Hospital wedding extra special thanks to nurses

When Robyn Hoheisel was planning her wedding, she didn't expect to get married twice in one day.

But that's what happened last Saturday, when she and her now husband Chris Weeks got officially married in front of Hoheisel's mother at Prince County Hospital before heading to their planned ceremony and reception that afternoon.

Hoheisel saidthanks to the kindness of nurses, she had a wedding day beyond her expectations.

"It was just perfect,it was truly perfect," said Hoheisel.

Unexpected circumstances

Hoheisel's mother and stepfather were in a car crash last Thursday, just two days before Hoheisel and Weeks were set to be married.

I knew that not having my mom present on my wedding day wasn't an option- Robyn Hoheisel

While her stepfather was able to go home that day, Hoheisel's mother was admitted to the ICU. Knowing her mother wouldn't be able to attend the wedding, Hoheisel planned to postpone it.

"I knew that not having my mom present on my wedding day wasn't an option," she said.

But she said her mother insisted the wedding go ahead, and she and her fiancee weren't sure what to do.

That evening, shetalked to a friend who suggested they get married at the hospital, so her mother could be there. The next morning, Hoheisel called the hospital and explained her situation. She asked if their Reverend could come to the hospital and perform the marriage in her mother's hospital room.

"The nurse, without hesitation, said yes."

'I cried like a baby'

When Hoheisel and Weeks showed up at the hospital on Saturday, they were blown away by what some nurses had set up for them.

Instead of getting married in a hospital room, Hoheisel and Weeks got married in a courtyard at the hospital. There were mason jars filled with flowers, and tulle and ribbons tied to a small footbridge.

Hoheisel said she "cried like a baby" when she saw what the nurses had set up.

"It was just, it was really touching."

Nurses wanted to make ceremony special

Alison Rickard is one of the nurses who set up the courtyard ceremony. Rickard said when she arrived at work on Saturday morning, the night staff told her about Hoheisel and Weeks coming in to get married that afternoon.

I think anyone in a similar circumstance you know would want their mother at their wedding.- Alison Rickard

Rickard said she and some other nurses, "Talked amongst ourselves and decided you couldn't really pull off much of a wedding in a hospital room. So we decided to transfer everything out into the little courtyard and see if we could make it a bit more special."

It took three nurses to bring Hoheisel's mother down to the courtyard the first time she'd been allowed off bedrest.

"I think anyone in a similar circumstance, you know, would want their mother at their wedding. And whatever way we could make it happen and make it feel like a real wedding for her, I think would turn one of her worst and down days into a better experience for all of them."

'All that mattered'

Hoheisel said she was able to fully enjoy the rest of her wedding day knowing that her mom hadn't missed it all.

"Itfelt like, it was okay. Like she got to see me and that was all that mattered," said Hoheisel.

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