Getting married during a Global Pandemic

Rebecca Martin and Bryan Over were married at Our Lady of Victories Basilica on Saturday 4 July 2020 in the middle of a global pandemic.  They hope by sharing their experience, it might help other couples to make a call they can feel comfortable with during these uncertain times.

Why get married now?

Bec:  Bryan and I have been in each other’s lives for 13 years, some might say what’s another one, why not wait it out?  At the end of the day, we believe marriage is between us and God, and that ultimately our families would understand, we were ready to move forward with our life together.

Bryan:  We’d put formalising our union on hold for career changes and interstate moves.  We’d come to realise there was never going to be a perfect time, or a time that worked for all our loved ones to come together.  My family lives in Canada and Bec’s are all interstate.  It took a pandemic for us to realise, we were ready to stop letting life pass us by.

Bec:  We’ve both travelled and lived abroad so we’ve close friends across the world.  Working from home had helped us develop confidence in technology and we saw the pandemic as offering an opportunity we mightn’t have considered before.  We’d include not just our family and the friends we have here in Melbourne, but all the people we love!  We decided we’d share our wedding via Zoom across the globe!

Why the Church?

Bec:  God has been central to both our family lives growing up.  It was important for us to feel our relationship had been recognised and blessed by God.  We’d been through our pre-marriage preparation and felt ready, the next step was touching base with our Church, Our Lady of Victories.  Now if I’m completely honest, we don’t have the best track record for regular church attendance. We’ve been CEOs and not the organisational kind, I mean Christmas, Easter and other special occasions.  Because of this, I was afraid we mightn’t be accepted, a thought that had led to a great deal of disappointment before I’d even enquired, and one I now realise was terribly misguided.

Meeting Fr Brendan

Bec & Bryan:  We were slightly nervous when it came time to meet with Fr Brendan.  I think sometimes without thinking about it, we can place people on a pedestal, we do it with celebrities, politicians, teachers, parents; but from the moment we met Father Brendan, we were at ease, he’s such a warm, thoughtful, interesting person to talk with.  He made us feel welcome, took time to listen and time to share.

Bec:  I found my inner coach saying, “silly Bec, Fr Brendan is a person too!”  That first meeting and communications leading up to our wedding, remain highlights of our nuptial preparation for me.

Our Wedding Ceremony

Bec & Bryan:  The ceremony went off without a hitch. We had close to 100 people dialling in from across the globe, Canada, the US, UK and all states of Australia.  Father Brendan was awesome, he made our 20 guests and everyone dialling in from abroad feel a part of the day.  He acknowledged what it took for us all to be there and helped us let go, preparing our spirits for life ahead.

Everyone tells you, stop for a moment and take it all in, it will be over in the blink of an eye.  My goodness are they right.  Would we do it this way again?  Absolutely, in a second!

We wanted to say a huge thank you from us to Fr Brendan Reed, Sally McIntosh, David Agg, Clare Thomas and Brigid Daly, and the OLV florists.  You helped make our marriage the best day of our lives.

by Mr & Mrs Bryan Over

Photographs courtesy of Emotions and Math Photography