On Friday July 28th we hosted our very first Hospice Wedding. All it took was a request from a loving daughter, a little bit of magic from staff, and it was all pulled together in under 24 hours.
Bev and Danny had been together and engaged for a long time and after their 20+ years together they had not had a wedding. Bev’s daughter Cheryl expressed that she felt it would mean a lot to her mom and was her dying wish to be married to Dan before her time with him was over. Just like that hospice staff fell into action and made her wish come true. The couple had a small intimate bedside service in our ‘dragonfly room’. The room was beautifully decorated by Bev’s daughter Cheryl, there was music, a photographer, an officiant, a cake, snacks and refreshments, and she wore a beautiful wedding dress that her daughter had gotten for her. Cheryl, through tears of joy said that we are like “Disneyland for the dying” and that’s one of the greatest compliments we could have possibly received.
There were so many people who helped bring this day together that deserve to be acknowledged: Tristan Lindsay, grief and bereavement coordinator/wedding planner; Kaitlyn Erwin, Hospice Residence Manager/wedding planner; Lorna-Mae Palmateer, Photographer; Colleen MacAllister, musician; Padre W. White, Br. 428 Royal Canadian Legion, Tweed, Officiant; JoAnn Bacon, Flowers and Volunteer; Gerri Heath, Volunteer. This event was heartwarming and brought a tremendous amount of joy to all of the staff, volunteers, and family involved and it was an honour to be able to make this day happen for the Bride and Groom.