Couple postpones wedding due to COVID-19

    HARLAN -- Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the limitations of the number of people in social gatherings, Brett Croghan of Portsmouth and Clare Klein of Harlan have a “new” wedding date.
    It’s a decision being made by couples nationwide as they come to grips with the uncertainty of the coronavirus.
    Shortly after they became engaged last July, the couple set April 25, 2020 as their wedding date and the planning began.
    Their wedding invitations had already been mailed this year when news of the COVID-19 pandemic started gaining steam and the situation became serious.
    “When we started hearing about this, Brett had said a couple of weeks ago maybe we will have to postpone the wedding. At the time I didn’t think we would have to but then it (COVID-19) became pretty serious last week and we knew we had to start re-planning,” said Clare.
    Because of the uncertainty of when group number limitations could still be in place and because later in May is such a busy time for celebrations, they started looking at dates further in the near future. They then had to make sure the church was available as well as the reception venue for a new date.
    When asked if they thought about keeping the original date and having a small ceremony, Clare said they both come from big families and they wanted everyone to be able to attend the wedding plus they have family members who work in healthcare and they wanted everyone to be safe.
    They also had the task of working around dates of already scheduled family weddings this summer. Three out of the five Klein siblings planned weddings in less than a year as well as other family weddings. Clare said her  mom (Jane Klein) has been a big help through the wedding planning. Referring to the change of date re-planning, Jane added “it all works out.”
     In addition to Clare and Brett’s wedding, her brother James married Jessica Feldman last August and brother Joseph will marry Katie Cogdill this August.
    Brett and Clare were able to secure the same ceremony and reception locations, caterer and most all the other details fell into place. They now plan to exchange marriage vows on Friday, July 3, 2020 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Harlan with the reception and dance at Vet’s Auditorium also in Harlan.
    Just a few months later than planned, Clare said they will be having nearly the “exact” wedding as originally planned. Another set of “change the date” invitations will be sent in the mail to guests. Guests had also been mailed save the date cards earlier.
    “We never intended to have a Friday night wedding but this was the right thing to do to move the wedding. It is all working out great,” said Clare. “This will be a story to tell our family some day.”