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The coronavirus is proving to be the ultimate wedding crasher -- with a vengeance.
With prime matrimonial venues shuttered, churches closed and guest lists pared to the CDC-recommended 10 people or fewer, Bridezillas have been breathing fire for far different reasons.
Gone are their girlhood dreams of Cinderella celebrations for having found their Prince Charmings. Now, formerly happy couples are simply trying to tie the knot before their 60-day state wedding licenses expire, like the horse-drawn stagecoach turning into a pumpkin at midnight.
Enter a pair of fairy godmothers in the form of two Pennsylvania mayors out to salvage true love in a time of epidemic-mandated social distancing with their unique matrimonial powers.
Mayors Maria Romano Marcinko in Steelton and Brenda Hoerner in neighboring Highspire – both self-described “hopeless romantics” – are offering to unite any coronavirus-challenged couples during free, no-frills ceremonies during the epidemic.
“I just put it out there -- hey, we can marry people,” said Marcinko of her Facebook post that’s since been shared hundreds of times to help her spread the love among as many couples as possible.
“If you have a marriage license that’s in danger of expiring or you’ve lost your venue, contact me and I will marry you,” she posted. “My offer is, come and get married and you can have your party or reception later.”
Knowing a great idea when she sees one, Mayor Hoerner in next-door Highspire followed suit. The only glitch was having to re-write her original marriage offer posted on Facebook, lest any lonely heart gentlemen get the wrong idea.
“I did change some of the wording because I said, ‘I’d be happy to marry you,’” Hoerner explained. “Some people thought maybe I wanted to marry them.”
Mayor Marcinko laughed at why the mixed message could be dangerous: “After all, we’re both widows.”
Since then, Hoener has her first ceremony lined up this Saturday. She’s rolling out the red carpet for the couple, Kristina Souders and Brian Handley of Steelton.
Hoerner is opening her home for the occasion, saying the nuptials will take place in her gazebo if weather permits, or around the island in her kitchen if Mother Nature fails to cooperate.
“I asked them, ‘where do you want to have it?’” Hoener said, recounting their conversation earlier this week.
“They said, ‘well if it’s OK to have it in your home, that’s fine.’ I figure I can put them around the (kitchen) island, and I’ll stand on the other side of it. It will only be four people -- the couple and their two children.”
Kristina described a long and winding road down the aisle for the former high school sweethearts who will have been together 25 years this November. The couple has two sons to show for it, but never an official piece of paper confirming their union.
In fact, the procrastinating pair let a previous marriage license lapse. With the clock ticking down on their current license later this month, the couple was determined to go through with some sort of ceremony this time, coronavirus or not.
“We had to do it before April,” Kristina said. “We were starting to get worried. We know the rules. We’re like, ‘we got to get this done.’ Then Brian saw Mayor Hoerner’s post of Facebook. Oh my gosh, she’s a blessing.”
It’s certainly not the ceremony the couple imagined. But at long last, it will be official -- much to the delight of both of their parents, Kristina said.
Right now, however, a happy daughter can’t even see her mom, with visitors barred at the nursing home where she resides. But word of the long-awaited wedding is sure to cheer her up, Kristina assured.
“It’s awesome we can have a wedding,” she said. “It’s crazy how these things turn out.”
Indeed, these mayors are nothing short of marriage savers. They’re willing going out of their way to spread the love, without spreading the virus.
Both said they’re available to perform short-order ceremonies at the venue of the couple’s choosing – or open their own homes for the special occasion. Their only stipulation is the gathering stay within the 10-person limit recommended by the CDC during the pandemic.
“I’ve done several in my home,” said Marcinko, who’s performed more than a half-dozen weddings since becoming Steelton’s mayor in 2018. “I have a fireplace, and we all stand in front of the fireplace.”
So far, Marcinko hasn’t had any takers on her offer to unite couples during the coronavirus.
But Hoerner received yet another phone call during this PennLive interview. It was another bride-to-be looking to take the Highspire mayor up on her knot-tying offer.
