A couple in Canada had to get creative, so their family and friends living in the United States could watch them exchange vows on their wedding day. Lindsay Clowes and Alex Leckie, both 29, had planned to hold their wedding in August but had to postpone the celebration because of COVID-19 restrictions. In addition to a ban on large gatherings in Canada, the wedding guests from the U.S. would have had to quarantine for two weeks if they wanted to cross the border to attend.

The couple thought their wedding was going to be on hold indefinitely, but then they got a crazy idea. They decided that they would hold their wedding on a pier along the St. Croix River, which separates the United States and Canada.

"After I told my mom about this idea, I think she was on the phone with the mayor in St. Stephen about two seconds later to find out if it was possible for us to pull this off," Clowes told CBC's Maritime Noon.

Officials in Canada agreed to let them hold the ceremony for 30 people, while authorities in Maine said that 15 people could gather to watch the ceremony on the other side of the river.

While Clowes and Leckie tied the knot on the Canadian side of the border in New Brunswick, their family and friends gathered on the other side of the river in Calais, Maine. Their grandparents were given the VIP treatment and got to watch the wedding from a boat in the middle of the river.

"It was really neat because I could see, you know, Alex standing at the altar in front of me. I could see our family on the U.S. side, and then I could see some of my relatives in the boat just out from the wharf," Clowes said.

Photo: Getty Images

Dan Fagan

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