When most people picture their dream wedding day, they’re surrounded by friends and family, in a beautiful setting, dancing and celebrating the joyous occasion. Of course, 2020 had other plans for people’s weddings.
For Robyn Roberts-Williams, one of her biggest wishes for her wedding day was to have her mother sitting in the front row.
Robyn’s mother Dorothy is 89-years-old and she lives at the Isabella Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Washington Heights, New York. In fact, she’s been a resident there for over 13 years.
Normally, Robyn will stop by and visit her mother at least once a week. However, due to the pandemic, the rules around visitation significantly changed. Now, the only way she can visit her mom is to sit outside of her window on the ground home of the nursing facility.
At this time, Robyn was engaged to her then-fiance, Tim Williams. When the pandemic started, they decided it was best to cancel their Spring 2021 wedding plans until it was deemed safe to have social gatherings again.
One day when Robyn was chatting with her mom outside of the glass window, she had a lightbulb go off in her head – what if she got married in the nursing home’s garden?
“Once we saw the spot where we get to have the window visit, we said this would just be a perfect spot to have a small ceremony,” she said when speaking to Patch. “A few people, efficient, a couple of family members, and that will be the end of that.”
Robyn’s idea seemed like the perfect solution to a not-so-great situation. Not only would she still be able to marry her fiance, but her mother would be able to witness the entire event – even if it had to be behind a window.
Taking the idea to Jessica Garcia-Robinson, the director of therapeutic recreation at the nursing home, she thought it was a wonderful idea.
“Her family is like our family,” Garcia-Robinson said. “It was honestly a privilege to have done this for them.”
Being that the nursing home belonged to a bigger parent company, MJHS Health, Robyn was going to have to get approval from the facility’s administrators. The event would need to be ‘okayed’ by MJHS Health after reviewing the Department of Health’s regulations about visitations.
The approval process began in July with plans of having the wedding in early October. Finally, in September, they received the go-ahead.
Now that they only had a month to prepare, Robyn and her fiance raced to get everything together in time. Then, on October 10th, with Dorothy watching from the window, Robyn and Tim were married.
The ceremony was very simple, surrounded by just a few family members, but it was the smile on Dorothy’s face that Robyn will remember forever.
“That day was my 52nd birthday and this is my first marriage. So for my mom to be there, my prayer has always been that. Even when she went to the nursing home, it was always that my mom would be at my wedding no matter what,” Robyn explained.
Despite the pandemic, Robyn’s special day was everything she had ever wanted.
“So to see her face there in the windows, and to have her be mentally present, have her be physically present, and just so excited. It was just amazing,” she continued.
And even though their official guest list was small, it wasn’t long before the surrounding neighborhood found out that a wedding was happening in the nearby garden. Soon, they heard cheers and well wishes coming from passing cars and people yelling from their apartments.
“There were only 10 of us in the garden, but the celebration around us was just amazing. All of that happened organically, we didn’t plan for any of that to happen,” Robyn remembers.
A nursing home might not be the most picturesque place to get married, but Robyn and Tim’s ceremony was beyond memorable – and we’re certain Dorothy agrees.
Watch more in the video below.
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