MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One Mid-South couple didn’t let the coronavirus pandemic or a closed clerk’s office stop them from tying the knot.
Fabiola and Kevin De Liban, engaged for a little more than a year, were supposed to get married March 28, with a guest list of nearly 100.
Then COVID-19 hit.
Plans were obviously changed, and their new venue became the Shelby County Clerk’s Office Friday afternoon.
Guests set to watch their nuptials through Zoom, but even that was a close call.
“We came up on the stairs and it said closed, and we were worried that we would have to wait yet again,” Kevin said.
The office temporarily closed after there was a coronavirus exposure in the building. But Shelby County clerk Wanda Halbert made sure the couple could still exchange their vows.
“I don’t want to turn away couples who are already scheduled to be married. That’s a special time in a family’s life,” Halbert said.
That special time was needed. The effects of COVID-19 are personal for Fabiola and Kevin.
“This has been a really difficult time for us too. Actually my uncle passed away from COVID last week and I think that he would’ve wanted it this way,” Fabiola said.
It’s a reminder to be careful, but also enjoy life.
While the day might be about Fabiola and Kevin, the couple thinks of the lives of others as they get ready to start a new chapter of theirs, together.
“And also we gotta recognize all the injustice that’s going on in the world and all the righteous fury and anger that everybody’s feeling, we feel it too,” Kevin said. “Black lives matter, and this is just a time of joy that we can share and have during what is a real time of struggle for so many people.”
Fabiola and Kevin planned to celebrate having lunch a favorite spot and plan to have a bigger celebration down the road.
Halbert says a total of four couples tied the knot Friday. She hopes the clerk’s office will be back open Monday morning.
