FACEBOOK @FLORIDACATHOLIC May 22-28, 2020
FLORIDA Catholic
ORLANDO DIOCESE
COVID-19
is no match for
Livestreamed wedding proves that truly 'love conquers all'
GLENDA MEEKINS
of the Florida Catholic staff
LEESBURG
When John Cuomo proposed mar- riage to Alexa Earl February 2019, both pictured a wedding surrounded by family and friends as they professed their commitment to one another before God. The word "pandemic" was not on their radar.
Set to marry on April 25, 2020 at St. James Cathedral in Or- lando, the two prepared and planned. Everything changed when Gov. Ron DeSantis announced a stay-at-home mandate for Florida residents. The couple decided to marry the fol- lowing day. A livestream of the ceremony brought family and friends together, physically and virtually. "We've all acknowledged it's not what we envisioned, but we made the most of it," John said. "We were able to achieve what's most important, coming together and uniting with God. I think our story portrays a good depiction of the spiri- tual gifts of faith, hope and love. That is to what we held fast as a priority." It is that focus on the actual Sacrament of Mar- riage and what it means that brought them together in the first place. Alexa and John met about five years ago at a concert. "Not the most typical place you might find love," John said. "We caught one another's attention. There was a connection." They started dating a year later. It was the importance of faith and family that attracted them. Both credit their parents with giving them a solid Catholic foundation. Alexa recalled, "We both felt very comfortable with each other's families be- cause we come from similar backgrounds." "We share similar fundamental morals," John added. "The things that matter the most in life, our faith and love for one another, our families' values, and keeping God and our faith - a priority." As their wedding date approached and cases of coronavi- rus in the United States increased, Alexa's father, Robert, who works with the government, and Hannah , an Army nurse and one of her six sisters, were put on lockdown. It was looking as though they would be unable to make the wedding. In the weeks that followed, more of the couples' conversa- tion swirled around whether or not to accelerate or postpone the momentous event. "Even if we waited, not everyone was going to be able to be there anyway," Alexa noted. "We had already been going back and forth about proceed- ing with a small ceremony of under 10 people on April 25. We kind of had those wheels in motion and had the expectation that it would be at St. Paul's in Leesburg, rather than St. James," as Father Martin Nguyen, was now parochial vicar of St. Paul. Then, it happened. Gov. DeSantis called a press confer- ence announcing the stay-at-home mandate. Restaurants and event venues would be closed until further notice. Social distancing was strongly urged and the topic of whether or not to wear masks filled the air waves and daily conversations. Chaos seemed to be escalating around them. "I am very type A and thought, I don't know if I can wait
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