Coronavirus Delays Blackwood Wedding 600 Days In The Making

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Lauren Hiller and Timothy Hagan love going down the shore. The couple who lives in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township spent some of their best summer days there; it’s where Hiller finally agreed to go out on a date with Hagan.

So when they got engaged on Aug. 5, 2018, there was nowhere else they could go to get married. It was either going to be Sea Isle City or Avalon, and they decided on the Avalon Yacht Club.

The club was booked every weekend through 2019, so they set their wedding date as June 13, 2020. It was more than 600 days away, but it was worth the wait.

What the couple didn’t count on — really, how could they? — was the outbreak of new coronavirus that has brought the country to a screeching halt. Places are closed, large gatherings are limited and events are being canceled.

This includes the much anticipated wedding of Hiller and Hagan, the very epitome of a large celebration with more than 200 anticipated guests and a wedding party of 19. So they had to postpone their wedding until Sept. 18, 2020.

“We are very upset. It’s very disheartening,” Hiller said. “It’s for the safety and well-being of our guests and ourselves. We had over 60 days left, and it just didn’t seem realistic anymore.”

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The bridal shop Hiller was using has closed until at least May 1, and there’s no guarantee they will reopen that day. There’s no guarantee of anything for the foreseeable future, in fact.

“It’s not just me,” Hiller said. “It’s out of my control. It’s out of anybody’s control. We’ll do it when it’s safe for everyone.”

Hiller said the Avalon Yacht Club has been great to work with, as have her vendors, florist, photographer, DJ and band, and by some miracle, they were all available on Sept. 18.

“Our grandparents are looking down on us,” Hiller said.

As important as it was for the couple to get married down the shore, it was equally important for them to get married on June 13. Hiller said they will have a small ceremony that day, possibly at her parents’ home in the Glen Oaks section of the township.

“It’s just going to be immediate family,” Hiller said. “It meant so much to us. There’s been so much anticipation and planning, I just can’t wake up that day and not get married.”

At one time, though, it seemed like they might never even date.

They have a mutual friend named Chrissy Greenan who has known Hagan since they were children in Gloucester City. When Greenan moved to Gloucester Township in eighth grade, she became friends with Hiller, and the two went to Triton Regional High School together.

It wasn’t long before Hiller met Hagan, and Hagan began asking her out on a date. Hiller was reluctant at first, but when they were both in Sea Isle City in 2015, Hiller finally agreed to go out with Hagan. Within three years, they were engaged.

“We were in Sea Isle, and he insisted on going home on a Sunday night,” Hiller said of their engagement night. “We never did that. Then he insisted on going to my parents’ house. When we got there, that’s where the engagement happened.”

Within a week, they had booked their venue. It’s been a long wait to get married, but it’s going to be just a little bit longer.

“Never in a million years did I think this would happen,” Hiller said.

They’re almost at the finish line. It’s going to be more than 600 days, but in the end, will be worth the wait.

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