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Georgia couple manages to keep wedding date despite coronavirus pandemic

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Updated  April 3, 2020 9:45pm EDT
Jackson County
FOX 5 Atlanta

JACKSON COUNTY, Ga. - It is unprecedented that everything in the world has come to a screeching halt in just a matter of weeks. That includes all gathers, even the most joyous of ones.

A Georgia couple was determined not to let that or anything to get in the way of their wedding day.

Joshua and Zaniiya Adeniran met online, so maybe it was destiny that this Jackson County couple would wed the way they did. The pair dated for a little more than six months and were planning a small courthouse wedding on March 27, but when the courthouse shuttered its doors as the coronavirus pandemic grew, that no longer became an option.

“He was like ‘Babe, I think we might have to postpone it.’ And I was like ‘We’re not postponing it. I don’t know how we're going to do this but were not postponing. We’re getting married," Zaniiya said.

Coronavirus wedding

Georgia couple had an unusual wedding as the coronavirus outbreak prevented family and friends from gathering.

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That was when Zaniiya’s mother, Lakishia stepped in. She decided to go online and become an ordained minister.

“It took an hour. So, now I have my whole license and everything. So I’m officially ordained as a legal minister,” Lakishia said.

But she went a step further, becoming the couple’s wedding planner. She used her creativity and her years of experience as an event planner to transformer her home into the couple’s wedding venue.

“I went and ordered a cake from Publix, I ordered some candles from Amazon, I ordered a bouquet from amazon,” the bride’s mother said.

They were able to keep their original date of March with Zaniiya’s 3-year-old daughter serving as the flower girl. And since the gathering had to be limited, it was streamed on Facebook for their family and friends who couldn’t be there, including the Groom’s family that lives in London.

“At first, I was disappointed but life happens and it wasn’t gonna stop me from marrying this beautiful woman,” Joshua said.

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Of course, no wedding would be complete without dinner and dancing. The newlywed changed into something a little more comfortable and dance the night away.

They even were able to receive some guests, social distancing, of course. Some family friends drove by the home holding signs and shouted out joyous congratulations to the happy couple.

It might have been a different kind of evening than they originally planned, but they now wouldn’t have had it any other way.

A week after the ceremony, the couple said they are settling into a happy routine and are planning to have a bigger celebration making their one-year anniversary, but this time with the groom’s family in attendance.

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  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
  • Stay home when you are sick.
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