A spot of sunshine in darker times

Opinion

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This article was published 01/12/2016 (2699 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The bride wore a lace cocktail dress, the colour of vanilla ice cream. The groom wore a cheery yellow rose affixed to his vest.

And after taking the deep ‘this is it’ breath all brides take before heading down the aisle, Lisa Carson-Walton married her high school sweetheart Chris Herie outside the mayor’s office at city hall Friday afternoon. Their wedding will go down in civic history: they are the first couple to be married in a City of Winnipeg civil marriage ceremony.

That’s right. Before Friday, you could not get married at city hall in Winnipeg. It’s true trends arrive a little late to our fair Prairie city, but city hall weddings? Those are kind of “a thing” — in other cities and in pop culture.

The Heries found out city hall weddings were not, in fact, a thing in Winnipeg back in 2012, when they were looking into getting married for their 10-year anniversary.

“We thought it would be kinda fun, and that’s when we found out it wasn’t a thing,” Lisa tells me. “We sat there Googling, like, ‘This is a thing everywhere but here!”

So, they put in a pin in it. They had full, busy lives: their son, Tieran, now 5, was joined by a new baby sister, Dahlia, now 2. “We had other priorities and a big to-do wasn’t our style,” Lisa says.

“And then I got sick.”

In March, Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer, the same disease that claimed her mother’s life. In the summer, she underwent a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, followed by chemotherapy. A new reality meant a shift in priorities. Lisa and Chris wanted to get married.

The same month Lisa got her formal diagnosis, the City of Winnipeg announced civil marriage ceremonies would be part of its budget. The city also decided to hold a contest: share your love story and, if picked, you could be the first couple to get hitched at 510 Main St. and have the $500 fee waived. Lisa and Chris won.

Other than the bank of TV and still cameras pointed at them, it was a sweet, intimate ceremony. Their children walked down the aisle; Dahlia, in her sparkly shoes and hot pink dress, got a few laughs when she excitedly cried out “Daddy!” when she recognized her father standing at the front of the room. In his vows, Chris talked about the family and life they’ve been building together.

“I didn’t ugly cry, so I’m happy about that,” said Lisa with a laugh afterwards. But there were definitely tears.

It was an afternoon of pure joy, which is exactly what they wanted.

“After struggling through most of the year with the health concerns, we wanted to find a way to end the year that wasn’t talking about cancer,” Chris said.

“We wanted to give 2016 a better ending than it had a start,” Lisa added.

They’re going on a honeymoon, but they don’t know when — maybe in a few years, when Tieran and Dahlia are a little older. Right now, they’re focusing on Lisa’s recovery and getting back to normal.

For those of us lucky enough to be at city hall Friday afternoon, their wedding served as a poignant reminder life is too short to not do the things that make you happy and, even in the darkest of years, there’s light.

Lisa and Chris: here’s to health and happiness in 2017. Thanks for letting your city be part of your day.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @JenZoratti