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 would be happily married.

The couple had been planning to get married while spending time in British Columbia over the winter.

While house-sitting in Nelson, they approached their astrologer to find out the best time for their nuptials.

“She came back to us early Monday morning with an email title that said ‘Urgent,’ and the content of that email said you should get married tomorrow. Tomorrow is the day,” Fried told CBC. West Radio.

The “tomorrow” in question is Tuesday, November 25, at exactly 2:34 pm, about a day and a half since the email was sent.

So the couple got to work.

Bowman began communicating with officiants in Nelson, a city of about 11,000 people in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, which turned out to be quite easy.

“They were constantly telling us yes, yes, yes, we can make this work. We can make this work. So before long, we had some officiants that were interested,” he said.

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

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

They posted in a local Facebook group looking for someone who might be available Tuesday afternoon to watch the couple get married and sign the paperwork saying so.

But the post didn’t appear immediately; a page administrator had to approve its content. It went live around 10 a.m. Tuesday and Bowman said the comments started coming in.

“Within about an hour, it had a ton of likes. There were twenty-something comments asking, ‘Hey, can I go take pictures? Can I go play music?’ and many congratulations,” Bowman said.

“All we got were yeses.”

Witnesses, a photographer, an officiant and a musician showed up at Cottonwood Falls Park, unannounced, to help make the couple’s dreams come true.

“I was really moved to see the community element come into play,” Fried said. “We are both very community-oriented people and believe strongly in the power of community.

“It’s a whole different level to get so much support from people you don’t even know and who don’t know anything about you except that you’re getting married and you’re in love, and they want to offer to celebrate that.”

Bowman and Fried exchanged rings made from twisted willow branches; More permanent rings that they designed and ordered themselves are on the way.

“They are quite nice and will do their job perfectly until our more solid, resistant and sustainable rings come out,” Fried said.

As he reflected on the wedding, Bowman said he was full of “joyful laughter.”

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

Fried said it all felt “exquisitely miraculous.”

“Thank you Nelson, for hugging us. We love you…we will definitely spend time here in the future.”