“She said, 'I saw that you’re helping out with weddings,” Hoerner said, recounting the quick inquiry that will result in a fuller follow-up phone call to cement the ceremony details.
Hoerner also has a third couple with a long-set wedding date in early April also likely to downsize their ceremony to matrimony by mayor.
In short, marriage by mayor could be in great demand during the virus -- especially for all those would-be spring brides who’ve watched their wedding bliss wilt under COVID-19 restrictions.
In Pennsylvania, mayors are one of the few groups who hold the power to marry, along with judges and clergy. They’re not bound by their usual borders, either. Mayors can preform nuptials at any location across Pennsylvania, so long as the couple holds a valid marriage license from a county in the state.
Thing is, those licenses only last so long.
And with coronavirus shutting down many governmental services, it might be a while before couples can renew those licenses, not to mention it will cost them another licensing fee. So even amid the coronavirus, some couples are choosing to use it or lose it when it comes to their existing marriage licenses. It’s act now or forever hold your peace.
“People stress out over weddings as it is,” Hoerner said.
The coronavirus and its crush of venue closings and myriad rules for social distancing only serves to take that stress up several hundred notches. While a small gathering officiated by a small-town mayor may not be most couple’s idea of a dream wedding – it’s perfectly legal.
And it sure will be a story to tell the grandchildren.
Besides, with the knot now officially -- and efficiently -- tied, they’ll be time to celebrate with extended family and friends when the epidemic eases and the social distancing restrictions are lifted.
“I would even be happy to come and redo the vows for them in front of everyone else, once this is all over,” Hoerner added.
For now, it’s one small way a couple of small-town mayor are doing their part to keep their community’s social fabric strong in the face of the isolation that can come with the coronavirus.
It’s a minor reverse in the current trend of social distancing, bringing two people – and two hearts – together as one.
“It’s somewhat of an isolation,” Hoerner said of the pandemic-mandated lockdown. “But for people like Maria and I, we’re widows. So our isolation is even more. I understand being isolated, with your family driving you crazy. But we don’t even have anyone to drive us crazy.”
Instead, both mayors are doing their parts to keep their communities close. The weddings are but one example.
They’ve been checking in regularly with older residents and any who lives alone. They’ve taken senior citizens to do their grocery shopping. They’ve helped distribute the lunches that kids no longer receive with the schools closed. And Hoerner has been advancing the virus-inspired social media phenomenon of the “Teddy Bear Hunt.” This involves getting people to place teddy bears in the windows of their homes, so when parents and their children are out for walks, the kids can have a bit of fun counting up all the stuffed bears they spy.
In other words, they’re willing to do pretty much anything so the 2,200 residents of Highspire and the nearly 6,000 in Steelton continue to feel a part of something bigger -- and stronger -- than themselves.
“This is an unprecedented situation, and we’re both flying by the seat of our pants every day,” Marcinko said. “But we’re trying to do this as a community. And the more I thought about this, there are things we can do that can help.”
Still, neither are above mistakes.
While attempting to lead by example, the pair of mayors did get called out for posting a photo on social media showing them posing a little too close for comfort amid the coronavirus.
It was a photo taken under Horner’s gazebo, now offered as an impromptu wedding venue. But the mayors weren’t observing the proper social distance, and the social media backlash was swift and strong.
“I call them the keyboard warriors,” quipped Marcinko.
But Hoerner simply owned up to the pandemic faux pas.
“It’s like, ‘oops, sorry. You’re right’,” she said. “We’ll try to do better.”
It’s all they can do, really, especially when so much is wrong right now.
“I see it as doing what’s right,” said Hoerner, who succeeded her late husband, John, as mayor.
For the most part, there’s been plenty of social media love for their idea of rescuing love by preforming marriages during the coronavirus.
“It’s so nice to have something positive to come out of it,” Marcinko added.
That’s more than enough reward for a pair of mayors who are truly wedded to their communities.
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