Fast-tracked beach wedding conquers coronavirus

When the pandemic threatened their April wedding, a young couple got up before dawn to marry on a Gold Coast beach, writes the stepmother of the bride.

Nicole and Frankie Walker at Broadbeach on Queensland’s Gold Coast after their wedding.

“Love conquers coronavirus. Congratulations to the couple so determined to be together they successfully knocked down all barriers to start their lives together. Probably the only people now happy to be in lockdown.”

That was the Facebook message my husband, Simon, and I sent to surprised family and friends this morning — soon after watching our daughter Nicole marry Frankie Walker in a sunrise ceremony on the sand at Broadbeach on the Queensland Gold Coast.

Until early this morning when the bride proudly showed off the ring, months of preparations for Nicole’s planned wedding on April 9 with 100-plus guests were being thwarted at every turn. We are a blended family with five daughters and one of Nicole’s four sisters was in isolation after rushing back from France to beat an earlier lockdown.

Guests were becoming understandably worried about possibly catching and passing on the virus. Friends in Britain who were committed to coming faced two weeks in quarantine. State borders were closing. We expected that Prime Minister Scott Morrison would move to formally restrict wedding parties to a handful.

Frankie and Nicole are now in ‘honeymoon lockdown’

What to do? Until COVID-19, Nicole and Frankie had planned to be wed near the beach at Kingscliff, northern NSW, — where we have holidayed for decades — with a reception at a nearby restaurant for 100 people.

They’re both 26, went to St Peter’s School together in Brisbane, and had friends and family coming from Australia, New Zealand, and London.

Everything changed so rapidly. Frustration turned to crushing disappointment. Nobody foresaw how bad things would become, with the virus wreaking havoc across the world. We were worried for grandparents because of the higher susceptibility to the virus. When the Queensland borders closed, we knew it would even be difficult for some guests to attend.

There were tears with the wedding plans changing then crumbling. Nicole had just picked up her beautiful dress.

But after the sadness, Nicole and Frankie became even more pragmatic than usual and put it in perspective.

They just wanted to be wed — safely — and start married life together. And they weren’t going to be slowed by the virus.

They had an idea. Nicole rang us yesterday and said: “We’ve got an idea. What about this — an impromptu, small but beautiful ceremony at the beach early tomorrow morning?

“We went: ‘Boom, perfect! Go for it. Let’s get moving.”

They always knew that today would mark their fifth anniversary since their first date, so on Tuesday the decision was made. Nicole and Frankie decided they would bring it forward and make it a day to remember.

Nicole Walker, left, and Karryn Wheelans after the wedding

We scrambled in secrecy last night to collect fine champagne and glasses and work out what to wear. We kept it quiet because we didn’t want friends and family to risk their health to come.

The marriage celebrant is at Broadbeach and she said she could still do it. We drove down. It was just the parents — none of the four sisters or Frankie’s sibling.

We got up at 3.45am in Brisbane today and drove down to Broadbeach to a private spot the marriage celebrant had picked out. The marriage unfolded as the sun came up. We were a small but perfectly formed group: Nicole’s father, Simon, Nicole’s mother, Amanda, and her partner, Frankie’s parents, Caroline and Stephen, me, and the marriage celebrant.

The first anyone else knew about it was when we FaceTimed them on the beach. We put posted some social media pictures and since then our phones have been running hot. It’s just made everyone’s day — with tears of joy and laughter and messages of congratulations after so much gloom and doom.

There will be a full wedding ceremony and a bigger party when the virus is behind us. Nicole will get to wear that dress, saving it for the time that she can do it again because all the four sisters will be bridesmaids.

The wedding today has just been something wonderful and joyous in an incredibly stressful time.

It was wonderful to see the couple so elated after the distress of the past couple of weeks.

They face “honeymoon lockdown” now at their home in Brisbane – this might test their first weeks of marriage.