Newly married, groom Sonny Laurence, 30, and bride Ivana Sapphire Peters, 25
By Agnes Chai
Aug 3 2020
KARAMUNSING – “After months of waiting, we are so relieved and happy that we could get married on the date we have requested for. The new norm was not as hard as it seems. With God’s help, we have our blessing with our closest family members. That is enough for us to make us happy.”
Sonny Laurence, 30, and Ivana Sapphire Peters, 25, have the privilege to be the first wedding to be solemnized at Sacred Heart Cathedral on Aug 1 during the recovery stage of the lockdown.
Malaysia has entered into the Recovery Movement Control Order phase and has relaxed the restrictions imposed since the beginning of the lockdown Mar 18 to allow for more pastoral activities in parishes to be resumed, among which a church wedding.
The wedding, which was presided by parish priest Fr Paul Lo, observed the protocol set by the SOP restrictions which allowed 50 attendees from both sides of the families. Social distancing, face masks, hand sanitizer, temperature scan, contact tracing were implemented with fully cooperation from the attendees, paving for a smooth ceremony.
Family members and relatives of the newly married
“We have encountered little difficulties, thanks to Fr Paul’s personal guidance and cooperation from the Sacred Heart Cathedral parish. We were able to comply with the SOP set by the Church and everything went perfectly. Even though we are still in the midst of the pandemic, we can learn to do the new norm,” said the grateful groom.
The newly marrieds, who hail from Penampang, were engaged for almost two years before tying the knot. They plan to have a wedding reception once the COVID situation subsides as many family members and friends, who were not allowed to attend the church wedding, would not miss the chance to share their happiness.
What was so different about their wedding? Ivana, the bride, revealed her anxiety as the pandemic continues on its course “We didn’t think we could actually have the wedding this year…”, but prayer and persistence paid off as they sought the assistance of the Cathedral parish to make their dream come true.
She continued “We have experienced that there was more to do for the wedding preparation in the new norm. We have to prepare and submit the attendees list as part of the SOP protocol for contact tracing.
“To enable full compliance to the protocol, we have to distribute SOP requirement to the attendees for their reference.”
Though the pandemic has limited their movement, it could not limit the happiness and joy of a wedding that does not just bring two people together, but also two families.
