Couple weds in Nelson, B.C., with little notice — but great support from community

This time last week, Tim Bowman and Leah Fried didn’t know they’d be happily married. 

The couple had been planning to wed while spending time in B.C. through the winter.

While house-sitting in Nelson, they reached out to their astrologer to figure out what the best timing for their nuptials would be. 

“She got back to us on Monday morning — early — with an email headline that said, ‘Urgent,’ and the contents of that email said you need to get married tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day,” Fried told CBC’s Radio West. 

The “tomorrow” in question being Tuesday, Nov. 25, at precisely 2:34 p.m., about a day and a half from when the email was sent.

 So, the couple got to work. 

Bowman started reaching out to officiants in Nelson, a city of about 11,000 in British Columbia’s Kootenay region, which turned out to be pretty easy. 

“We were constantly met with yes, yes, yes, we can make this work. We can make this work. So in short order, we had some officiants that were interested,” he said. 

Next, they started making a list of places that would work. They wanted to be outside, and settled on Cottonwood Falls Park, a picturesque spot home to Japanese gardens and a waterfall. 

Bowman, who is American, and Fried, who hails from Kelowna, didn’t actually know anyone in town — but they needed to find witnesses for their marriage. 

They posted in a local Facebook group looking for anyone who could be available Tuesday afternoon to watch the couple get married and sign the paperwork saying as much. 

But the post didn’t go up right away; a page administrator had to approve its content. It went live around 10 a.m. on Tuesday, and Bowman said comments started flooding in. 

“Within like an hour, it had a bunch of likes. There was 20-something comments asking, ‘Hey, can I come take pictures? Can I come play music?’ and a lot of congratulatory offerings,” Bowman said.

“All we were getting were yeses.”

Witnesses, a photographer, an officiant and a musician all showed up at Cottonwood Falls Park, with very little notice, to help the couple’s dreams come true. 

“It really warmed my heart to see the community element come into play,” Fried said. “We’re both very community-oriented people and very much believe in the power of community.

“It’s a whole other level to be so supported by people you don’t even know, and who know nothing about you — except that you’re getting married and you’re in love, and that they want to offer themselves in celebration of that.”

Bowman and Fried exchanged rings made of twisted willow branches; more permanent rings they’d designed and ordered are on the way. 

“They’re quite lovely and they’ll do the job just fine until our more solid, sturdy and sustainable rings show up,” Fried said. 

As he reflected on the wedding, Bowman said he’s filled with “joyous laughter.”

“The universe is such a strange and wonderful place, and I’m glad I’m here to witness it.”

Fried said the whole thing felt “exquisitely miraculous.”

“Thank you Nelson, for holding us. We love you … we’ll definitely be spending time here in the future.”