Travel agents go the extra mile for cancelled destination wedding couple

Helen Krasic and Andrew Cordeiro of Etobicoke, ON, had big plans for their wedding.

They were going to fulfill their lifelong dreams of getting married on the beach, surrounded by fifty of their closest friends and families.

All plans were underway. The wedding date of September 1st, 2020 was booked. The flowers, the decorations, and the menu had been carefully selected.

The venue at the Royalton Punta Cana deposited with their travel agency Romantic Planet Vacations.

Then, the pandemic hit. 

Like so many Canadian couples, Helen and Andrew’s destination wedding plans were ruined by COVID-19. With the combined obstacles of the pandemic itself, worldwide travel restrictions, the Quarantine Act, limited flight options, the engaged couple had no other choice than to change their wedding plans to 2021.

Travel agents to the rescue

When their veteran travel advisor and destination wedding specialist, Corinne Wilson-Daly, saw how devastated they were, she decided that she had enough of so much let-down that she’d take this matter into her own hands.

She spoke with her officiant colleague, Judith Blair, also of Romantic Planet Vacations, to see if she might be able to wed them locally. Wilson then asked the agency owner, Laurie Keith, if she’d be willing to help out. She then sought approval from her husband, Jim, to host a very small ceremony in their suburban backyard in Burlington, ON.

Knowing Corinne’s heart of gold, all were fully onboard and the offer was made to the couple.

“When I called Helen to offer her my backyard, with our beautiful weeping willow, for their local wedding ceremony, she cried. She was so happy,” said Corinne.

Since that initial conversation, Corinne has taken it upon herself to order them an intimate wedding cake, buy them some monogramed champagne flutes, go to Michaels craft store and make them a boho-chic wedding backdrop, enlist her daughter, Amanda Garrett of AMEG designs, to make some custom face masks, and enlist Judith as the officiant, Laurie as the wedding photographer and Jim as the groundskeeper.

All of this, and Corinne charged nothing for the ceremony.

“It’s not fair what happened to this wonderful couple. I just want to continue to help them in any way that I can,” she said.

Krasic and Cordeiro’s special day was one of six weddings Corinne had to cancel due to the coronavirus crisis, with Romantic Planet Vacations cancelling more than 100 weddings. 

Their ceremony organized by Corinne is happening this Saturday, October 10th, 2020 at 12 p.m. All COVID-19 health and safety protocols will be adhered to and a Plan B to take the event indoors is prepared in case it rains, she said. 

If anyone would like to contribute further to this couple, such as a limousine ride, local honeymoon accommodations, flowers or other, please contact Corinne at Corinne.wilson@romanticplanet.ca.

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