James and Noelia

Love is not canceled! Two recovered Coronavirus patients, James, a nurse at Montefiore Medical Center, and Noelia tied the knot at City Hall in Jersey City on a romantic, rainy day. James sported our brilliant blue suit jacket and pants along with our textured gray vest and deep burgundy slim tie. We were so honored to be a small part of their intimate ceremony. Here's how their story unfolded. 

After testing positive for COVID-19 and recovering and quarantining for a week, James was asked to return to the hospital for work while wearing personal protective equipment. 

"I returned to Hell on Earth. Nearly every single patient had the virus, people were dying at alarming rates, and so many nurses were out sick that we struggled to get by with hardly enough manpower or supplies. Yet the most devastating part was finding out about the state mandates restricting crowd size. This completely removed the possibility of having the wedding on the desired date despite all the planning."⁠

"Because no one knows when things will go back to normal, we decided to get legally married as an act of defiance against this awful pandemic and a symbol of the deep bond we share through the best and worst of times."⁠

Leading up to their big day, Noelia got in touch with the city to see what options were available to them.

"I had called City Hall one day to ask if they were still holding ceremonies and they said that the office was closed until further notice. I remembered reading an article a few weeks earlier and saw that a few couples were able to get married while City Hall was closed, so I took a chance on emailing the Mayor. I thought I'd get a canned response from his office but surprisingly the Mayor himself emailed back and said he'd officiate!"⁠

After the ceremony, the couple got creative and held a virtual cake cutting, so their friends and family could join in on their special moment! We couldn't be happier for these two who truly showed that love conquers all!