The ultimate in ‘social distancing’: Couple moves wedding from Macon to Alaska

Chase Gramling and Madison Barber were to be married at Ingleside Baptist Church on Saturday, May 16.

In a perfect world, the music and flowers would have been lovely. The vows were to be exchanged in the chapel where Chase’s parents, Steve and Amy Gramling, were married 25 years ago on the same week in May. Ingleside Pastor Tim McCoy was to officiate the wedding, just as he presided over Amy and Steve’s nuptials on May 9, 1995.

But life is a series of adjustments. Plans change. Schedules get squeezed. Events are scrambled on the calendar. We have to zig when we’re supposed to zag.

Chase and Madison were wed last Sunday on top of a cold mountain near Anchorage, Alaska. Chase had scouted out the wedding venue only a few days before.

Their family and friends, who would have been seated in the pews so close they could have handed them the wedding rings, were 3,461 miles away back home in Georgia, watching the ceremony on Facebook Live.

That’s the ultimate in social distancing.

They watched the couple recite their vows against a backdrop of snowy mountains. The wind was blowing so hard the bride had to stand opposite the traditional left side to keep her veil out of her face.

Even if the temperature had not been 34 degrees this would have been a “cool” story.

“It is bittersweet when your child is getting married and you cannot be there,’’ Amy said. “But we could see how happy they were, and they were ready to start their lives, so it’s hard to be upset about that. We have a perfect peace about it. It’s not at all what we thought was going to be perfect, but it was.’’

Madison and Chase are not the only couple whose altar plans have been altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bridal showers and engagement parties have been placed on hold. Bachelor parties, bridesmaid luncheons, rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions and honeymoons have been thrown into disarray.

Chase, 22, grew up in Monroe County. In December, he graduated from the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega and moved to Alaska to pursue a career in public safety. The wedding date was selected for the week after Madison graduated from North Georgia in May.

Two weeks ago, Chase flew home for Madison’s bridal shower. By then, schools and colleges were closing, major sporting events were being canceled, spring break destinations were being rerouted and restaurants were either closing their doors or being kicked to the curbside.

Friends and family wondered if the coronavirus shutdowns were extended into late spring would the restrictions on large gatherings still be in effect.

“Madison already had a flight this past Saturday to go up for spring break,’’ Amy said. “We told her she might not be able to get back from spring break or Chase might not be able to get back here for the wedding. These are uncertain times right now.’’

Thus, began the process of moving a wedding across four time zones, a modern-day elopement. Madison arrived in Alaska last Saturday afternoon. Less than 24 hours later, she shivered off frostbite and wedding day jitters to repeat, “I Do’’ like a real trooper.

Chase is an avid outdoorsman. At North Georgia, he was president of the pistol club, where he met Madison, who is from Atlanta. They began dating two years ago this month. They fell in love, and Chase proposed on Easter Sunday last year.

They may have met at the pistol club, but this was anything but a shotgun wedding.

Chase had gone to Alaska on church mission trips with Adam Brown, the former high school pastor at Ingleside Baptist. Adam now is the pastor of student ministries at Changepoint Church in Anchorage.

Greg Goforth, a longtime friend of the Gramlings, also was on the staff at Ingleside Baptist. He now is a worship pastor at Changepoint and a violist for the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra.

Greg was there to marry them in the small ceremony on top of the mountain. Adam was there, too, so there was the feel of home even though they were a long way from home. Chase has a friend whose wife made a wedding cake and drove an hour to deliver it that Sunday morning. Another friend, AJ Freeman, was a groomsman

The other groomsmen – Eric Robbins, Nate Hellier and Chase’s younger brother, Ty, a student at Mercer, all watched the Facebook feed from the Gramling’s home in Monroe County. Ty was the best man, happy for his brother but disappointed he could not be there.

“Steve said we all needed to dress up for the wedding,’’ Amy said. “We told everybody to watch in their homes. Madison’s parents went over to her grandmother’s house and watched it with an uncle.’’

Even though Alaska is a fishing paradise for outdoor enthusiasts like Chase, this was a different kind of live streaming.

“The Lord was in all those details,’’ Amy said. “He orchestrated it completely.’’

Ed Grisamore teaches journalism at Stratford Academy in Macon. His column appears on Sundays in The Telegraph.