Newsman turns a new page

The plan was always to make Saturday, April 18, 2020, special. Family and friends had secured vacation leave and made travel plans. The wedding party was settled. Everyone was set and ready.

As the date for Adrian Frater and Sharon Williams to tie the knot drew closer, crafted plans came face to face with COVID-19, the pandemic that began in China before sweeping the rest of the world with indecent haste and tragedy.

As countries began closing their borders to restrict movement and the spread of the coronavirus, uncertainty began to creep in and the couple was faced with a dilemma: Should they postpone the ceremony until after the pandemic or scale it down from elaborate to intimate? They decided to press on with the wedding with plans for a post-COVID-19 reception.

“When the date finally arrived, it was a big relief,” Frater, the news editor at The Gleaner’s Western Bureau, said.

In line with the protocols and guidelines introduced by the Government to stem the spread of the coronavirus, there were just nine attendees and everyone gathered at the Glendevon New Testament Church of God in St James was decked out in protective masks, including the officiating minister, Pastor Ralstan Powell.

At 1 p.m., word emerged that the bride and her maid of honour, Sandra Munroe-Clarke, were mere minutes away, and Frater was ushered into the church by his best man, former Gleaner photographer Patrick Campbell.

“Because of the circumstances, the plans had to be altered, but a wedding does not have to be big,” the pastor said. “The very first wedding had just three people (God, Adam and Eve).”

The ceremony flowed smoothly and it was all smiles when it came to the timeless tradition of the first kiss as the pastor joking declared, “I cannot give an instruction that would break the law.”

However, with photographer Ashley Anguin and videographer Garnet Beckford in place to capture the signature moment, the Fraters, with a smile, sealed it with a kiss.