days and to call back Thursday. Others said that they weren't able to have anyone on campus and that they were planning to be closed if not by end of day, then by the end of the week. In spite of the odds we kept calling. We just knew we couldn't give up until we called every number on that list. About a dozen courthouses in someone finally gave us a glimmer of hope. The secretary said she wasn't sure what the current situation was. Everything was happening so fast but, she would give us the number of the magistrate who was also an officiant if we were willing to talk to him. That was convenient. We didn't have time to be shy. We called the number right away. To our surprise he answered promptly. We quickly explained our situation to him and he understood immediately. He confirmed with us that we are faith based Christians that wholeheartedly believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. That meant a lot to us. He told us that if we were able to make it to the courthouse by 1pm that would be able to take care of us today! Our hearts lit up with joy. We agreed to his terms and got prepared to leave right away. We finally arrived and roamed around the courthouse building trying to find where marriage certificates were issued. We got there and they asked a bunch of questions, then printed out a marriage permit and sent us across the lot to Magistrate Charles Gulbronson's office building. Once we found him we were greeted warmly. Then he promptly guided us outside. Due to the current guidelines we weren't allowed into the office building. We walked over to the side of the building and he led us to the parking lot. Again he confirmed that we were Christians and that we wanted to make a commitment to each other and God in order to officiate our marriage. Then he went into explaining the importance of marriage and that it was a lifelong decision. He wanted to make sure we knew how impactful of a choice this is and that we should treasure this day and this union forever. We handed him our rings and he blessed them before us and God. He asked us the law binding question and we each said "I do!" Right after that we sealed the deal and he pronounced us husband and wife. He prayed with us and made us feel like family. Then he walked us over to the main building and had us sign the official documents. Before leaving he made sure we had his card with his contact information. He told us to feel more than welcome to call him at anytime for council or marriage updates. We left that day smiling. With a supernatural intervention from the Lord and a whole lot of patience we were able to successfully get married in the middle of a pandemic.

Our originally planned wedding date fell on a time where our nation was under serious crisis. For this reason we had decided to post pone our ceremony until a later date where we would be able to invite everyone without restricting the ability to celebrate the way that we truly wanted. The number 4 is our favorite number. 2020 is well known to be the number for perfect vison. This is why our original wedding date was set for 04/04/2020. Obviously that did go exactly the way we had planned... But that's alright!! Because here we are 4 years later, still very happily married! Our new wedding date is April 20, 2024. Which still honors the numbers that we had in mind. We are excited to celebrate our marriage with you! Please let us know if you are able to attend!! We request that you R.S.V.P. by January first, new years day! Which is the day we got engaged, 4 years ago!

If you have any questions please contact 443-442-7193 immediately.